Another short pass – this time, a little flip – from Palmer to Fitzgerald, sent L.F. skipping into the end zone, notching the touchdown, winning the contest, and earning the Cardinals a berth in the NFC Championship Game.
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Rodgers said he would have called heads on the second toss if given the chance. Yesterday’s game marked the fifth time the Packers have lost on the final play of the game in the Mike McCarthy era in the playoffs.
Instead, the Packers got the ball back and, after a 17-play drive that lasted 7:31, they had to settle for a 28-yard field goal by Mason Crosby.
Carson Palmer then threw his third TD pass of the game, a five-yard shovel pass up the middle to Larry Fitzgerald a minute into extra time for a dramatic and controversial win.
He was seeing extensive action because Davante Adams was out because of a knee injury and Cobb was knocked out of the game because of a chest injury sustained on a spectacular one-handed grab of Rodgers’ 51-yard pass in the first quarter, a play that was negated by offsetting penalties. They’ll either head to Carolina to take on the Panthers or welcome the Seattle Seahawks into Arizona.
Arizona thought it had the game won after Chandler Catanzaro’s 26-yard field goal with 1:55 left extended the lead to 20-13.
The Cardinals defeated the Packers Saturday night in a thrilling overtime game, and the coin flip preceding overtime was a spectacle of its own.
Early in the fourth quarter, Palmer was intercepted by Packers safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix.
“They’ve been resilient all year, and they answered the challenge”, Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said of his team. To make matters worse, the Packers didn’t have rookie wide receiver Davante Adams on Saturday as he sat out the game with an injury.
The last player in the Arizona Cardinals locker room Saturday night was veteran defensive end Calais Campbell, still wearing his full pads and uniform.
A re-toss landed on “heads”, giving the Cardinals the ball.
“I think he was trying to avoid the embarrassment of what just happened”, Rodgers said.
At the moment when Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers bounced a fourth-down throw in front of James Jones with 2:38 remaining, it looked as if it would be a drama-free finish in regulation. “I definitely should have been in front of him”. “You play this game to win Super Bowls and that is what greatness is defined by in this sport”. “We want to play in front of our fans”, Cardinals running back Andre Ellington said. It sucks that a coin toss determines that.
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Eddie Lacy rumbled for 61 yards and put the Packers in scoring position at the Arizona eight, before Rodgers passed to Janis for the score. If that’s not enough, Manning is 0-5 for his career in playoff games where the kickoff temperature was 40 degrees or less and that’s right around what the temperature is forecasted to be come kickoff time Sunday. My eyes lit up in the huddle. The stadium rocked with chants of Lar-ry!
