ARLINGTON, United States // Matt Flynn is ready to hand the starting job back to Aaron Rodgers.
While he’s finished filling in for the injured former Super Bowl MVP, he has a spot in Green Bay lore, even if it’s not quite on par with the franchise’s many championship moments.
Flynn threw four touchdown passes in the second half, Eddie Lacy had the winning score on a 1-yard plunge after Tony Romo threw an interception to give the Packers one more chance, and Green Bay matched the biggest comeback in franchise history with a 37-36 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.
“Yeah, it’s probably the biggest win of my career,” said Flynn, who has won two straight starts after the Packers were winless for five straight without Rodgers, including the Chicago game when he broke his left collarbone.
The epic rally fueled by Flynn – and helped along by Romo – didn’t change anything about the quarterback situation with the Packers (7-6-1) still in play-off contention heading into a home game against Pittsburgh.
Rodgers was close to medical clearance against the Cowboys, but missed his sixth straight game. He was wearing a headset on Green Bay’s sideline.
“I don’t anticipate being the guy going forward,” said Flynn, who was released twice this year before the Packers picked him up after Rodgers got hurt. “We all anticipate Aaron getting healthy.”
Romo tossed two interceptions in the final 3 minutes, the first set up Green Bay’s go-ahead score with the Cowboys in position to run out the clock.
Lacy scored with 1:31 to go for Green Bay’s first lead since the first quarter and after the Packers trailed 26-3 at halftime.
“It took me everything not to cry,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “I’m just drained. Just the sheer emotion. It was incredible.”
Playing on the same field where Rodgers was the MVP when they won the 2011 Super Bowl, the Packers matched the 23-point rally by the 1982 team in a September game against the Los Angeles Rams.
OTHER SUNDAY RESULTS
Dolphins 24, Patriots 20
Quarterback Ryan Tannehill tossed a 14-yard touchdown pass to running back Marcus Thigpen with 1:15 left in the game as the Miami Dolphins beat the New England Patriots at Sun Life Stadium.
The winning drive took nine plays and 60 yards with 2:52 taken off the clock.
Miami then stopped Patriots quarterback Tom Brady on New England’s final try for the win, although Danny Amendola had two hands on the ball in the end zone in the final minute before safety Michael Thomas broke up the play.
Then, on fourth-and-five at the Miami 14, Thomas, in his first game after the Dolphins signed him as a free agent, intercepted Brady in the end zone. Brady passed for 364 yards, two touchdowns and the one interception.
Colts 25, Texans 3
Andrew Luck passed for 180 yards and two touchdowns as the Indianapolis Colts strolled to a big win over the Houston Texans.
The Colts (9-5) were missing nine starters but breezed past a floundering Houston team that lost their 12th straight. TY Hilton had a career-high eight catches for 78 yards and Griff Whalen, a teammate of Luck’s at Stanford University, caught his first career touchdown after being signed from the practice squad the day before the game.
Since going 6-2 in the first half of the season, Indianapolis had lost three of their last five, struggling with injuries and unproductive play in the first half of games. But the Colts raced to a 20-3 halftime lead, got two interceptions from cornerback Darius Butler and limited the Texans to 239 yards total offence.
49ers 33, Buccaneers 14
Staked to just a six-point lead in the fourth quarter, the San Francisco 49ers used a 77-yard drive that helped them clinch the victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium.
San Francisco (10-4) dominated much of the game, but the Bucs rallied to cut the lead to 20-14 on the first play of the fourth.
Quarterback Colin Kaepernick came through with two huge third-down conversions – a 13-yard pass to wide receiver Michael Crabtree on third-and-12, then a 10-yard scramble on third-and-6 – to help set up a field goal for a nine-point lead.
Seahawks 23, Giants 0
Cornerback Richard Sherman picked off two of Eli Manning’s five interceptions and the Seattle Seahawks converted two of the New York Giants’ turnovers into 14 points en route to the thumping at MetLife Stadium.
