NFL 2016 Play Off NFC Div Arizona Cardinals vs Green Bay Packers

• Report rights infringement
• published: 07 Apr 2016
• views: 2

Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers' 41-yard touchdown pass to Jeff Janis that tied the game on the last play of regulation was quickly answered by Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer, who threw a 75-yard completion to Larry Fitzgerald on the first play of overtime and then a 5-yard touchdown pass to him to win the game. This gave Palmer his first career playoff win at age 36, after 13 seasons in the NFL.[19] After each team punted on their first possession, Patrick Peterson's 12-yard punt return gave the Cardinals a first down on the Packers' 42-yard line. Arizona then drove 42 yards in 11 plays, including a 2-yard run by David Johnson on 4th-and-1, to go up 7–0 on Palmer's 8-yard touchdown pass to receiver Michael Floyd. Following another exchange of punts, Green Bay drove 85 yards in 17 plays, featuring a 19-yard scramble by Rodgers, to cut the score to 7–3 on Mason Crosby's 28-yard field goal. This drive had two big plays nullified by penalties; one of which was a 51-yard one-handed catch by Randall Cobb that was wiped out by offsetting penalties on both teams. Not only did this eliminate the catch, but Cobb – the Packers' leading receiver during the season – was injured on the play and missed the rest of the game. Later on, Rodgers threw a pass that Peterson intercepted and returned 100 yards for a touchdown, but this was eliminated by an illegal use of hands penalty on defensive lineman Frostee Rucker. Following an Arizona punt, the Packers went on another long scoring drive, this one covering 71 yards in 17 plays and taking 7:55 off the clock. Receiver Jared Abbrederis had the drive's longest gain with an 18-yard reception, while Crosby added another field goal, making the score 7–6 with 55 seconds left in the half. Four plays into the third quarter, Cardinals safety Rashad Johnson intercepted a pass from Rodgers on the Packers' 47-yard line. A few plays later, Palmer also threw an interception, which was taken in by safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. On the second play after the turnover, Eddie Lacy gained 14 yards. Then he stormed through the line for a 61-yard run to the Arizona 8-yard line. Rodgers eventually finished the drive with an 8-yard pass to Janis, giving Green Bay their first lead at 13–7. The Cardinals struck back with a 10-play, 74-yard drive, featuring a 32-yard reception by Fitzgerald, to cut the score to 13–10 with Chandler Catanzaro's 28-yard field goal. Following a Packers punt, Arizona drove to the Green Bay 10-yard line, but on the second play of the fourth quarter, cornerback Damarious Randall intercepted a pass from Palmer in the end zone. After Green Bay punted, Arizona got the ball on their own 20-yard line with 10:53 left. Palmer completed a 21-yard pass to John Brown on the second play of the drive, and later completed a 13-yarder to Fitzgerald. Eventually, the team got a first down on the Packers' 19-yard line. On the next play after that, Palmer threw a pass that bounced out of the hands of defensive back Sam Shields. After an incomplete pass, Palmer threw a pass to Johnson, who just barely managed to back-peddle across the first down marker as he was falling to the ground. Then from the 9-yard line, Palmer threw a pass that was deflected by Randall, but fell right into the hands of Floyd for a touchdown, giving the Cardinals a 17–13 lead with 3:44 left. A few plays into their ensuing drive, Green Bay faced 4th-and-5 on their own 25-yard line. With only one timeout remaining, they decided to go for the first down, but Rodgers' pass was incomplete and the Cardinals took over with 2:38 left. Arizona was unable to get a first down on their drive, which included an incomplete pass that helped the Packers save some time. Catanzaro finished the drive with a 36-yard field goal, putting the Cardinals up 20–13, but the team had only managed to run 43 seconds off the clock, 1:55 remained. Green Bay got the ball back on their own 14-yard line with 1:50 left. Two incompletions and a 10-yard sack by Dwight Freeney brought up 4th-and-20, but Rodgers managed to overcome the situation by launching a 60-yard completion to Janis on the Arizona 36-yard line. With time ticking away, Rodgers rushed his team back to the line, appearing at first to want to spike the ball, but ran the play – the team could not get set before the snap, resulting in an illegal motion penalty that pushed them back five yards and cost them more time. After an incompletion, only five seconds remained in the game. Rodgers, took the snap, ran left and launched a Hail Mary pass to the end zone just before being leveled by linebacker Markus Golden. Janis then made a leaping catch in the end zone between two defenders for a 41-yard touchdown reception, sending the game into overtime. This was the first game-tying touchdown pass on the last play of regulation in postseason history and the second time that Rodgers threw a Hail Mary touchdown pass at the end of regulation in the season