Dallas Cowboys vs Green Bay Packers: ‘Dez Caught It’ Revisited
By Randy Gurzi
As the Green Bay Packers set to face the Dallas Cowboys in the Divisional Pound of the NFL Playoffs we look back at their controversial 2015 playoff game.
The NFL is funny. They seem to always luck into some crazy dramatic story that draws some serious attention. This weekend for instance, we have the Kansas City Chiefs facing the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers employ Todd Haley as offensive coordinator, who was once a head coach for the Chiefs.
In New England, the Patriots will host the Houston Texans. There we have former Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien as the head coach against his old team. Along with him are defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel, who held the same title in New England and a former Pats star linebacker Mike Vrabel who coaches that same position in Houston.
Then in Atlanta, the Seahawks are heading to town to face their former defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who is the coach of the Falcons. All those storylines are pretty cool and will be talked about a good bit during the games. There is one storyline, though, that will capture the headlines not only during the game itself, but in the days leading up to the clash.
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On Sunday the Green Bay Packers head to Texas to face the number one seed Dallas Cowboys in a rematch of the 2015 Divisional Round game which can simply be referred to as the “Dez caught it” game.
No matter which side you stand on, everyone knows which controversial game is being mentioned by that phrase. It was the Cowboys first chance at going to the NFC Championship game in years after just knocking off the Detroit Lions in their own controversial way. They traveled north to the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field and they saw their hopes at winning consecutive playoff games dashed on a fourth-and-2 play in which quarterback Tony Romo threw a lob pass for wide receiver Dez Bryant.
Originally called a catch, the refs then went under the hood to review. They then watched the replay in which Bryant catches the ball, places it in his dominate hand and then dives for the goal line. As he dove the ball bounced up and the officials say Bryant lost control and didn’t complete the act of a catch.
To this day the call has forever changed the idea of what is a catch and what is not. The rules have changed and are more confusing than ever. The average NFL fan has no clue what constitutes a catch any more and in all honesty NFL refs have even less of a clue. It was an iconic game, and one that will be looked back upon for years. So who are we to fight it? Let’s break down the contest between the Packers and Cowboys in January of 2015.