Packers win again in classic fashion
Rodgers leads the way in less than 60 seconds
ARLINGTON, TEXAS What an instant classic.
It’s a shame that somebody had to lose at Jerry World on Sunday, when the Dallas Cowboys fought back from an 18-point deficit to nearly claim one of the greatest comebacks in NFL history. But Aaron Rodgers happened. And you know what kind of trouble that presents.
That the Green Bay Packers quarterback didn’t burn the Cowboys with a Hail Mary pass might have made it worse.
Rodgers killed them by extending his last pass of the night and throwing a bullet of a 35-yard completion to Jared Cook that set up the 51-yard field goal by Mason Crosby as time expired that, well, finished the fight for the top-seeded home team, as the Packers prevailed 34-31.
This drama, which surely sent the ratings through the roof, had some of everything. A big comeback. Clutch catches. Boneheaded blunders. Untimely penalties. Even the first interception by Rodgers in nearly two months.
No, the Cowboys didn’t need Tony Romo. Dak Prescott showed up well enough for a rookie in his first playoff game.
Instead of Romo, they needed overtime.
But as much as you might have suspected it was time to stick a fork in the Cowboys when they were trailing 21-3 less than 16 minutes after the opening kickoff, an even better hunch came after Dan Bailey tied the score at 31 with a 52-yard field goal for the Cowboys.
There were 40 seconds left when Bailey’s kick sailed through the uprights.
That’s too much time for Rodgers.
Then overtime seemed promised when Jeff Heath — the safety who earlier snagged the first interception off Rodgers in 319 passes — barreled in from the blindside to dump the quarterback for a 10-yard sack.
But Rodgers still had 18 seconds. Plenty of time.
Never mind a Hail Mary. Rodgers did the next-best thing. He extended the play by rolling left (haven’t we seen this before?) and then found tight end Cook crossing to the corner. Talk about a game of inches. Three things had to happen for the Packers to win in regulation from that point.
Rodgers had to make a perfect throw on the run. Done.
Cook had to make the catch and drag his toes inbounds before falling out of bounds. Done.
Crosby had to nail a second 51yard kick, after the first one was wiped out when Cowboys coach Jason Garrett used his final timeout. Done and done.
The Cowboys, a young team led by rookies Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott, will take a lot of lessons from the setback that can be helpful the next time they’re in this spot.
Hey, that’s not promised to happen anytime soon, even with Dallas seemingly built for the future.
It took nine years for the Cowboys to host a divisional playoff game again, and there’s a bit of cruel irony that just like the last time — when Dallas was upset by the New York Giants after the 2007 campaign — they squandered the home-field advantage earned with the No. 1 seed.
The Cowboys will kick themselves for their self-inflicted wounds.
That’s never good when Rodgers is on the other side, eager and capable to make them pay for it. What a tough lesson. Not long after it ended, the roaring thunder could be heard outside AT&T Stadium.
How fitting. One storm was over, and another one was on its way.