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Todd Archer
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Todd Archer
ESPN Staff Writer
- Todd Archer is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the Dallas Cowboys. Archer has covered the NFL since 1997 and Dallas since 2003. He joined ESPN in 2010.
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Rob Demovsky
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Rob Demovsky
ESPN Staff Writer
- Rob Demovsky is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the Green Bay Packers. He has covered the Packers since 1997 and joined ESPN in 2013. Demovsky is a two-time Wisconsin Sportswriter of the Year as selected by the NSSA.
The history between the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys runs deep, starting with one of the NFL’s most iconic games, coined the Ice Bowl.
From Hall of Fame coaches (Vince Lombardi, Tom Landry, Jimmy Johnson) to Hall of Fame players (Bart Starr, Jerry Kramer, Paul Hornung, Forrest Gregg, Reggie White, Brett Favre, Charles Woodson, Bob Lilly, Mel Renfro, Bob Hayes, Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, Emmitt Smith) — and likely future Hall of Famers (Aaron RodgersZack Martin, Jason Witten) — their biggest meetings are loaded with star power.
Who knows where Micah Parsons‘ return to AT&T Stadium for the first time since the blockbuster August trade will rank, but it certainly adds another chapter to one of the NFL’s most storied rivalries. NFL Nation reporters Rob Demovsky and Todd Archer look back at the top moments between the Packers and Cowboys.
Ice Bowl: Starr’s sneak beats Cowboys
A year after the Packers beat the Cowboys in the 1966 NFL Championship Game to play in Super Bowl I, the teams met again at a frozen Lambeau Field. Temperatures at kickoff were 13 below zero and the wind chill was minus 45, bringing about the game’s nickname, The Ice Bowl.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Dan Reeves completed a 50-yard halfback option pass to Lance Rentzel for a touchdown that gave Dallas a 17-14 lead. But Starr had the Packers at the Cowboys’ 1-yard line with 16 seconds left and convinced Lombardi to try a quarterback sneak, despite not having timeouts and a frozen playing surface. Starr crossed the goal line for the winning score, and the Packers had the victory.
At kickoff, the temperature was -13 degrees Fahrenheit.
Bart Starr passed for two touchdowns and scored the game-winning rushing TD in the coldest game in NFL History: The Ice Bowl. (1967 NFL Championship)
(via @NFLThrowback) pic.twitter.com/c5xtr1uQ04
— NFL (@NFL) May 26, 2019
Rivalry renewed: “Triplets” lift Cowboys past Packers in ’95 NFC title game
While the Cowboys won two Super Bowls and played for three more in the 1970s, the Packers largely struggled, reaching the playoffs only twice from 1969 to 1992.
The Cowboys built what would become the team of the 1990s with Johnson and the “Triplets” — Irvin, Aikman and Smith. In 1994, the teams met in the divisional round of the playoffs at Texas Stadium as the Cowboys chased a third straight Super Bowl. Aikman threw for 337 yards, including a 94-yard touchdown pass to Alvin Harper, in a convincing divisional round win. Their quest for a Lombardi Trophy ended the following week against the San Francisco 49ersbut 364 days later, Dallas beat the Packers in the 1995 NFC Championship Game 38-27, led by Smith’s 150 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
The Cowboys have not played in a conference championship game since.
2007 in Dallas: Aaron Rodgers‘ breakout begins
Before Nov. 29, 2007, Rodgers had thrown 33 passes with one touchdown and one interception in his first three years as Brett Favre’s backup — but the course of his career changed one night in Dallas.
Favre left the game in the first half after a hit by Cowboys cornerback Nate Jones. Rodgers threw for 201 yards and a touchdown on 18-of-26 passing. The Cowboys won and secured home-field advantage, but it was spoiled in the divisional round by the New York Giants.
By the next season, Favre was with the New York Jets and Rodgers was beginning his Hall of Fame career in Green Bay.
“The Catch” that wasn’t: Dez Bryant’s overturned sideline snag
Late in the 2014 NFC divisional game at Lambeau Field, Dez Bryant hauled in a deep fourth-down pass from Tony Romo down the left sideline to put the Cowboys at the Packers’ 1-yard line while trailing 26-21. The catch set up what would have been a go-ahead touchdown with less than five minutes left in regulation. Except after further review, referee Gene Steratore ruled it incomplete.
The Cowboys never got the ball back, and the Packers advanced to the NFC Championship Game. The call has been debated for years, and several years later, members of the NFL’s competition committee said they believe it should have been a catch.
By a unanimous 32-0 vote among NFL owners, the league has a revised catch rule.
Under the new criteria, Dez Bryant’s infamous incompletion against the Packers would have been a catch.
MORE ➡️ https://t.co/4hVZ7FGVxX pic.twitter.com/R7IKhyLT0E
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) March 27, 2018
“The Catch” that was: Cook’s toe-tap sets up Crosby’s winner
Two years after the Bryant no-catch game, the teams met again in the divisional round of the 2016 playoffs.
This time, Packers tight end Jared Cook caught a 36-yard pass from Rodgers on third-and-20 with three seconds remaining in regulation. After a lengthy review, the call of a catch was upheld. On the next play, Mason Crosby kicked a 51-yard field goal that sent the Packers to the NFC Championship Game for the second time in three years.
Welcome back, Mike: McCarthy’s return to Lambeau
In Mike McCarthy’s first two seasons as the Cowboys coach, Dallas didn’t face Green Bay. So, the 2022 meeting was his first trip back to Lambeau Field since the Packers fired him in 2018.
The Cowboys led 28-14 entering the fourth quarter but lost 31-28 in overtime. In the days leading up to the game, McCarthy openly embraced the homecoming — something he admitted later that he felt was a mistake, saying, “I thought it was important for me to talk about Green Bay at the beginning of the week with the team. I regretted it. That doesn’t even need to come into our energy base, but you live and learn.”
Mike McCarthy back at Lambeau. 🙌
📺: #DALvsGB on FOX
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/rSmBWilFeT pic.twitter.com/V1N2O7ekea— NFL (@NFL) November 13, 2022
Playoffs again: Cowboys crumble in wild-card upset
When the two teams met in the wild-card round of the 2023 playoffs, the Cowboys were 12-5, unbeaten at home and heavy favorites. Meanwhile, the Packers snuck into the playoffs at 9-8 with Jordan Love in his first year as the starting quarterback. None of that mattered. Dak Prescott threw two interceptions, including a pick-six that helped build a 27-0 Green Bay lead, earning Love his first playoff win.
