The Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys in the playoffs. Harkens up some unbelievable memories. This will be the 9th time the iconic franchises have met in the post-season. How iconic? Green Bay matched Dallas with it’s NFL leading 36th playoff appearance last week by beating the Bears. Dallas ranks first in all-time playoff games(66) followed by Pittsburgh (63) and the Packers third (61). With 36 wins in those 61 games, the Packers are one behind New England for the NFL record, sharing second with San Francisco, Pittsburgh and yes, Dallas. These two franchises have a total of 9 Vince Lombardi trophies in their cases. Sunday afternoon at 3:30 PM they will hook up again, for the first time ever in the Wild Card round at AT&T Stadium. Before looking ahead, let’s look back on the incredible post-season history between these two and I’ve been fortunate to cover 6 of the previous 8 playoff meetings.
January 1, 1967 NFL Championship Packers 34 Cowboys 27
This one came down to Dave Robinson draping onto Don Meredith that forced a wobbler into the end zone that Tom Brown picked up to secure the Pack’s second straight NFL title. Green Bay jumped out to a 14-0 lead but Dallas pulled to within 21-20 in the third quarter. Bart Starr connected with Boyd Dowler and Max McGee for touchdowns before Meredith had one more rally in him. A 68 yard strike to Frank Clarke set up a final shot from deep in the red zone that wound up in Green Bay’s hands. The win earned the Packers a trip to Super Bowl I and we all know how that one ended.
December 31, 1967 NFL Championship Packers 21 Cowboys 17
One of the greatest calendar years in franchise history ended with the Ice Bowl. So much was written about this game from Boyd Dowler’s two first half touchdown grabs, to George Andrie’s scoop and score after a sack. The Dan Reeves option pass touchdown to Lance Rentzel before the epic, 68 yard drive to the finish on Starr’s sneak with :13 left. Lost in the weather and the game’s drama is the fact this remains the last time in NFL history a team has won titles back to back to back. While I was just a kid at home that day, my brother came home with a three inch piece of the goal post that got pulled down that afternoon.
January 16, 1982 NFL Super Bowl Tournament Cowboys 37 Packers 26
The first post-season road game I covered. Now Head Coach Bart Starr’s best team had just opened the 8 team tournament after the strike marred 1982 season by whipping the St. Louis Cardinals at Lambeau Field. The Cowboys of Tom Landry were solid, building a 20-7 halftime lead thanks to a 39 yard pick six off Lynn Dickey by Dennis Thurman. Dickey heated up however, throwing for a then, playoff record 332 yards. James Lofton caught a first half TD and then used his legs on an unforgettable 71 yard end around to score. Mark Lee took a Danny White pick 22 yards to the house and the Packers got within 30-26 but Dallas had one more scoring drive in them to advance.
January 16, 1994 NFC Divisional Playoff Cowboys 27 Packers 17
Mike Holmgren and Brett Favre were taking their first steps toward their only Super Bowl. After stunning Detroit in their first playoff appearance together, the Packers took on a powerful Dallas team with Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin and company. A first quarter Chris Jacke field goal gave Green Bay the early lead but the Cowboys put up 17 points in the second quarter with Alvin Harper and Jay Novacek catching touchdowns. Robert Brooks and Sterling Sharpe grabbed second half TD’s from Favre but it wasn’t enough. Dallas would go on to capture the Super Bowl.
January 8, 1995 NFC Divisional Playoff Cowboys 35 Packers 9
The second straight verse was even worse. The reigning champions dominated this one with big plays through the air. Irvin, Harper and Novacek all topped 100 yards receiving and Harper put Dallas up 14-3 when he ran by Terrell Buckley on a 94 yard scoring strike. The Dallas defense shut out the Pack in the second half leaving the Packers wondering if they’d ever measure up the league’s standard bearer. Dallas was denied a repeat by Steve Young and the 49ers in the NFC title game.
January 14, 1996 NFC Championship Game Cowboys 38 Packers 27
Reaching their first Conference Championship Game since the Ice Bowl, it was one more trip to Dallas to take that one last step to the Super Bowl. Now the league’s MVP, Brett Favre matched Aikman toe to toe in the first half, throwing touchdowns to Robert Brooks for 73 yards and 24 to tight end Keith Jackson to keep Green Bay in through intermission down 24-17. A Chris Jacke field goal and a second TD from Brooks in the third had the Packers 15 minutes away with a 27-24 lead. That’s when Smith simply took over the game. The league’s all-time leading rusher finished with 150 yards on 35 carries scoring two fourth quarter TD’s around a costly Favre interception and the Cowboys, now coached by Barry Swtizer would go on to capture another title at Super Bowl XXX. The Packers would only have to wait one more year, avoiding Dallas in the playoffs to dispatch San Francisco, then Carolina to bring home the Lombardi in Super Bowl XXXI.
January 11, 2015 NFC Divisional Playoff Packers 26 Cowboys 21
After a near 20 year break, it was now Aaron Rodgers against Tony Romo at Lambeau Field. Unbeaten at home that year under Mike McCarthy, it was the Cowboys first post-season trip to the tundra since the Ice Bowl. Romo had 2 TD’s to Rodgers 1 in the first half as the Cowboys led at the break 14-10. Dallas moved in front 21-13 when the offense answered with an 80 yard drive capped by Davante Adams’ 46 yard touchdown grab. Richard Rodgers capped another 80 yard march with a 13 yard score pushing the Packers up by 5 and it stayed there when the two point try wasn’t converted. That’s set up the controversial finish. On 4th down, Romo had Dez Bryant in man coverage with Sam Shields and he came down with the ball at the one yard line and rolled in for what he thought was the go ahead score. Officials on the field initially ruled it was a catch but down at the one. After a Packer challenge, it was ruled incomplete because Bryant failed to maintain possession through the ground. The Packers ran off the final four minutes and headed to Seattle where their Super Bowl hopes were crushed in overtime.
January 15, 2017 NFC Divisional Playoff Packers 34 Cowboys 31
This might go down as the most thrilling finish I’ve had the pleasure to witness. Aaron Rodgers and the Packers came out hot with Richard Rodgers snaring a touchdown pass and Ty Montgomery crashing in twice down close to build a 21-3 lead. The Cowboys stormed back in the 4th quarter with Dak Prescott finding Jason Witten and Bryant for scores. A two point conversion got the game even at 28 with four minutes left. Mason Crosby connected on a 56 yard field with only a minute and a half to play. Dan Bailey answered from 52 with :35 left. The Pack wasn’t about to settle for overtime even facing third and 20 at their own 32 yard line with :12 remaining. Rodgers rolled to his left and while on the run, threw a deep ball that Jared Cook, by the toes of his shoes, pulled in on the sideline for 35 yards to set up Crosby for the wild, 51 yard, walk off field goal. The pass will go down as one of the most unforgettable plays in playoff history. The jubilation was short lived however as Green Bay was once again denied on the doorstep of a Super Bowl by falling to Atlanta in the NFC title game the following week.
Here we go again. This will be Jordan Love’s first playoff game and he’ll become a part of the playoff lore that featured Starr, Favre and Rodgers before him. He’s headed to a building that has been awfully kind to the Packers. They’ve gone five for five in AT&T Stadium since it opened, three regular season wins, once in the playoffs against the Cowboys and of course, Super Bowl XLV against the Steelers. Can’t wait for the next chapter on Sunday.
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