STUNNING!!!!!!

Packers Pull Off Historic Comeback;

Cowboys Blow Huge Lead

Stunning. Unbelievable. Intense. Ridiculous. Are you kiddin’ me???

Those are among the superlatives being bandied about after A) - the Packers stunning comeback from a 26 – 3 hole they had dug for themselves in the first half or B) the Dallas Cowboys epic second half meltdown that saw them blow not one but two leads, one so large that the magnitude of its’ impact has yet to finish registering on the Richter Scale or C) the Detroit Lions bungled another W and now the Green Bay Packers now control their own destiny in the future. Win out and you are in the playoffs. With Detroit getting upended on a 61 yard last minute field goal to Baltimore the Packers need to close out against Pittsburgh and face Chicago for the NFC North crown. For all intents and purposes – it is playoff time.

But what about that comeback/ meltdown?

In the 90-odd years of the Packers existence then 23 point deficit that became a narrow, harrowing, thrilling, agonizing and entertaining 37 – 36 win over Dallas ties the franchises’ record for the largest come-from-behind win. For Dallas it is the biggest lead they’ve ever blown. 34 halftime points posted by the Pack. Eddie Lacy going over 1,000 yards. Matt Flynn tossing 4 touchdowns. Dez Bryant corralling 11 catches for 153 yards and another Tony Romo wrest-defeat-from-the-jaws-of-victory type of game that fill his resume. Even Mike McCarthy looks grayer after this one.

For the second straight game the Packers stayed lost in traffic on the bus for the first half of football. Whoever those guys posing as a playoff contender in green and gold were in that ignominious, putrid half of football were not the same team that took the second half by force and will in a furious comeback. The Cowboys put the wood to the Pack and nary a soul claiming to be a Packer Backer had to feel good about their prospects for the remainder of the game.

All the old nemesis and bugaboos were on display in the first half. No rushing defense. Horrendous tackling. Undistinguished secondary play. Matt Flynn struggling to find an open receiver. The offensive line leaking. Eddie Lacy playing valiantly but ineffectively on a bum ankle. About the only thing the Packers did marginally well was to limit Dallas to 3 field goals on drives that were potential back breakers.

The Cowboys bolted from the chute like lightning. Tony Romo was money in the first half finding Dez Bryant almost at will. Lost in the huzzahs of the final score is the 57 yarder that kicker Mason Crosby drilled right down Main St. At the time it seemed and inconsequential accomplishment lost in an avalanche of despair. Romo had over 200 yards passing by the half and the Packers were once again relegated to the role of the gang that couldn’t shoot straight.

Fortunately for the Pack the game was held at the scene of their ’10 Super Bowl title run. Imagine for a second the response the home crowd would have given the Packers at the merciful end of that awful first half. Perhaps the embodiment of the first half came on a Romo dump off to Bryant at the Packer 10. S Morgan Burnett lined up Bryant, squared his shoulders and launched himself. And hit nothing but the ground instead.

No one would have been excused had they turned off the set and just walked away to watch Perry Como Christmas reruns instead. It was not a wonderful life. The Pack was all but dead and there would be no happiness in Green Bay for Christmas, only a long, cold winter nap that would surely follow the second thrashing the Packers have endured this year.

26 – 3.

Yecccchhhh. Even the sound of it makes one cringe. A full 4 score lead. Surely the Cowboys could protect a lead that large at home, couldn’t they?

The Pack opened the second half at their own 20. On the first play from scrimmage Eddie Lacy broke off a 60 yard run that jump started the Packers comeback. WR Jordy Nelson has not had a TD reception since his main man went to the DL with a broken collarbone. It’s not like he has been forgotten but Aaron Rodgers and Nelson have a chemistry that has been developed and nurtured and was in full bloom when Rodgers went down.

Flynn hit Nelson in the back corner of the end zone that the 6’4” Nelson literally went up and over and plucked from the hands of Cowboy CB Orlando Scandrick. Scandrick played Nelson almost perfectly; his only shortcoming was being shorter than Nelson. At 26 – 10 it hardly appeared that a franchise tying comeback was in the offing.

We had previously referenced Tony Romo’s moments of questionable play. Cowboy head coach Jason Garrett must have been smoking whatever Romo was smoking as his play calling in the second half raised eyebrows on everyone from Jerry Jones to Mike McCarthy. The Packers had shown no ability to stop the run or tackle effectively. DeMarco Murray finished the day with 134 yards but most of them were in the first half. The biggest favor the Cowboys did the Packers was to abandon the run and go to the pass. The ‘Boys ran a total of 30 plays and throwing for 23 of them. The Cowboys, with a lead, were THROWING on the team that needed to throw. Every time a ball fell short or bounced off a hand the clock stopped saving precious seconds for the pack.

