The Packers botched the clock management in overtime, costing themselves a chance at a win and nearly costing them a tie.
As it was, they left unsatisfied after settling for a red-zone field goal by Brandon McManus on the final play of overtime in a 40-40 tie with the Cowboys. It was the highest-scoring tie since the merger in 1970.
“It’s just one of those situations where the operation right there just too long,” Packers quarterback Jordan Love said. “We were wasting too much time right there. That’s really it.”
The Packers trailed by a field goal in overtime and were looking for a touchdown to win it. They reached the Dallas 25 with 1:15 left in overtime, the Dallas 19 with 52 seconds left, the Dallas 12 with 32 seconds left and called a timeout.
They got only two plays off after that, before the field goal, and had only one shot into the end zone, and it was not a good shot.
“We moved the ball well,” Love said. “Obviously, the sad part is we didn’t get to take any shots to the end zone until that last play. I think we had a good play called, and they didn’t play the way they were going to play, like they had defended the play before that.
“I think there’s a lot of stuff we still have to clean up. Just throwing the ball in bounds in a running-clock situation right there. There is stuff that we’ve got to figure out and be better at right there in those situations.”
The Packers called their only overtime timeout with 28 seconds left after Trevon Diggs tackled Matthew Golden for a 3-yard loss.
“Obviously the play call sucked,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said.
After the timeout, on second-and-13 from the 15, Love checked the ball down to Emanuel Wilson after the Cowboys didn’t give them the same look they did on the previous play and instead played Cover 2. Wilson lost a yard, and the Packers were slow getting back to the line.
They snapped the ball with six seconds left, had no real shot at a touchdown and left only one second on the clock after the incompletion landed. It was nearly a disaster.
“The operation was just way too slow,” LaFleur said. “I don’t know if our guys didn’t know we were in two-minute or what. But ultimately, the communication has got to get better. . . . That’s the bottom line.”
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