This might have been a much bigger story if Green Bay lost
Aaron Rodgers helped the Green Bay Packers to an overtime win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, but it didn’t come without frustration for the star quarterback.
Cameras caught a visibly flustered Rodgers screaming at Packers head coach Matt LaFleur in the final minute of regulation and the game tied 28-28. It came after Green Bay started a possession at its own 33-yard line with 1:38 left in the fourth quarter. After two run plays and an incompletion on third-and-1, Rodgers voiced his displeasure to LaFleur as the Packers sent the punt unit onto the field with 22 ticks left.
Rodgers explained what led to his frustration in a postgame press conference after Green Bay’s 31-28 overtime win.
“Just every single play call, probably,” Rodgers bluntly told reporters when asked what he was upset about, per the team. “Yeah, I felt like we were like 30 yards from ending the game in regulation. And also felt like it was two-minute (offense) so I was going to be calling those (plays). And I was in a pretty good rhythm, obviously I didn’t have a ton of attempts tonight, but I felt like I was in a pretty good rhythm. I felt like I threw the ball just about exactly where I wanted to tonight. So I wanted a chance to go win the game.”
Rodgers finished 14-for-20 passing for 224 yards and three touchdowns.
LaFleur shouldered the blame for how the two-minute offense was handled while citing his own “indecision.” He credited Rodgers and the Packers for making up for his conservative play-calling at the end of regulation.
“A lot of times we get in those situations we give Aaron a ton of freedom to run the show. And he does a great job of it,” LaFleur told reporters, per the team. “So, hindsight is 20-20, but that was on me. Totally.”
Fortunately for the Packers, Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy made a questionable decision to go for it on fourth-and-3 in overtime rather than attempt a 52-yard field goal, which would have given Dallas a three-point lead. McCarthy stuck by the decision after the game, especially given that the Packers’ offense had the best game of any Dallas opponent this season.
The loss dropped the 6-3 Cowboys to the sixth spot in the NFC playoff picture with Dallas set to face the Minnesota Vikings in Week 11. The Packers snapped a five-game losing streak to improve to 4-6 and have a short week before facing the Tennessee Titans on “Thursday Night Football.”