Green Bay Packers: Top five most nail-biting games in past 10 years
By Roger Muñoz
2. Packers at Cardinals (2009 Wild Card Game)
If offense is your jam, then this was the game for you. The highest-scoring playoff game in the history of the NFL (96 points) featured a quarterback duel between grizzled veteran Kurt Warner and a rising star in Aaron Rodgers.
In his first career playoff start, Rodgers may have felt the playoff jitters. On the first play of the game, Rodgers uncharacteristically threw an interception to cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. And it wasn’t just Rodgers feeling the pressure. From a missed field goal to a fumble, the Packers were making mistakes left and right, and the Cardinals took advantage
Early in the third quarter, the Cardinals led the Packers 31-10, and all hope seemed lost. But then things changed. Rodgers and the offense started clicking. From Rodgers eluding pass rushers to Jermichael Finley catching the football over Cardinals’ defenders, the Cardinals’ defense had no answers.
In the second half, Rodgers threw four touchdown passes to four different receivers (Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, James Jones and Spencer Havner). At one point a 21-point lead for the Cardinals had now vanished. At the end of regulation, the game was tied at 45-45.
In a game where neither defense could stop the opposing offense, it seemed whoever got the ball first would win. On the first play of overtime, Rodgers missed a wide open Jennings deep down the middle, and it would cost the Packers.
The game started on a Rodgers’ turnover and it would end in a Rodgers’ turnover. On third-and-6 at the Packers’ 24-yard line, Rodgers was stripped sacked by Michael Adams, who grabbed Rodgers’ facemask in the process, and Karlos Dansby would scoop and score, ending the Packers comeback attempt.
Perhaps the lasting images of the game are Mike McCarthy falling to his knees in agony as the Cardinals scored, and Rodgers taking his helmet off in disappointment.