Green Bay Overcome Washington

Aaron Rodgers did a jig after his first touchdown pass. Later, he was smiling and nodding and thrusting both arms overhead. And why not? He has a lot more fun when his offense is balanced — and the Green Bay Packers score seemingly at will.

Spurred by a hurry-up, and strong running, the wildcard Packers got going after a rough start Sunday, with Rodgers throwing for a pair of touchdowns while Eddie Lacy and James Starks each rushed for a score, and Green Bay beat the NFC East champion Washington 35-18 to reach the divisional round.

Rodgers opened one for eight, and the Packers’ first four drives ended this way: punt, safety, punt, punt. They had all of 11 yards after one quarter.

But trailing 11-0 early in the second quarter, two-time NFL MVP Rodgers and the Packers suddenly began to show the sort of ability to gain yards in chunks and put points on the board they had been missing while losing six of their final 10 games and letting the NFC North title slip away.

Green Bay (11-6) will play at the No2 seed Arizona Cardinals on Saturday night. In the other NFC game next weekend, the No1 seed Carolina Panthers will host the wildcard Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.

With the Packers and Seahawks joining the AFC’s Pittsburgh Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs, it’s the first time road teams went 4-0 in the wildcard round under the current NFL playoff format, which started in 1990.

Washington (9-8) had won four games in a row, but their season ended without a single victory over a team that finished with a winning record.

Rodgers finished 21 for 36 for 210 yards and no interceptions. Washington QB Kirk Cousins, making his first career playoff start after a breakthrough season, was 29 for 46 for 329 yards. He threw for one touchdown, lost one fumble and was sacked six times.

Here is how effective Green Bay was against a Washington defense that had developed a bend-but-don’t-break-reputation: The Packers scored on five consecutive possessions in one stretch, with four touchdowns and a field goal. Green Bay compiled their highest point total since a season-high 38 in week three.

Rodgers connected with Randall Cobb and Davante Adams in the endzone en route to a 17-11 half-time lead. In the second half, Starks scored from four yards out, and Lacy from two, as the Packers ran the ball on 13 of 15 snaps. After gaining 17 yards on nine carries in the first half, Green Bay finished with more than 140 yards rushing.

Washington looked like the better team in the early going. The game was barely four minutes old when Washington led 2-0 on its first postseason safety since 1984 — rookie linebacker Preston Smith got to Rodgers for his sixth sack in the past four games.

Washington then went ahead 5-0 on Dustin Hopkins’ 25-yard field goal, but the lead could have been larger. DeSean Jackson caught a pass from Cousins and initially was ruled to have scored, but the points came off when it was ruled that the ball never crossed the goalline. Later, Cousins connected with tight end Jordan Reed for a 24-yard score and, after a missed extra-point attempt, it was 11-0.

That was when Rodgers, the MVP of the 2011 Super Bowl, turned things around. Rodgers looked a lot more like himself in the second quarter, going five for six for 68 yards on a drive that ended with a 12-yard TD pass to Cobb, drawing Green Bay within 11-7. And Rodgers pulled out all his usual tricks, twice going with a quick snap that generated a too-many-men penalty on Washington’s defense. Later in that quarter, Cousins was strip-sacked by Mike Neal, who also recovered the fumble, which the Packers turned into a 43-yard field goal to trim their deficit to 11-10.

And Rodgers added his second scoring toss of the quarter with 28 seconds left, a 10-yarder to Adams that gave the Packers a 17-11 half-time lead. Rodgers danced around after that touchdown, and threw some fist pumps, too, feeling good about his offense for the first time in a while.

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Field Goal Seizes Cowboys Win

Perhaps fittingly, a fumbled punt return by Washington’s DeSean Jackson deep in his own territory led to Dallas’ only touchdown.

Dez Bryant’s sideline pouting aside, the receiver and the Cowboys will gladly accept the victory, because it means they’re somehow still in the thick of the playoff chase in the woeful NFC East.

With a wild finish capping an otherwise dull game filled with turnovers, punts and penalties, the Cowboys edged Washington 19-16 on Dan Bailey’s 54-yard field goal with 9 seconds left Monday night.

After combining to score 18 points in the first 58 1/2 minutes, the teams combined for 17 the frenzied rest of the way. Dallas scored the game’s first TD with 74 seconds remaining to lead 16-9 after recovering Jackson’s miscue on an ill-advised return, Washington tied it on Jackson’s 28-yard TD catch, and then Bailey hit the go-ahead kick.

The last-place Cowboys (4-8) won for the first time this season without Tony Romo at quarterback, and made quite a jumble of their division. They are only one game behind Washington, New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles, who are all 5-7.

Washington had won its past five home games, but this loss continued a pattern: Washington have not won in consecutive weeks all season.

