Naturally, whenever it is the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers meeting in the playoffs, old memories regarding Dez Bryant and the “catch” start to surface. Cowboys fans know it was, but the rules at the time (and have now since been changed) say it wasn’t. Yet, it is just one moment in a laundry list of wild moments between the two franchises.
Let’s revisit the moment that changed the future of both franchises forever.
Revisiting the Dez Bryant “Catch”
In what was a heavyweight Divisional Round matchup nine years ago between two franchises with a long rich history — both individually and with one another — there was a chapter written that won’t soon be forgotten.
9 years ago
The whole world know I caught!
I changed the game forever! pic.twitter.com/m1JeffNeRD
— Dez Bryant (@DezBryant) January 11, 2024
Facing a 4th-and-2 from the Packers 32-yard line with the Cowboys down 26-21 with 4:40 on the clock in the fourth quarter and rolling, Tony Romo and the Cowboys dialed up a shot down the sideline to a one-on-one Dez Bryant.
On this day 9 years ago….@DezBryant caught it.
pic.twitter.com/wvGMzNGrjC— JPAFootball (@jasrifootball) January 11, 2024
Bryant goes up and skies over the defender to pull down what looked like an excellent catch to bring the Cowboys down to the 1-yard line. However, the rules at the time were distinctly different. Due to the ball moving around the ground as he came down, a review overturned the call, hence turning the ball over to Aaron Rodgers and the Packers’ offense.
Many within Cowboys Nation will tell you that 2014 felt like the best chance the team has had at breaking the Super Bowl streak. Although there is no guarantee that Rodgers wouldn’t have just gone down the field and won the game anyway, many feel like they were robbed of that chance.
To this day, the head official of that game Dean Blandino still stands by his call, and in the time, the letter of the rule was followed.
“The one call that I don’t necessarily think about all that much but people won’t let me forget it was Dez Bryant,” he said on the High Motor podcast. “Under the rule, that was the right call.”
However, since then, the rule has been changed. All parties involved acknowledge that, in today’s NFL, that is a catch.
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