Lazard overcomes ‘unacceptable drop’
GREEN BAY - The perfect spiral dropped from his fingertips, and Allen Lazard's heart sank to his gut. He kept running down the right hash marks, picking up yards without the football, gradually pulling to a trot before turning to make the long jog back.
Forty yards behind him, his quarterback sighed.
It was all Aaron Rodgers could do Saturday night in the third quarter against the Los Angeles Rams. He had delivered a perfect pass to Lazard, who beat cornerback Darious Williams with a hard inside step to an outside release on his vertical route. Rodgers had every reason to be thinking six points as he watched the football descend on Lazard, who ran open behind the Rams secondary.
“That was an unacceptable drop,” Lazard would say after the game.
The playoffs can offer many things, but second chances are rarely one of them. It's win or else this time of year. Single elimination. A drop can mean the difference between Super Bowl or offseason.
The thought occurred to Lazard as he turned to head back upfield. Did he just let the Rams back into the game? Inside, he wanted to atone. There was no guarantee he'd get that second chance, but on the sideline Rodgers and head coach Matt LaFleur reassessed. Lazard made a mistake, but he was so wide open. They stored the play in their memories, just in case they needed to come back to it again.
The time came a quarter later. With the Packers nursing a touchdown lead with seven minutes left, LaFleur recycled his play call from the third quarter.
A smile immediately came to Rodgers' face.
“When the play was called,” the quarterback said, “I was thinking touchdown.”
This time, Rodgers connected with Lazard for a 58-yard score, the defining play in the Packers' 32-18 win against the Rams in the NFC divisional playoff round at Lambeau Field.
Lazard again got open behind the Rams secondary, finding a crease in their zone defense down the middle of the field. This Rodgers pass was imperfect, the quarterback leading his throw too much inside, but Lazard wasn't dropping another.
The receiver caught up to the football and, after lunging to make the catch near the 25, kept his feet to the goal line.
“Dropping the first one obviously hurt,” Lazard said, “especially at that time in that game. We definitely would've gone up, I think, three scores in that drive.
“Thankfully my coaches, my teammates really trusted me. I was able to go out there, and Aaron threw a good ball for me to go make a play.”
In a game highlighted by signature matchups — Aaron Rodgers versus Aaron Donald, Davante Adams versus Jalen Ramsey — it was fitting for an unsung hero to make the game's biggest play. As improved as Rodgers and Adams have been this season, cementing themselves as the league's likely MVP and top receiver in the game, the increased depth on offense has been perhaps as important in getting the Packers back to the Super Bowl's doorstep.
The Rams didn't take away Adams, who caught nine passes for 66 yards and a touchdown. But they kept the All-Pro receiver from going off. This was a game Adams needed a supporting cast.
The Packers got the depth they've spent an entire season cultivating.
There was tight end Robert Tonyan, catching four passes for 60 yards, including a 33-yard grab as Donald was bearing down on Rodgers late in the first half. There was Marquez Valdes-Scantling, catching a bubble screen on thirdand-3 and knowing exactly where the marker was, stretching the football for a first down before falling out of bounds. There was Equanimeous St. Brown in the first half, getting open for 27 yards down the middle of the field.
Ultimately, it was Lazard's night. He finished with four catches for 96 yards, and with seven minutes left yielded the game's biggest play.
“I did throw it a little bit more inside than I had wanted to,” Rodgers said, “and he made a really nice catch, kept his feet and put that thing away. That was pretty special.”