Andrew Quarless has become a serious weapon in the Packers attack of late. Once relegated way down on the depth chart behind Jermichael Finley after missing almost all of last year, Quarless has suddenly become an explosive outlet for Flynn. Quarless has become far more than a safety valve; he had 6 catches on 6 targets and his 3 yard catch in traffic form the 3 for a touchdown closed the Cowboys lead to 29 – 17. Even with the point output the Cowboys still held a hammerlock on the game.

And then Romo became Romo.

Tony Romo has a well-documented history of the December blahs and Sunday was no different. Inexplicably and unexpectedly completely foregoing the run Romo dropped back and was met by a suddenly robust Packer defense. That is no typo – the Packer defense rose again in the second half much like they did last week against Atlanta and pressured and hurried Romo time and again. Romo tried to rally after the Pack closed the gap but misfired twice keeping the clock in the Packers favor. On a key 3^rd down rookie DE Datone Jones and Clay Matthews chased down Romo and sacked him at the 2 giving the Packers excellent field position as the D forced a Cowboy punt.

Jerry Jones dumped a boatload of money on Romo in the offseason and Jason Garrett remained the fair-haired favorite son. Jones may need to take a long, hard look in the mirror after this particular sequence. The 3 and out took a whopping 1:08 off the clock and gave the Packers the ball at the Cowboy 48. Had Micah Hyde done what the Cowboys expected it may have made a difference.

However, had the Cowboys done what anyone with a football IQ above 15 expected this column would be chronicling the collapse of the Packers and the end of the line on an inglorious, injury riddled season. Even Packer fans had to wonder what the hell Garrett and Romo were thinking. A 12 point lead and only one quarter left should be close out time for any team let alone a contender. The weak effort and miniscule movement of the clock gave the Packers a glimmer of hope that was ever so slight. The cadaver showed the faintest trace of a heartbeat.

Last week Hyde blew an opportunity to return a punt by signaling for a fair catch with plenty of real estate in front of him. The kid’s a quick learner. Seeing a crack in the coverage Hyde blew it wide open and raced all the way back to the Cowboy 22. With excellent field position and 1 full quarter all of a sudden the impossible looked possible. 2 minutes later James Starks took a Flynn shovel pass in for 6. Down by 5 at 24 – 29 the burning question was have the Packers fired all the cannons and are now spent or can Romo be the anti-Romo?

The real Tony Romo showed up and promptly threw a pick that CB Tramon Williams snagged just off the turf. The replay showed the tip of the ball making contact with the ground saving Romo and his reputation momentarily. The Cowboy drive was aided by a ridiculous offside call against Mike Neal after the Cowboys Doug Free flinched at the line.  Romo moved the ‘Boys. Dallas finally caught the break they were seeking. A facemask penalty on LB Brad Jones hurt and Romo hit Bryant in the back of the end zone as Bryant fought off two defenders, grabbed a tracer dart from Romo and managed to tippy toe the end line to restore some order to the Dallas sideline. Bryant is that rare mercurial sort that can somehow contort his physique to the moment. His exceptional catch expanded Dallas’ lead to 36 – 24 with just a shade under 8 minutes left.

The clock should have been the Cowboys ally and the Packers worst enemy. Not today. Not this time.

Flynn moved the Packers from the shotgun into the end zone without having a playing longer than 14 yards with the lone exception being the beautiful comeback adjustment catch of 27 yards made by Jarrett Boykin that put the ball on the Dallas 7. Lacy’s ankle injury had kept him from full gallop. For the day Lacy would rush for 141 yards becoming the first Packer RB to rush for over 1,000 yards for a season since Ryan Grant in ’09. Flynn hit James Jones from the 3 and Jones made a tough grab as his legs were being bent into the shape of a pretzel. At 36 – 31 with 4:17 remaining the Cowboy faithful began to cover their eyes as if they were in a Friday the 13^th marathon waiting for the boogeyman to jump from nowhere inflicting mayhem.

In our previous column we had referenced Tony Romo and his penchant for “what the hell was he thinking?” decisions. Well, Romo did not disappoint anyone except Cowboy fans. On 1^st down Romo gambled and went for it all – and missed. 2^nd down – a Mike Neal sack. A key 3^rd down conversion to Bryant forced Mike McCarthy to burn a precious timeout. Bryant finished with 11 catches for 153 yards with 1 TD. Garrett remembered he had a running game and Murray went up the middle for 4. Much like a well-crafted novel the stage was set for the climax of what turned out to be a thrilling nail biter.

