Last night, the Arizona Cardinals defeated the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Divisional Playoffs 26-20 in overtime – in a game that turned into an instant classic. While Cowboys Nation had the luxury of sitting back and watching the magic unfold, while leaving Arizona and Green Bay fans to sweat, there was one moment that sparked quite the reaction from the Dallas fanbase.
With the Cardinals driving late in the third quarter down by three, Carson Palmer found Larry Fitzgerald for a gain of 22 yards. However, Green Bay would challenge the reception – much like they challenged that of Dez Bryant in last year’s divisional round.
On this play, Fitzgerald appeared to lose control after securing possession of the football and running with it downfield. As we remember from Bryant’s play at Lambeau, the correct ruling would have been a completed pass – and at the very least a fumble that Bryant clearly recovered.
Here is the play:
#DezCaughtIt pic.twitter.com/gVg6gImYXb
— Sean Martin ✭ (@SeanMartinNFL) January 17, 2016
The refs got this one right, as Fitzgerald’s catch stood and the Cardinals went on to win in overtime – on a Fitzgerald touchdown reception.
Dez Bryant took to Twitter to express his thoughts on the play in a rather blunt manner:
Stop with the BS it was a catch
— Dez Bryant (@DezBryant) January 17, 2016
After realizing that the Cowboys’ fan base was rapidly drawing comparisons to the two plays, Bryant then responded with this:
Yes I caught it RT @Peter_Godrick: @DezBryant But did you catch it tho?
— Dez Bryant (@DezBryant) January 17, 2016
Here are some of the best fan tweets from immediately after the play:
Fitz caught it. Dez caught it.
— Marcus Mosher (@Marcus_Mosher) January 17, 2016
I almost threw my damn beer at my TV. #DezCaughtIt if #FitzCaughtIt. @nfl
— Patrik [No C] Walker (@VoiceOfTheStar) January 17, 2016
Friendly reminder that #DezCaughtIt
— B. Scott from Hiram Clarke (@brandonkscott) January 17, 2016
Don’t worry Dez, with a healthy Tony Romo in 2016 Cowboys Nation can look forward to plenty of catches throughout the season. See you back in the playoffs, #88.
