Cobb: Packers 'never gave up'
Gannett Wisconsin Media’s Brett Christopherson caught up with Green Bay Packers wide receiver Randall Cobb, who shared his thoughts on Thursday’s 27-23 victory over the Detroit Lions:
You were the first one to land on Richard Rodgers after he caught that 61-yard Hail Mary touchdown heave from Aaron Rodgers, a hookup that lifted the Packers past the Lions. What do you remember most about that moment? And what were you telling him on the bottom of that dogpile?
RC: It was kind of funny. I was trying to get in position for if it got tipped up, I could catch it off the tip. And when I saw him catch it, I saw him going to the ground, and I just jumped on top of him. I felt like a little kid, really. I couldn’t believe it. He had just caught it, and we had just won. I just remember being on top of him, and the next thing I know, there were 30 people on top of me, and me and him were at the bottom of the pile. And we were like, ‘I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe’ back and forth to each other.
What was going through your mind as the play was unfolding and you watched the flight of the ball and how high it was thrown?
RC: When the ball was snapped, (Jared) Abbrederis was asking me what to do. And I was like, ‘I don’t know, just run.’ That’s what I told him. And I peeked back to see if Aaron might try to find one of us, and we could start to lateral – see if that was going to work. And then I got to probably about the 15- or 20-yard line, and I kind of slowed down because I couldn’t see where (Aaron) was. And then finally I saw him break free to the right and launch the ball. I’m watching the flight of the ball and just trying to get over and get in the action. I was kind of between that moment of, ‘Do I jump up and go for it, or do I wait for it to come off the tip?’ So I waited for it to come off the tip, and luckily Richard came down with it.
Bakhtiari: Hail Mary a momentum builder
Your offense managed just 78 total yards and was shut out in the first half. But in the second half, the offense scored touchdowns on four of its five possessions, with two of those scores capping drives of 75 and 84 yards. What got the offense moving?
RC: I’m going to say the unsung hero was (running back John) Crockett. When Crockett came in, I felt like he provided us with that spark. He brought a lot of energy, and that’s just who he is as a person. But he provided us with energy, and we was able to break a couple of runs and get us all into it. And from there, we were able to put some drives together.
What can a play like that Hail Mary pass – and the win as a whole – mean for the team as it prepares for these final four games of the regular season? How do you transfer that momentum into Sunday’s upcoming game against the Cowboys and beyond?
RC: Really, just try to build off it. Coming out with a win, being able to move the ball and have some production in the second half and make some plays in different situations – the fourth down catch that I had in that last drive and Davante (Adams) catching the touchdown. I think us being able to build off of that momentum from the last game and carry that over into practice this week and the game on Sunday will be big for us.
Last week, you said the contest against Detroit would define the character of your team. What did you learn about the 2015 Packers after rallying from a 20-0 deficit to earn a critical road victory against a division opponent?
RC: We don’t quit. Even though the odds were against us, and even though things didn’t go our way, we never gave up. We never threw the towel in, and we continued to fight and continued to scratch and claw all the way down to the last second – and even when there were no seconds left. For us to be able to pull that out is huge for us as a team. Moving forward and coming off a win like that is definitely going to be a booster.
Brett Christopherson: 920-993-7117, or brett.christopherson@gannettwisconsin.com; on Twitter @PCBrettC