For the second straight week, there was controversy surrounding a key play at the end of a close playoff game involving the Dallas Cowboys.
But this time, the call did not go the Cowboys’ way.
As a result, the Green Bay Packers defeated the Cowboys 26-21 on Sunday. The Packers will face the Seahawks in the NFC Championship Game next Sunday. They lost 36-16 to the Seahawks in Seattle in Week 1.
Key play: Bryant’s non-catch
The key play in this game came when Dez Bryant made a fourth-down catch that appeared to give the Cowboys a first-and-goal from the 1 with four and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter. But the Packers challenged the call, and the officials overturned it.
The Cowboys’ win probability if the catch was upheld would have been 56 percent. After they lost the challenge, since the ball went back to the Packers, the Cowboys' win probability dropped to 15 percent.
Packers coach Mike McCarthy was 0-for-4 on challenges this season entering Sunday. The Falcons were the only other team that didn't win a challenge this season (including the playoffs) going into Sunday's action.
The play call that resulted in the incompletion was an unusual one. During the regular season and playoffs, teams ran 213 plays on fourth-and-2 or shorter. Tony Romo's attempt to Bryant was only the third pass of at least 25 yards downfield on such plays (the 49ers converted in Week 12 vs. the Redskins, while the Broncos failed to convert in Week 9 vs. the Patriots).
Rodgers’ huge game
Aaron Rodgers had three touchdown passes and no interceptions, and completed 24 of his 35 pass attempts.
Aaron Rodgers on Sunday
Rodgers was 10-for-10 for 163 yards, two touchdowns and eight first downs on his final 10 pass attempts of the game. He was 9-of-9 in the fourth quarter. The Elias Sports Bureau notes that's the most attempts without an incompletion in the fourth quarter of a playoff game in the last 25 years.
This was the 32nd game in the Super Bowl era in which a quarterback completed at least two-thirds of his passes, and had three touchdowns and no interceptions. Those quarterbacks are 32-0 in those games.
Rodgers improved to 43-9 at home for his career.
Adams' impact
Davante Adams had seven catches for 117 yards for the Packers, including a touchdown reception that cut the Cowboys' lead to 21-20. He joined Javon Walker as the only Packers rookies to record 100 receiving yards in a playoff game.
Randall Cobb also had 116 receiving yards. It marked the third time in Packers history that they had a pair of players with 100 receiving yards in a postseason game. The other instances were in the 1995 divisional playoffs against the 49ers (Robert Brooks and Keith Jackson) and the 2009 wild-card game against the Cardinals (Jermichael Finley and Greg Jennings).
Romo still can’t win the big one
Romo fell to 0-3 in road playoff games and 0-3 in divisional playoff games for his career. Romo is now 2-7 in “win or go home” games (including Week 17 games with a playoff spot on the line) in his career.
Romo did everything he could to give the Cowboys a chance to win. He was 6-for-7 on pass attempts in the second half. The only incompletion was the overturned play.
The Cowboys have lost eight of their last 10 playoff games and seven straight road playoff games. Their last road playoff win came during the 1992 season.
The history
The Packers earned their first playoff win versus the Cowboys since the 1967 postseason (the Ice Bowl game) and their fourth straight win against the Cowboys overall. They earned their second appearance in the NFC Championship Game in the past five seasons. They’ve won three of their last four appearances in the conference title game.
Of the seven playoff games played to this point, four have been won by the team trailing at halftime.
This was Dallas’ first road loss this season. The Packers improved to 9-0 at home.