The five interceptions by Manning are a single-game career high, and extended the Giants’ streak of at least one giveaway per game this season.
If that was not bad enough, Manning matched his single-season career high of 25 interceptions set in 2010. He now has 169 career turnovers, which passes Charlie Conerly as the Giants’ franchise leader.
Falcons 27, Redskins 26
There is plenty of drama surrounding coach Mike Shanahan and the Washington Redskins these days. It carried over into Sunday’s road game at the Atlanta Falcons.
After backup quarterback Kirk Cousins led a scoring drive to pull his team within one point of tying Atlanta, Shanahan elected for a go-ahead two-point conversion instead of an extra point. Cousins’ pass was batted down, allowing the Falcons to escape with a win at the Georgia Dome.
Shanahan announced in the middle of the week that he was benching starting quarterback Robert Griffin III and turning to Cousins for the final three games. With Griffin in street clothes, watching from the sidelines, Cousins capped a fourth-quarter scoring drive with a touchdown pass to Santana Moss with 22 seconds to play that cut the Falcons lead to 27-26.
Bears 38, Browns 31
Jay Cutler threw two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter and the Chicago Bears scored 21 unanswered points to complete a come-from-behind victory over the Cleveland Browns.
The Bears (8-6) took over first place in the NFC North as the Detroit Lions (7-6) host the Baltimore Ravens on Monday night.
The Browns (4-10) lost for the fifth straight time. They led 24-17 to start the fourth quarter and had the Bears pinned at the Chicago 5. Cutler, in his first start since November 10, was 22 of 31 for 265 yards with three touchdowns.
Bills 27, Jaguars 20
Needing a victory to avoid finishing in last place in the AFC East for the sixth consecutive season, the Buffalo Bills got just that when they defeated Jacksonville, snapping the Jaguars’ three-game win streak.
The Bills (5-9) also ended a five-game losing streak and won for just the second time on the road this season.
Vikings 48, Eagles 30
Third-string running back Matt Asiata tied a franchise record with three rushing touchdowns and the Minnesota Vikings hammered the Philadelphia Eagles at Mall of America Field.
Asiata’s third score came with 1:08 left in the game.
The loss by the Eagles made next Sunday night’s contest against play-off hopeful Chicago a weighty primetime game.
Panthers 30, Jets 20
The Panthers’ defence was back in fine form during Carolina’s victory over the New York Jets at Bank of America Stadium.
Running back DeAngelo Williams scored on a tiebreaking 72-yard pass play late in the first half, and cornerback Captain Munnerlyn returned an interception 42 yards for a touchdown as the Panthers moved to the verge of clinching an NFC play-off spot.
Chiefs 56, Raiders 31
Running back Jamaal Charles scored a team-record-tying five touchdowns, and the Kansas City Chiefs clinched a play-off berth with a resounding victory over the Oakland Raiders.
Charles caught four touchdown passes from quarterback Alex Smith and ran for a touchdown, tying former running back Abner Haynes for the team touchdown record, set in 1961 against the Raiders.
Charles caught eight passes for a career-high 195 yards, helping the Chiefs (11-3) make the play-offs for the first time since 2010. Last season, Kansas City finished 2-14, tied for the NFL’s worst record.
Rams 27, Saints 16
Kellen Clemens passed for two touchdowns, Zac Stacy rushed for 132 yards and a touchdown and the St Louis Rams defense harassed quarterback Drew Brees all day as the Rams upset the New Orleans Saints.
Brees threw two interceptions in the first quarter for only the second time in his career, was sacked four times, lost a fumble and did not pass for a touchdown until there was only 3:07 left in the game as the Saints were denied a chance to clinch a play-off spot.
Cardinals 37, Titans 34 (OT)
After blowing a 17-point lead with just over three minutes left in regulation, the Arizona Cardinals clinched a rare winning season and stayed alive for an NFC wild-card play-off berth.
Jay Feely connected on a 41-yard field goal with 10:18 left in overtime as Arizona stayed a game behind Carolina and San Francisco going into the final two weeks of the regular season.
