Cardinals get past Packers 26-20 in NFC playoffs
Aaron Rodgers rolled to the left and avoided a tackler, heaving the ball high into the desert air before he was hit.
Two Arizona Cardinals defensive backs were waiting in the end zone, but Jeff Janis squeezed between them to pull it down.
Another “Hail Mary” completed.
This one didn't come with the same magical ending.
Rodgers hit Janis on the desperation pass on the final play of regulation, but Larry Fitzgerald weaved through Green Bay's defence for a 75-yard reception to open overtime. Fitzgerald then scored on a 5-yard shovel pass to send the Cardinals to a 26-20 win over the Packers in the NFC divisional playoffs Saturday night.
Fitzgerald's touchdown moved the Cardinals (14-3) into the NFC championship game against Carolina or Seattle, and sent the Packers (11-7) to another what-could-have-been offseason.
“Losing in that fashion, especially with the offence pulling that out, another 'Hail Mary,' is unbelievable,” Packers linebacker Clay Matthews said.
Rodgers gave Green Bay's season a kick start with a desperation heave to beat Detroit on Dec. 3. Tight end Richard Rodgers pulled that one down, the 61-yard reception giving the Packers an improbable 27-23 victory.
Rodgers did it again on an even bigger stage, marching Green Bay 85 yards in the final 1:15 of regulation for another high-in-the-sky completion.
Janis leaped between Arizona's Patrick Peterson and Rashad Johnson to pull down the pass, injuring himself on the play but holding onto the ball by pinning it to his hip.
After an officials review, “Hail Mary,” the sequel, was confirmed.
“I didn't know where anybody was really,” said Rodgers, who threw for 261 yards, two touchdowns and an interception on 24-of-44 passing. “I saw Jeff briefly and I just tried to put some air on it to give him a chance.”
But unlike the Detroit game, this one wasn't the winner. The 41-yard reception and Mason Crosby's extra point tied the game at 20.
Arizona won the coin toss for overtime and quickly put the Packers away.
Carson Palmer, who hit Michael Floyd on two touchdown passes, rolled right on Arizona's first play and threw back left to Fitzgerald. The Cardinals' star receiver, who never seems to age, was alone by the left sideline, and wasn't done, zigzagging his way through Green Bay's defence until finally being brought down at the Packers 5.
Two plays later, Palmer flipped a shovel pass to Fitzgerald, who streaked from the left and bulled his way into the end zone.
Palmer threw for 349 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions on 25-of-41 passing.