Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers offense put up a ton of points against the Arizona Cardinals defense, but it wasn’t enough.  The Cardinals defense was able to come up with the play of the game when Karl Dansby grabbed Rodgers’ fumble before it even hit the ground and scurried 17 yards into the endzone to win the game.  It sure was an exciting game, with both quarterbacks putting up monster numbers in what would become the highest scoring postseason game in NFL history.  Rodgers came out and was intercepted on the first play of the game, but boy did he bounce back.  He finished with 422 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 1 interception on 28/42 passes.  Down 17-0 after the first quarter, Rodgers slowly got the Packers back in the game, trading touchdown passes with Cardinals’ quarterback Kurt Warner throughout most of the game.  He opened up the 4th quarter with 2 touchdowns, which finally evened the game at 38-38.  After another Warner touchdown, Rodgers came right back and tied the game with under two minutes that eventually sent the game into overtime, where the unfortunate game-losing fumble occurred.

The Packers’ defense really let the team down in this game, even though the Cardinals were expected to score a lot of points.  Kurt Warner did pretty much whatever he wanted in the passing game, going 29/33 for 379 yards and 5 touchdowns.  Warner is a great quarterback, but the Packers should have been able to keep him under a  88% completion percentage.  Even more discouraging is that they gave up 156 rushing yards to a Cardinals team that has not run the ball well this year.  Aaron Rodgers has proven he is a top quarterback in this league, but the Packers need to give him a better offensive line and a stronger defense for him to make a Super Bowl run anytime soon.

The Green Bay Packers (11-5) and the Arizona Cardinals (10-6) will be meeting in the first round of the playoffs.  The Packers went all out and they crushed the Cards because of it.  The Cardinals were sitting a lot of their key players in a preview of their first round match-up, so this game may not tell you much about the outcome of the playoff game.  The Packers do have an advantage when it comes to rhythm, timing, and not breaking their routine.  The Cardinals will have fresher legs and have had more rest, so we will see come playoff time which has helped more.  Either way, the Packers looked very good while the Cardinals did not.

Aaron Rodgers went 21/26 for 235 yards and 1 touchdown.   Donald Driver caught 6 passes for 65 yards and the receivers were clicking well with Rodgers.  Ryan Grant and Ahman Green combined for 93 yards and 1 touchdown on 23 carries.  The Packers defense held the 187 total yards, including only 48 rushing yards.  They also forced 3 turnovers.  This was a good win for the Packers, but they cannot let this game affect how they approach the rematch in the first round of the playoffs.

The Packers totally destroyed the Seahawks at Lambeau Field yesterday.  Aaron Rodgers had a short day completing 12 of 23 passes for 237 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs.  He also carried the ball 1 time for 9 yards.  Matt Flynn got in on the action for the Packers yesterday by completing 4 of 6 passes for 36 yards as he finished up the game.  Ryan Grant played very well yesterday before taking a seat as he carried the ball 16 times for 97 yards (6.1 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  Ahman Green pitched in with 29 yards rushing on 8 carries (3.6 ypc) with a TD carry.  Brandon Jackson was very inspired when he got into the football game as he carried the ball 5 times for 20 yards (4.0 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  He also caught 3 passes for 19 yards (6.3 avg) with a TD grab.  Greg Jennings led the way for the Packers in the passing game yesterday with 4 grabs for 111 yards (27.8 avg).  Jermichael Finley pitched in with 3 grabs for 80 yards (26.7 avg) in this game.  The Packers finished up with 417 total yards on offense (153 rushing, 264 passing) in this game.

The defense was also outstanding for the Packers yesterday.  Linebacker Nick Barnett led the way for the Packers on D yesterday with 9 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack and 1 QB hit.  Safety Atari Bigby was also a game changing playmaker yesterday as he finished with 7 tackles, 3 passes defensed and 2 interceptions.  A.J. Hawk pitched in with 6 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception.   The Seahawks finished up with 291 total yards on offense (115 rushing, 176 passing) in this game.  The Packers are now 10-5 on the year and they have clinched a wildcard spot in the NFC.

The Packers’ D blew this game as the Steelers won on the last play of the game!  You can’t blame the offense for this game as they shredded the allegedly good Steelers’ D.  Aaron Rodgers completed 26 of 48 passes for 383 yards with 3 TD passes and 0 INTs.  He also carried the ball 3 times for 22 yards (7.3 ypc) with a TD run.  Ryan Grant didn’t get much of a chance to run the ball in this game as he finished with 8 carries for 37 yards (4.6 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Greg Jennings (5 rec, 118 yards, TD) and Jermichael Finley (9 rec, 74 yards, TD) led the way in the passing game for the Packers yesterday.  Donald Driver (3 rec, 76 yards), Jordy Nelson (4 rec, 71 yards) and James Jones (2 rec, 36 yards, TD) led the way in the passing game for the Packers yesterday.  The Packers finished up with 436 total yards on offense (60 rushing, 376 passing) despite only having the ball for 24:38!

The defense didn’t play well overall but they did have some standouts.  Rookie linebackers Clay Matthews (7 tackles, 2 sacks, 3 tackles for a loss, 3 QB hits) and Brad Jones (5 tackles, 2 sacks, 3 tackles for a loss, 2 QB hits) led the way for the Packers’ D.  The Steelers finished up with 537 total yards in this game (65 rushing, 472 passing) yesterday.  The Packers are now 9-5 on the year.

The Green Bay Packers were on their way to an easy win over the Chicago Bears, but they could not get much going after building an early 13-0 lead.  Aaron Rodgers didn’t have his best game, throwing for only 180 yards and no touchdowns on 16/24 pass attempts.  Fortunately for the Packers, they didn’t need a big game from Rodgers to beat the struggling Bears.  Running back Ryan Grant was able to handle most of the offensive load, running all over the Bears’ defense.  Grant got the Packers an early lead with a 67-yard touchdown run early in the first quarter, and had his second touchdown run in the 4th quarter to seal the victory for the Packers.  He finished with the two touchdowns and 137 yards on 20 carries.

The Packers defense did enough to get the win, but the Bears were able to find some success after the Packers built an early lead.  They let Jay Cutler throw two touchdown passes, although they did pick the Bears’ quarterback twice.  The Packers were also helped by the Bears and their penalties, 13 of them amounting for 109 yards.  Matt Forte rushed for only 51 yards, but he only had 12 carries (4.25 avg), which is well over his normal average of 3.3 yards per carry coming into this game.  They did enough to hold the Bears off though, and the win is all that matters.