With the score knotted at 9-9, Jackson – who hadn’t been used as a punt returner this season until last week – caught the kick at his 16, began running up the field and got past the 20, before reversing course and heading backward all the way to the 1. As he again tried to move forward, Jackson was surrounded and the ball popped out, recovered by punter Chris Jones at the 15 with 86 seconds remaining.

Dallas needed only two plays to cash in, jumping in front on Darren McFadden’s 6-yard touchdown run. A 41-yard kickoff return plus a 15-yard facemask penalty on J.J. Wilcox set Washington up at Dallas’ 43, and four plays later, Jackson hauled in a perfect pass from Kirk Cousins in the back corner of the end zone to pull even with 44 seconds to go.

That left enough time for Matt Cassel – previously 0-4 as a starter in place of the injured Romo this season – to take Dallas 20 yards in five plays for Bailey’s fourth field goal of the evening.

Washington’s Dustin Hopkins made three kicks but missed one from 43 yards with about 7 1/2 minutes remaining.

The teams combined for 16 penalties for 144 yards, along with 10 punts, seven in the first quarter alone.

Dallas lost three fumbles, including two by McFadden in his team’s own territory, but that trio of turnovers led to only three points for Washington.

Both QBs were mediocre, with Cousins going 22 for 31 for 219 yards, the one TD and zero interceptions, marking the first time Washington has lost this season when he avoided throwing a pick. Cassel finished 16 for 29 for 222 yards, with several of his throws landing nowhere near teammates.

Bryant was yelling and cursing and generally carrying on along the Cowboys’ sideline in the first half, apparently upset about not being thrown the ball. By halftime, he had zero catches and had been targeted twice.

He finished with three receptions for 62 yards, including a diving 42-yard grab that led to – what else? – a field goal.

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NFL - Giants 33 - 21 Redskins

The New York Giants notched their first victory of the season as they held firm in the fourth quarter to beat the Washington Redskins 33-21.

The Giants had fallen apart in the fourth quarter in defeats to Dallas and Atlanta in their opening two games, but this time they dominated most of the action against the injury-plagued Redskins.

They scored in nearly every way possible, beginning with running back Rashad Jennings blocking Tress Way's punt for a safety on Washington's opening series.

Andre Williams scored on a one-yard run, Josh Brown kicked three field goals, and Odell Beckham Jr made a 30-yard touchdown catch to settle matters.

Rueben Randle also had a 41-yard TD catch in the closing minutes, after which Washington's Rashad Ross returned the kick-off 101 yards for the final score.

Washington, who have now lost five successive games to the Giants, posted field goals of 44 and 37 yards from Dustin Hopkins, but any thoughts of a comeback ended when Matt Jones fumbled on his way into the end zone with just under 10 minutes remaining.

A late four-yard TD pass to Chris Thompson and two-point conversion reduced the deficit to 11 before Randle made his scoring catch to settle any New York nerves.

Giants quarterback Eli Manning, who had struggled in key situations in the two losses to the Cowboys and Falcons, was coolly efficient, finishing 23 of 31 for 279 yards, while Beckham had seven receptions for 79 yards, and Randle had seven for 116.

"We needed a win bad," Manning said. "We've been in there at the end and weren't able to hold on, so that was our emphasis tonight: win the fourth quarter."

Jennings added: "It's definitely important to get a win. I'm reluctant to use the word confidence, but it puts assurance on everything we know we're capable of accomplishing."

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Redskins Remain in Title Race

The Washington Redskins remained in the hunt for the NFC East title with a 17-16 victory over the New York Giants on Monday.

The Redskins moved to 6-6 to tie with the Dallas Cowboys and just behind the Giants, who dropped to 7-5.

Robert Griffin III broke Cam Newton's NFL record for rushing yards by a rookie quarterback with 72, while completed 13-of-21 passes for 163 yards and a touchdown.

Luck was also on Griffin's side as his fumble led to the opening touchdown. Griffin had lost possession when rushing but Josh Morgan recovered the ball and ran in from 13 yards.

Griffin also connected with Pierre Garcon with an eight-yard touchdown in the final quarter to seal the win.

Garcon had eight receptions for 106 yards in total, while Alfred Morris became the second Redskins rookie to run for 1,000 yards as he racked up 124 yards on 22 carries.

"We know that our backs are against the wall," said Griffin. "Even though we won tonight, our backs are still against the wall. That's the attitude we have to have.

"The guys in our locker room know how hard we've worked. We started the season 3-6 and now we're where we're at because of that hard work."

For the Cowboys, Lawrence Tynes landed field goals 39, 40 and 35 yards while Martellus Bennett scored their only touchdown.

Eli Manning completed 20-of-33 passes for 280 yards and Ahmad Bradshaw ran for 103 yards on 24 carries.

The Giants had won 26 matches in a row when leading at the break on the road, but they despite holding a 13-10 advantage they failed to close out the job.

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