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Allen Lazard had it all in his hands – a chance to give the seeded Green Bay Packers a top-tier lead in their divisional playoff game, a ticket to Titletown immortality and, for a split second, football – and then, with a sudden thud, it all crumbled onto the frozen tundra.
Steps away from Los Angeles Rams cornerback Darious Williams and straight to Aaron Rodgers’ glorious pass of action, Lazard stretched out his white gloves 35 yards from the end zone and grimaced as the ball fell from the tips of the fingers.
So much to end the hopes of the Rams, sixth seed, in the middle of the third quarter. Three plays later, the Packers were punting for the first time; Seven minutes later, with 1:41 left in the third quarter, LA had converted a two-point conversion to trick-play to shoot within seven points.
It was Nervous Time at Lambeau Field, where 7,439 snow-capped and socially estranged fans gathered on Saturday to represent Packer supporters everywhere amid a global pandemic. Yet Lazard, even in his moment of apparent ignominy, couldn’t have been colder.
“I don’t really mind,” Lazard told me in a post-game phone interview. “Just because I know it’s a drop less than I’ll ever have, and I can just keep moving forward. And I know when the next opportunity comes, I’ll play.”
At that point, in an area across the hall, from the optimistic Packers locker room, Lazard had the luxury of speaking those words with authority. Redeemed himself by making the play of the game, splitting two Rams defensive backs and pulling a 58-yard touchdown pass from Rodgers to put the finishing touches on Green Bay’s 32-18 win, the third-year wide receiver could look ahead. at the Jan. 24 NFC Championship game (against the winner of Sunday’s divisional game between the New Orleans Saints and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Lambeau) – rather than spending an offseason looking back regretfully on the opportunity that escaped him.
This should not be confused with The look, an expression of disgust on his demanding quarterback, who greeted Lazard as he returned to the clique.
“Oh, I love that look,” Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett later joked. “You didn’t live until you figured it out.
Lazard understood this – and lived to fight another coin.
“The communication in these cases isn’t really verbal,” Lazard said of Rodgers’ reaction to his fall in the third quarter. “It’s a bit more of a look. We’re both on the same page, obviously. I want to catch the ball, and he wants me to catch the ball. I don’t think he necessarily has to. be anything as far as “Catch the ball” or “Do your job” or whatever, because he knows I care… and people make mistakes, so you have to continue to advance.
For Rodgers, a 37-year-old superstar in search of his second Super Bowl ring – and the first chance to start an NFC Championship game at the stadium he loves most – the stakes were obvious. In a showdown with fellow former Cal Jared Goff, who played admirably (21 for 27, 174 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions) following thumb surgery and helped give the Rams a chance to fight, Rodgers needed his teammates to lock in. to make sure he would have the upper hand.
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