Wednesday Night Football: Green Bay Packers vs. Arizona Cardinals, January 10, 2010

No, it’s not the newest night of gridiron action from the NFL. What it is is Guy’s weekly retrospective on a football game from the past. Here you’re likely to see names like Joe Namath, Lawrence Taylor, Walter Payton, Randall Cunningham, Joe Greene, Hollywood Henderson, Howard Cosell, Don Meredith, Kellen Winslow, Fran Tarkenton, Gale Sayers and more. These are the guys who broke tackles, caught bombs, led comebacks, recovered fumbles, knocked guys out or called the action. And these are the games that made us cheer in triumph or crumble in misery… and made football history along the way.

The Game

It was a thrilling wild card playoff game shootout between Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers and Kurt Warner and the defending NFC Champion Arizona Cardinals, 51-45.  It almost ended one way, only to have fate intervene on a fumble going the other way in overtime.  It was a beginning and an ending of sorts for the two quarterbacks involved.

The Home Team

QB Kurt Warner

The Cardinals featured a high-powered offense that came within a last-minute Santonio Holmes touchdown catch of winning the Super Bowl, in probably the greatest iteration of that championship game ever played (the NFL Network thinks so anyway).  Kurt Warner led the Cardinals in his final season in the league and the Cardinals went 10-6 and repeated as NFC West Champions.  Pro Bowlers included superstar WR Larry Fitzgerald, RDE Darnell Dockett, RCB Dominiquer Rodgers-Cromartie, SS Adrian Wilson and FS Antrel Rolle.  WR Anquan Boldin had 84 catches for 1,024 yds and 4 TDs and RB Tim Hightower ran for 598 yards and 8 TDs that season.

The Road Team

QB Aaron Rodgers

Second-year starter Aaron Rodgers guided the Packers to an 11-5 record and a second-place finish in the NFC North behind the Minnesota Vikings and former Packer Brett Favre in his resurgent year since re-un-re-un-retiring from the New York Jets in 2008.  Their offense was third in the NFL with 461 points.  Pro Bowlers included LCB Charles Woodson, ROLB Clay Matthews, FS Nick Collins and Rodgers.

Why It Matters

Because it holds the distinction of being the highest-scoring playoff game in NFL history, with a combined 96 points.  The scoring breakdown (via ESPN):

FIRST QUARTER
AZ – TD    11:04    Tim Hightower 1 Yd Run (Neil Rackers Kick)
AZ – TD    09:16    Early Doucet 15 Yd Pass From Kurt Warner (Neil Rackers Kick)
AZ – FG    00:34    Neil Rackers 23 Yd

SECOND QUARTER
GB – TD    06:52    Aaron Rodgers 1 Yd Run (Mason Crosby Kick)
AZ – TD    02:16    Early Doucet 15 Yd Pass From Kurt Warner (Neil Rackers Kick)
GB – FG    00:00    Mason Crosby 20 Yd

WR Larry Fitzgerald

THIRD QUARTER
AZ – TD    11:15    Larry Fitzgerald 33 Yd Pass From Kurt Warner (Neil Rackers Kick)
GB – TD    07:20    Greg Jennings 6 Yd Pass From Aaron Rodgers (Mason Crosby Kick)
GB – TD    04:07    Jordy Nelson 11 Yd Pass From Aaron Rodgers (Mason Crosby Kick)
AZ – TD    02:34    Larry Fitzgerald 11 Yd Pass From Kurt Warner (Neil Rackers Kick)

FOURTH QUARTER
GB – TD    14:08    James Jones 30 Yd Pass From Aaron Rodgers (Mason Crosby Kick)
GB – TD    10:57    John Kuhn 1 Yd Run (Mason Crosby Kick)
AZ – TD    04:55    Steve Breaston 17 Yd Pass From Kurt Warner (Neil Rackers Kick)
GB – TD    01:52    Spencer Havner 11 Yd Pass From Aaron Rodgers (Mason Crosby Kick)

Clay Matthews

OVERTIME
AZ – TD    13:42    Karlos Dansby 17 Yd Fumble Return

It was a spectacular QB duel, with Warner going 29 for 33, for 379 yeards and a ridiculous five touchdowns.  He had more touchdowns than incompletions.  On the flipside, Rodgers threw for 423 yeards, 4 TDs and one INT.  This was a very back-and-forth affair, with neither defense being able to stop the other team’s offense.  The two teams combined for 1,024 yds, with Arizona grabbing 531 of those, including 156 yds rushing against Green Bay’s #2-ranked defense.

The Cards jumped out to a 17-0 lead, before the Packers came back with 17 of their own to head into halftime tied.  The third quarter was also tied, with both teams getting 14.  In the fourth, Green Bay Notched 21 pts to Arizona’s 7, to send the contest into overtime.  In overtime, Rodgers missed out on a potential game winning throw when he overshot his receiver.  In the end, a Rodgers fumble was scooped up Karlos Dansby and run back 17 yards for the win in overtime.  It’s an instant classic.

The Postgame

Rodgers watches Dansby scoop up the fumble for the winning TD

As spectacular as the Cards were in this game, they ran into a buzzsaw the following week at New Orleans, losing 45-14.  New Orleans QB Drew Brees had three touchdown passes and RB Reggie Bush had TD runs of 83 and 46 yds.  In their two playoff games, Arizona yielded 90 points.  And key defenders Dominique Rogers-Cromartie (knee sprain) and Antrel Rolle (concussion) went out of the game in the first half.  Of course, the Saints also went on to win the Super Bowl that year, after beating Favre and the Vikings in the NFC Title game and the favored Indianapolis in the championship.  This was also Kurt Warner’s last NFL game before retiring.

As for Green Bay, the next season saw them take the whole thing, with impressive road playoff wins against Philadelphia, Atlanta and Chicago.  They defeated the Steelers in the Super Bowl, 31-25.