Packers, Aaron Rodgers rally to beat Cowboys; Christian Watson catches 3 TDs

It didn’t matter that the Packers were a struggling team, with a 3-6 record on the season, coming into Sunday’s Game of the Week on FOX. It didn’t matter that the Cowboys survived during the absence of quarterback Dak Prescott and were rejuvenated by his return in the past couple of weeks. This was always going to be a competitive game because that’s just the way football works.

Mike McCarthy reunites with Aaron Rodgers and Randall Cobb at Lambeau Field

Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy reunites with Aaron Rodgers and Randall Cobb at Lambeau Field before his matchup against the Green Bay Packers.

And wouldn’t you know it? In the most unpredictable of games, the most predictable of outcomes resulted — if we’re going off history alone. The Packers, and more specifically, Aaron Rodgers, held true to form against America’s Team and might have just set their season back on track after a 31-28 overtime win over the Cowboys at Lambeau Field. Rodgers is now 8-2 against Dallas in his career and the Packers added to their win column over the Cowboys. They are the only NFC team to have a winning record against them in the all-time series. 

This game looked like it was going to be a pretty even showing from both teams, especially at the half with the score tied at 14. The visitors had 170 total yards to Green Bay’s 159. If anything, it looked like the green and gold were still the Cowboy’s kryptonite thanks to two takeaways by the Packers defense. More specifically, they were two takeaways by safety Rudy Ford, who picked off Prescott twice — including once in the end zone.

The starkest contrast was how the Packers were able to capitalize on the gifts their defense gave them, scoring touchdowns on both ensuing drives after the interceptions. Dallas, however, could not, despite being gifted a fumble on a strip-sack of quarterback Aaron Rodgers by DeMarcus Lawrence.

At halftime, Prescott had a quarterback rating of just 67.6. Rodgers had a near-perfect 147.9 passer rating thanks to completing four of six attempts for 73 yards and a touchdown. He was sacked just once.

The Cowboys got hot on all sides of the ball in the third quarter, though. The two teams traded punts coming out of the half before Packers wide receiver Amari Rodgers fumbled yet another punt return. It was recovered by the Cowboys and set Dallas up with favorable field position yet again. Four plays later, running back Tony Pollard was in the end zone on a 13-yard touchdown run. 

The Packers couldn’t answer, punting the ball away instead. Prescott then engineered a seven-play, 86-yard drive that ended with a 35-yard dime to CeeDee Lamb for the score. It gave the Cowboys back-to-back scores for the first time in the game, along with a 28-14 lead with 2:47 left in the third quarter.

Despite their initial sputter, Green Bay wasn’t dead in the water yet. On a well-balanced nine-play, 76-yard drive, Rodgers performed like he usually does against the Cowboys, hitting rookie wide receiver Christian Watson for his second touchdown of the game on a 39-yard pass. He became the first Packers rookie to have two touchdown receptions in the same game since 1988.

It cut Dallas’ lead to just one score and undoubtedly elicited flashbacks to more than one occasion in the past for Cowboys fans.

The Packers continued to move the ball, both on the ground and with a few well-timed deep shots by Rodgers. While Watson had well over 100 yards thanks to said chunk plays, Aaron Jones had over 100 yards rushing on the day. A.J. Dillon was in the mix as well, as Green Bay seemed to find an offensive identity in the process.

It culminated in yet another touchdown — his third — to the rookie Watson, who tied the game 28-28 with 2:39 left on a seven-yard pass in what will now be known as his coming-out party.

Only Rodgers. And only against the Cowboys.

At the two-minute warning, Dallas had the ball back at their own 25. It was up to Prescott to prove a changing of the guard and the dawn of a new day in Dallas. Pollard got just three yards on first down. Then, behind consecutive incompletions, Dallas punted as Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy gave the ball back to his former team with the game tied and the clock winding down. 

Dallas had all three of their timeouts and used them, bringing Green Bay to third-and-1. Rodgers faked the handoff and looked, but there was no one to throw to as the Cowboys defense clamped down and the Packers had to punt yet again with 22 seconds remaining. Unsurprisingly, Rodgers had a few choice words for his head coach after the play. The game went into overtime.

Dallas won the coin toss and started with the ball. After a couple of quick strikes to get the Cowboys into Packer territory, the drive stalled out, with penalties derailing Dallas. In an aggressive call, McCarthy signaled for his team to go for it on fourth-and-3. The ball fell incomplete behind rare pressure from the Green Bay defense and Dallas turned the ball over on downs.

The Packers’ first series brought up third down in a hurry with just one yard to go. A quick slant to wide receiver Allen Lazard, who had just two receptions all game, went for 36 yards to the Dallas 20. Green Bay then kicked a chip-shot 28-yard field goal and the Packers emerged victorious.

So in the end, the Cowboys’ worst fears rang true once again. Rodgers engineered yet another comeback against Dallas thanks mostly to his rookie sidekick. There may not only be some fight left in the 38-year-old quarterback, but also in the Packers’ season, after all.

Carmen Vitali covers the NFC North for FOX Sports. Carmen had previous stops with The Draft Network and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. She spent six seasons with the Bucs, including 2020, which added the title of Super Bowl Champion (and boat-parade participant) to her résumé. You can follow Carmen on Twitter at @CarmieV.

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