During his three-plus seasons with the Packers, veteran cornerback Charles Woodson has established himself as someone who comes through with key plays when the team needs them the most, and that was the case once again on Sunday afternoon against the Cowboys.
Woodson had a hand in all three of the Packers' takeaways against Dallas with two forced fumbles and an interception. He was also credited with a team-leading nine tackles in the press box statistics.
"He's definitely one of our prime-time players," Head Coach Mike McCarthy said. "Once again with his performance tonight, his instincts, knowledge, and his toughness, and play-making ability, obviously he was a big part of our defensive success tonight."
With the game scoreless with just over four minutes remaining in the first half and the Cowboys taking over at their own 28, quarterback Tony Romo found wide receiver Roy Williams deep down the middle for a 42-yard gain. As Williams looked to pick up extra yardage, Woodson stripped the ball from behind with his right hand, and rookie linebacker Clay Matthews recovered at the Green Bay 31 to squelch one of Dallas' best scoring opportunities of the first half.
"He saw me at the last minute, and that's when he made the cut to try to get around me," Woodson said. "But the one thing, if you've ever played me you've got to protect that ball. I wasn't going to make the tackle so I just made the swipe to get the ball out and was able to get it out."
Woodson's second forced fumble of the afternoon helped place the Packers' offense in position to put the game away.
After quarterback Aaron Rodgers led the offense on a 15-play, 80-yard drive to give Green Bay a 10-0 lead with just over 13 minutes remaining, Dallas took over at its own 8. Romo found Williams over the middle again for a 20-yard gain, but two plays later, Woodson came on a blitz untouched from the right side for a sack/forced fumble, one which was again recovered by Matthews, this time at the Dallas 3. Three plays later, Rodgers found tight end Spencer Havner for a 17-0 lead.
It was Woodson's first sack of the season after posting a career-high three in 2008. It was also only the second time in his 12-year career that he had forced two fumbles in a game, the other coming as an Oakland Raider on Sept. 8, 2002, against the Seattle Seahawks.
"I was just making sure I got there," Woodson said about the sack. "I saw the pump (fake), so you know it's a double move. You don't want him to be able to get the ball out because you don't know if the corner has bitten on the first move or not.
"I was just trying to get him. That was my first one this season so I wanted to make sure I got it."
But Woodson was not done. Following the Havner touchdown reception, Dallas posted its longest drive of the afternoon as the Cowboys moved all the way down to Green Bay's 1-yard line. On first-and-goal, Romo threw to tight end Jason Witten in the flat, but Woodson jumped the route for his team-leading fifth interception of the season.
{sportsad300}"I just made a play," Woodson said. "I cut in front of the guy. I was just playing my receiver, he made a cut, and I made a cut up under him and the ball was coming. All I've got to do is get my eyes around and then make the catch at that point."
Woodson said he blitzed more in Sunday's game than any other one this season, but his only concern is doing whatever helps put the team in the best position to win.
"Today I played a little safety, a little dime, nickel," Woodson said. "I want to be a guy that if the coach feels it would help this team for me to be at the three-technique, he can put me at three. That's really the way I feel. Each game it's not going to matter where we are or how the team is doing, I want to be a guy that you know you can look out there and say, 'It means a lot to him.'"
Coming off back-to-back defeats that put the Packers at 4-4 at the midway point of the season, Woodson said his performance on Sunday ranked right up there with some of the best he has had in a career that has seen him selected to five Pro Bowls.
"Yeah, just because of team-wise where we are," Woodson said. "I feel like every week I am going to go out and give 100 percent in whatever I do. But just from a team standpoint, from everybody going out there today and really playing with the back-against-the-wall mentality, we hope to see that for the rest of the season.
"For me it doesn't matter what day we play, what team we play, what time we play, I want to be a guy that no matter what the situation is, you know what you're going to get from me. I was in a position to make some plays and it just comes down to making them."
