Many believed the Green Bay Packers should have went for two after scoring a Hail Mary touchdown to end regulation against the Arizona Cardinals in last year’s NFC Divisional Round.
Packers head coach Mike McCarthy admits he considered the idea.
“We had a play that I had great confidence in, that I hadn’t run all year that we’d been working on in the three-wide receiver set,” McCarthy said, via Ryan Wood of the Green Bay Press Gazette. “That would have been my call if I had gone for it. Now, when I mentioned going for two points to Aaron (Rodgers), he was exhausted from running, but there was plenty of time because they were reviewing the catch.”
McCarthy eventually decided against going for two, largely because Jeff Janis—who caught the miracle touchdown—hurt his back on the catch. Already down Davante Adams and Randall Cobb at receiver, the Packers simply didn’t have the personnel to run McCarthy’s preferred play.
McCarthy instead called on Mason Crosby, who kicked the extra point and sent the game into overtime.
The Cardinals then won the game on the first possession of the extra period.
McCarthy didn’t explicitly say it, but it sure seems like he would have gone for the win with a full arsenal at receiver. Janis injuring his back robbed NFL fans of an amazing final play to end the game, even if Larry Fitzgerald’s walk off touchdown in overtime provided plenty of suspense.
A two-point attempt to decide a playoff game—after an unbelievable Hail Mary touchdown, no less—would have been the height of football drama.
