GREEN BAY, Wis. – The opinions were as different as they were predictable.

Late in the fourth quarter of the NFC divisional playoff game between the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys at Lambeau Field, a replay review overturned Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant’s fourth-down catch near the goal line. Had Bryant made the play, the Cowboys would have been 1 yard away from the go-ahead touchdown. Instead, the Packers got the ball on downs and ran out the final four-plus minutes in their 26-21 victory.

“Clear call. It was a clear call,” Packers cornerback Tramon Williams said.

It was not so certain to Bryant.

“All I know is I had possession and I had possession of the ball coming down. That’s possession, right? One, two (feet), reach hand, that’s possession. That’s possession.”

Ultimately, the only opinion that mattered was that of referee Gene Steratore.

“Although the receiver is possessing the football, he must maintain possession of that football throughout the entire process of the catch,” Steratore said to a pool reporter. “In our judgment, he maintained possession but continued to fall and never had another act common to the game. We deemed that by our judgment to be the full process of the catch, and at the time he lands and the ball hits the ground, it comes loose as it hits the ground, which would make that incomplete; although he re-possesses it, it does contact the ground when he reaches so the repossession is irrelevant because it was ruled an incomplete pass when we had the ball hit the ground.”

Steratore added that a receiver “must complete that entire process with the football, maintain possession throughout.” He said the call to overturn the catch was a “joint decision” between himself and league officials in New York.

Some of the Cowboys, including Bryant, were furious about the ruling. Coach Jason Garrett, not surprisingly, didn’t agree with the decision but spoke in more measured tones.

“Dez made a great catch on the ball,” he said. “Obviously, it was ruled a catch. It looked to me like he had three feet down. What they described to me was that it was a move not common to the game. Dez reached out for the goal line, which he has done so many times. It is a signature play for him. He maintained possession of it throughout, in my opinion.”

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he was “shocked and disappointed” but wouldn’t go so far as to say his team had victory stolen from them by the officials, especially after a controversial ruling in last week’s win over Detroit.

“I’m not so much into talking about the judgment of the officials as I am it was just a bad time for us to have a play like that,” Jones said. “To Green Bay’s credit, they were in a position to win the game and they had to make a play like that. Last week, we made the play, but be that as it may, the results have us here and it’s a shame because we had a great year.”

Packers coach Mike McCarthy said his challenge was part “confident” and “hopeful.”

“It was 4th-and-2,” McCarthy explained. “We went empty pressure against them and Tony (Romo) checked it and went to the one-on-one matchup between Dez and (cornerback) Sam Shields over there on their boundary. Excellent throw and really a phenomenal catch to get himself in position to make that catch. But by rule, and you could see it on the Jumbotrons — our Jumbotrons are incredible — it gave you a good picture and I had plenty of time to look at it. I think I saw it three times before I threw the challenge flag. I just felt that when Dez caught the ball and when the ball hit the ground, he didn’t complete the catch. Obviously, from what I saw up there, they made the right call.”

LINK TO A REMATCH

It can be debated whether the NFC’s two best teams are still playing, but it’s irrefutable that none are playing better than the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks, who meet in the conference championship game Sunday in Seattle.

The Seahawks (13-4) have won seven in a row. The Packers (13-4) have won eight of their last nine.

The rematch brings Green Bay back to Seattle, where they were blasted 36-16 in Week 1.

Both teams have changed considerably in the past four months, even if the venue – epically boisterous CenturyLink Field, where crowd noise is measured in concert-level decibels – is much the same.

Green Bay has found more balance on offense, with rookie receiver Davante Adams catching seven passes for 117 yards and a touchdown, tight end Andrew Quarless chipping in four receptions for 31 yards and a touchdown and rookie tight end Richard Rodgers turning his only reception into a 13-yard score.

The Seahawks have a strong pass rush and vaunted “Legion of Boom” secondary.

A lot will be placed on the throwing arm of quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who has been sacked 10 times in his past nine games. And a Packers’ defense that once ranked last in the NFL in run defense has rounded into a respectable unit since a midseason bye.

“A lot of times, you don’t get that second chance at a team so it’s definitely something we look forward to,” Quarless said. “From the first game, I think we’re a completely different team. Playing playoff football, you can’t make mistakes. That’s one thing we’ve got to do is not make mistakes and really play a great game.”

RODGERS DELIVERS

Because of a calf injury sustained at Tampa Bay on Dec. 21 and injured again against Detroit on Dec. 28, Rodgers barely practiced this week. After a slow start, he dismantled the Cowboys’ defense with 24-of-35 accuracy for 316 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.

The injury has forced him to adjust his game. Arguably the NFL’s best quarterback at extending plays, Rodgers has mostly been rendered pocket passer.

“The touchdown to Andrew (Quarless on the first possession) was a great example of that,” he said. “I feel like with my normal mobility, I would just have been able to run that one in. But as I moved forward in the pocket, I realized that I couldn’t do a whole lot. Thankfully, Andrew flashed on me, and I was able to hit him.”

Rodgers said he felt “a little bit worse” at the end of the game compared to start, and figured he’s practice on a similar schedule to last week, when he rehabbed on Wednesday and took some team reps on Thursday before rehabbing some more on the team’s usual Friday off-day before participating in Saturday’s light practice.

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES

Cowboys coach Jason Garrett will go into the offseason lamenting a couple of decisions in big moments.

On Dallas’ first touchdown drive, it converted a pair of third-and-1s with running back DeMarco Murray, the NFL’s leading rusher in 2014, carrying the ball.

With Dallas ahead 14-7, Murray converted on another third-and-1 to put the Cowboys in position to take a two-score lead before halftime.

However, on third-and-1 from the Packers’ 27, Garrett dialed up a shotgun pass. Romo dropped the snap, scrambled and fired a deep pass that fell incomplete and, after a false start, Dan Bailey missed a 50-yard field goal attempt. Green Bay responded with a field goal on the final play of the half to pull within 14-10.

And on the final possession, the fourth-and-2 that ended in controversy, the Cowboys went with an empty backfield to not even present Murray as an option for Green Bay’s defense to consider.