Packer Central

Packers Snap Losing Streak, Beat McCarthy’s Cowboys in Overtime

Once trailing 28-14, the Green Bay Packers rallied to beat the Dallas Cowboys behind Aaron Rodgers' three touchdown passes to Christian Watson.

Bill Huber

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GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers’ season isn’t alive and kicking. But it is alive.

The Packers overcame a 28-14 deficit to earn an unexpected, slump-busting, 31-28 victory on Sunday at Lambeau Field over the powerful Dallas Cowboys. Mason Crosby kicked a 28-yard field goal for the decisive points.

With a 4-6 record, Green Bay isn’t exactly thriving in the NFC playoff race. But at least its coffin wasn’t covered in dirt by former coach Mike McCarthy.

The Packers entered Sunday’s game with a five-game losing streak. It hadn’t dropped six in a row since it lost seven consecutive games in 1988 and again spanning the 1990-91 seasons.

The likes of Don Majkowski, Randy Wright and Anthony Dilweg were the quarterbacks of those seasons. Aaron Rodgers is the quarterback of this team, the back-to-back MVP having been unable to pull the Packers out of the abyss until delivering three touchdown passes to rookie Christian Watson on Sunday.

On the first possession of overtime, Jarran Reed’s pressure of Dak Prescott on fourth-and-3 gave the Packers the ball at their 35. On third-and-1, Rodgers faked the handoff to Aaron Jones and fired a slant to Allen Lazard. Nickel corner DaRon Bland fell and Lazard caught the ball 5 yards downfield and tacked on 31 yards after the catch to reach the Dallas 20. A 5-yard run by Jones, a block by Rodgers and a facemask penalty moved the ball to the 7. Rodgers took a knee to center the ball for Crosby, who kicked the 28-yard field goal for the win.

Green Bay led 14-7 on Rodgers’ 58-yard touchdown pass to Watson and a 13-yard run by Jones. Dallas scored three unanswered touchdowns, capped by a 35-yard pass to CeeDee Lamb, to take charge at 28-14.

With its losing streak and place in the standings, the Packers could have folded like some novice-made origami. They didn’t. Rodgers’ 39-yard strike to Watson on fourth-and-6 pulled Green Bay within a touchdown with 13 minutes to go. The Packers got the stop they needed, and Rodgers hit Watson again, this time from 7 yards, to tie the game at 28.

Green Bay had a shot at the end of regulation, needing about 30 yards in the final 1:38 to kick a field goal, but Rodgers wound up throwing it away on third-and-1. He was irate as the punt team trotted onto the field.

The game turned midway through the third quarter. With the game tied at 14, the Packers were poised to get good field position when Amari Rodgers fielded Bryan Anger’s punt with plenty of green grass ahead of him. Instead, cornerback C.J. Goodwin drilled Rodgers. The ball popped loose and the Cowboys recovered at Green Bay’s 45. Three plays later, Tony Pollard scored on a 13-yard run to put Dallas on top.

The Packers forged a 14-all tie at halftime. The Cowboys ran 42 plays to only 25 for Green Bay, but two of Dallas’ snaps were interceptions by safety Rudy Ford.

Game ball

The Packers have needed their rookie receivers to step up all season. Christian Watson did just that, shaking off two early drops to catch four passes for 107 yards and three touchdowns.

Questionable call

Why do the Packers keep calling on Amari Rodgers to return punts? Rodgers and Broncos running back Melvin Gordon entered the game with four fumbles, most by any non-quarterback. Rodgers bobbled the first punt and then fumbled one away to start the third quarter. The Cowboys turned that into the go-ahead touchdown. Keisean Nixon replaced him for the rest of the game.

Key moment

Looking beyond the obvious developments at the end of regulation and overtime, the Packers' goose might have been cooked if not for Rudy Ford. In the lineup at safety as Darnell Savage made his debut in the slot, Ford was the first-half hero. His first interception, coming moments after Aaron Rodgers fumbled away the ball at the 10, kept the Cowboys from building on their 7-0 lead and set the table for Rodgers’ 58-yard touchdown pass to Christian Watson. His second interception, which he returned to the Cowboys’ 24 after a big-time read of Dak Prescott, set up Aaron Jones’ 13-yard touchdown run for a 14-7 lead.

Key stat

Christian Watson scored three touchdowns. He joined James Lofton (1978), Max McGee (1954) and Billy Howton (1952) as the only rookie receivers with three-touchdown games in Packers history, according to Stathead.

And then there's this one:

Next week

The Packers will host the Tennessee Titans on Thursday night. Kickoff is set for 7:15 p.m. The Titans improved to 6-3 by holding off the Denver Broncos 17-10 on Sunday. Healthy again, Ryan Tannehill threw two touchdown passes.

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.

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