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Post by NFL Historian on Dec 16, 2023 19:01:01 GMT 10
Sunday Jan 14, 1996 Start Time: 4:00pm
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Post by NFL Historian on Dec 16, 2023 19:02:20 GMT 10
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Post by NFL Historian on Dec 16, 2023 19:04:13 GMT 10
Game information Running back Emmitt Smith rushed for 150 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns, while also catching 2 passes for 17 yards as the Cowboys overcame a Packers 27–24 lead in the fourth quarter.
Green Bay got off to a slow start as quarterback Brett Favre threw incompletions on his first six pass attempts of the game and the team failed to gain any yards on their first 9 plays. However, Packers linebacker Bernardo Harris blocked a punt from John Jett on the game's opening drive that gave the team the ball at the Dallas 23 and enabled them to score first on Chris Jacke's 46-yard field goal. Dallas stormed right back with an 11-play, 80-yard drive, featuring a 35-yard reception by Deion Sanders. Troy Aikman finished the drive with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Michael Irvin. Then Dallas defensive tackle Leon Lett intercepted a screen pass from Favre on the Packers 13, and they scored another touchdown on Aikman's 4-yard throw to Irvin, giving the team a 14–3 lead. However, Favre's first completion of the day turned out to be a big one, a 73-yard touchdown bomb to Robert Brooks. Dallas was forced to punt on their next drive, and Antonio Freeman gave his team great field position with a 39-yard return, with an additional 15 yards coming from a facemask penalty on Jett. This gave the Packers the ball on the Dallas 35, and two plays into the second quarter, Favre threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to tight end Keith Jackson. So despite only holding the ball for 2:53 in the first quarter, Green Bay now had the lead at 17–14.
The Cowboys responded with two long drives for 10 points and a 24–17 halftime lead. Chris Boniol tied the game with his 29th consecutive field goal, putting it through the uprights from 34 yards to conclude a 60-yard drive. Packers punter Craig Hentrich subsequently pinned Dallas back at their own 1-yard line with a 57-yard kick, but Smith bailed his team out with a 25-yard run on the next play, starting off a playoff-record 99-yard drive. Irvin made two big receptions on it, converting the drive's only third down with a 10-yard catch and later hauling in a pass for a 28-yard gain on the Packers 16-yard line. With 24 seconds left in the half, Smith finished the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run.
Personal fouls against Lett and Dixon Edwards helped start two Green Bay scoring drives in the third quarter. They opened the half with a 52-yard drive to score on Jacke's 37-yard field goal. The next time they got the ball, Favre's 54-yard completion to tight end Keith Jackson set up his 1-yard touchdown pass to Brooks that gave the Packers a 27–24 lead. But Dallas regained the lead a few plays into the fourth quarter after Smith's 5-yard touchdown run capped off a 90-yard possession. Green Bay responded with a drive past midfield, but Cowboys cornerback Larry Brown put an end to it by intercepting Favre's pass and returning it 28 yards to the Dallas 48. Irvin made a juggling reception near the sidelines for a 36-yard gain on the next play, and then Smith took the ball into the end zone with a 16-yard run to ice the game. Green Bay's final two possessions would each end with a turnover on downs.
Aikman completed 21 of 33 passes for 255 yards and two touchdowns. Irvin caught 7 passes for 100 yards and 2 scores. Favre threw for 307 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 2 interceptions. Brooks finished the game with 6 receptions for 105 yards and 2 touchdowns. Freeman had 212 all-purpose yards (10 rec, 148 KR, 54 PR)
After the contest, Reggie White was so visibly upset, he started shouting at television crews who were filming him on the sidelines. This was the third consecutive year that Dallas eliminated Green Bay from the playoffs (All three games were played in Dallas). "We keep coming down here and getting lessons,” said Packers coach Mike Holmgren, whose team had lost six in a row in Dallas since October 1993. "I'm tired of getting lessons."
Meanwhile, the Cowboys were jubilant about making their third Super Bowl appearance in the last four seasons. "We're going home", Irvin said after the game. "We let somebody else borrow our house last year, but we're going back where we belong. I'm going to check the lease, make sure they cleaned up after themselves."
This was the sixth postseason meeting between the Packers and Cowboys. Dallas had won three of the prior five meetings.
Wikipedia
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