With the Cardinals off to the NFC Championship Game, McCarthy was left to deal with an overtime elimination from the postseason for the second straight season. The 32-year-old darted through tacklers for 75 yards as the screaming Cardinals fans finally drowned out the visiting Cheeseheads. That’s what the Cards did Saturday, as Palmer looked off for most of the game, and rookie rusher David Johnson had no room to run. The Packers, it appeared, forgot Larry Fitzgerald was there.
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The Packers defeated Washington 35-18 last week to reach the divisional round of the playoffs and fought until the end despite a critical loss with an injury to leading receiver Randall Cobb in the opening quarter on Saturday. As simple as that word is, that describes him best.
The victor of the Packers vs Cardinals game will play the victor of the Seahawks vs Panthers game in the NFC Championship game next week.
If the first half was any indication, both teams knew this game wasn’t going to be anything like the shootout they had back in the 2009 wild-card round when they set the record for the most points scored in a playoff game during Arizona’s 51-45 overtime victory in Glendale.
Green Bay also lost backup cornerback Micah Hyde for the rest of the game because of a hip injury.
The 6-foot-3 Janis, a backup receiver, outjumped defenders Patrick Peterson and Rashad Johnson for the ball. “I’m sure that would have been a little bit of controversy if we had won”, Packers linebacker Clay Matthews said after the game.
The Packers next drive stuttered badly and Rodgers missed his receiver with a fourth down conversion, giving the Cardinals the ball in great field position and in field goal range. Facing a fourth-and-20 from their own 5 and trailing 20-13, the Packers got new life when Rodgers scrambled to his left in the end zone and lofted a jump ball that Janis pulled down for a 60-yard gain. Janis caught seven passes for 145 yards after having just two receptions all year.
A odd play had given Arizona a 20-13 lead with 3:44 to play in the fourth quarter.
“I just wanted to make a play for my team”, Fitzgerald said after a game where he finished with eight catches for 176 yards an a touchdown. On third-and-goal, Palmer hit Michael Floyd in the back of the end zone for a toe-tapping touchdown and a 7-0 Arizona lead. Instead, Arians made a shocking decision to throw a pass on second down which eventually allowed the Packers to get the ball back down 20-13 with 1:50 left on the clock instead of around a minute had he called a run. Offensively, their offensive line is healthier than the M.A.S.H. unit that unsuccessfully tried to protect Aaron Rodgers in December – nine sacks and two forced fumbles returned for touchdowns. A penalty pushed it back to the 41 and Rodgers threw incomplete before getting off his last completion for the touchdown. “Aaron Rodgers, people think he’s like a Tom Brady guy or a Peyton Manning. Good, bad or ugly, you’ve got to go to the next play and that’s basically what our football team did”. “My (darn) jaw was on the ground”.
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Through his first 12 seasons as a pro, Palmer did not have a playoff victory.