It has been said football is a game of inches. With the Packers reeling someone either missed or forgot to block the one Packer that must be accounted for on defense. As Romo dropped back Clay Matthews came from the right side untouched with Romo dead in his sights… and missed. “Oh, man, I was mad for that [half second] when I missed [Romo]” said Matthews. “I was mad about missing the sack and then…”

The thought didn’t need to be finished. Under duress Romo threw one of his patented ill-timed, off balance throws on the run to Miles Austin, a play Romo checked out of a called run at the line. In all fairness Austin had CB Sam Shields beaten badly on the in route and Romo’s throw wasn’t awful. But it was slightly behind allowing Shields to do what he does best and fire the rockets, close the gap and make a diving pick giving the ball back to Flynn and Co with 2:46 left at the Dallas 48. After being humiliated for one entire half the Packer defense held strong and played every down, a tall order when staring down a 23 point deficit. As Cowboy coach Jason Garrett fumed at the audible Green Bay took over.

Flynn hit Quarless for a huge gainer. From then on it was Lacy, Lacy, a key pass interference call on a Quarless target, and more Lacy. The Pack’s prize rookie is closing in and should surpass John Brockington’s all time rookie rushing record and his bull like steamroller rushes thru the middle of the overmatched Cowboy line was a display of raw power football the likes of which have not been seen in Green Bay in for some time. After Lacy ground the ball to the 1 and another Packer timeout McCarthy went to the unconventional. Along with FB John Kuhn the McCarthy opened the Refrigerator and inserted DT B.J. Raji in as a blocking back as the Chicago Bears had once utilized William Perry. Raji is a big, big man and the hole he created was even bigger. Lacy went up and over and into the end zone giving the Packers the most improbable of leads imaginable.

Romo took one last shot at redeeming himself and clearing his name. The Eagles had already lost and Dallas was playing for the lead in the NFC East. A 9 yard completion stopped the clock and at this point Romo became…well, Tony Romo. Almost unbelievably Romo rolled out at the line and as he dropped back he fired a low ball on an out intended for Chad Beasley. But Beasley cut his route short and Tramon Williams, he of the previous almost interception, dove and snagged the ball with both hands, rolled over and secured it close to his body ending any confusion about an interception.

So when Williams looked up to see the side judge washing out the play indicating an incomplete pass Williams went almost berserk in imitating the throw of a challenge flag. “Man, I wasn’t giving that ball back” said Williams afterwards. “I have never been so certain about catching a ball in my life. The [ref] called for the ball like 4 or 5 times and I wasn’t going to let it go.” As Williams implored his coach to get the play reviewed Romo tried to get another play off to no avail. McCarthy wasted no time in collaring an official and the great states of Texas, Wisconsin and a national TV audience in the million held its collective breath.

When referee Walt Coleman emerged from the hood he confirmed what everyone already knew: Williams had, in fact, snagged the ball cleanly just inches from the ground, tucked it in and landed on his back… with the ball safely tucked away from harm’s way. The defense won the game after giving up 36 points.

In the most stunning and improbable Perils of Pauline twist of events the Packers held the ball and the Cowboys could do nothing but watch Flynn take 3 knees to complete the historic, hysterical, maniacal comeback. Make that the Cowboys minus one Dez Bryant. As the Packers went into their victory formation the mercurial man-child and full blown WR Diva Bryant stormed off the field in a huff in a classless, immature move where he could, his own words, not be seen crying in public. For Mike McCarthy it was “It was all I could do to keep from crying in [the locker room]” said McCarthy after he could breathe again when the game was done.

The numbers of the second half boggle the mind. As inept as they were in the first half the Packers were more than ept in the second half. 5 possessions/ 5 TD’s and 34 points after missing on a two point attempt.. The Cowboys’ stats beg the question what the hell are you thinking? For the 2^nd half the Cowboys ran 30 plays – 23 passes and 7 runs. Seven. S-E-V-E-N rushing attempts, and this against a team that has been awful against the run. DeMarco Murray was averaging 7 yards per CARRY. But 7 rushing attempts with a *gulp* 23 point lead? A 16 point lead? A 12 point lead?

As bad as the Packers were in the first half the Cowboys took the awful and raised it into horrendous. There will be many red faces in Dallas. Romo will have to answer even more questions about his December failures. Jerry Jones has already committed to Garrett and Romo. Is an ugly divorce in the offing? Garrett has already fired the first shot across the bow telling the media the Romo “…checked out of a called run at the line…” Garrett did not merely throw Romo under the bus – he drove the bus himself over Romo, backed up and run him over again.

The Packers eagerly took the Cowboys Santa Claus imitation and celebrated all the way out of Big D. As they settle in to root for the Ravens and whoever else is playing them Lions there is hope still in Green Bay. And… there is a certain quarterback waiting in the wings to take the field again. With the Lions having lost 18 – 16 to the Ravens the Packers and Bears now have to win out to take the North and Detroit will once again be on the outside looking in. Knowing that the Pack faces Da Bears in Chicago to end the season against each other makes the looming bareknuckle brawl all the more enticing.

There will be no joy in Dallas or Detroit this year.

But ~ it’s the most wonderful time of the year.

In Green Bay.