Admit it, when they fell behind 11-0 and were going nowhere slowly in Sunday’s NFC wild-card playoff game against the Washington Redskins, you were ready to pack it in and play the wait-til-next-year card.
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The wild-card game against the Washington Redskins didn’t start that way.
The team’s offensive woes resurfaced in the first quarter, putting the Packers in an early hole.
“We lost a lot of momentum in the second quarter for some reason”, head coach Jay Gruden said.
Green Bay Packers running back James Starks (44) carries the ball into the end zone for a touchdown as Washington Redskins cornerback Will Blackmon (41) watches during the second half of an NFL wild card playoff football game in Landover, Md., Sunday, Jan. 10, 2016. Rodgers outdueld Cousins, finishing 21 of 36 for 210 yards and two touchdowns for a passer rating of 93.5. “But we needed a game like this to get our mojo back, and we got our confidence going”. Blair Walsh’s 27-yard field goal try into the frigid wind hooked left with 22 seconds remaining, handing the Seahawks a 10-9 victory over the stunned Vikings on a Sunday in below-zero weather that tied for the third-coldest National Football League game on record. With 9:04 left in the second quarter the Packers cut the Redskins’ lead to 11-7. I take the blame for that we’ve got to be better.
With a win the Packers have now earned the right to play the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday night. It’s a rematch of a Week 16 game that the Cardinals dominated 38-8.
Green Bay scored 17 unanswered points to end the first half and take a six-point lead into halftime.
With the Packers once-proud offense as on the ropes as we’ve seen them in quite some time, Green Bay responded and returned to relevancy in dramatic fashion, blowing out Washington 35-18 with the kind of balanced and efficient performance that many of us no longer thought them capable of this season. “They played good goal-line defense and we didn’t get it in”.
Kirk Cousins made his first playoff start and was 29 for 46 for 329 yards. The Packers defense combined for six sacks, and Cousins at time seemed flustered. They struggled to get anything going offensively and teams were getting to quarterback Aaron Rodgers. After the Redskins gave away a third-down conversion for too many men on the field, Rodgers had plenty of time in the pocket to hit James Jones for 34-yards on an ad-lib play. Washington held the ball for just 32 seconds on the following possession, and that left Rodgers with plenty of time.
On the very next Packers drive, Starks and Lacy again racked up big yards.
Rodgers and the offense answered immediately, driving 80 yards in 11 plays, doing most of the damage on the ground. “When you get in the playoffs you don’t have to talk about the regular season anymore”. Kansas City’s Alex Smith beat Houston’s Brian Hoyer, Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger beat Cincinnati backup QB AJ McCarron, Seattle’s Russell Wilson beat Minnesota’s Teddy Bridgewater, and Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers beat Washington’s Kirk Cousins.
After starting 1 for 8 for 11 yards with a safety, Rodgers was 20 for 28 for 199 yards and two TDs the rest of the way and had the passing game clicking so well that the Redskins couldn’t keep up.
The Redskins would strike first as Preston Smith would sack Aaron Rodgers for a safety.
Cards QB Carson Palmer has had an MVP-caliber season, but Arizona’s ability to run the ball has kept defenses guessing all year.
Heading into the playoffs, a murky cloud hung over the heads of the Green Bay Packers.
However, Tretter played more than admirably in the snaps following that play.
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The Packers answered by finally bringing their rushing attack to life.
