- How we got to this point needs a closer look.
We're in Glendale, Arizona on January 16th, 2016
where the Packers and Cardinals are tied at 20 in overtime.
The winner moves on to the NFC Championship
and the loser?
Well, their season and so much
of what has happened here tonight will be eclipsed.
Arizona is just five yards away from ending the game
but the Packers have already proven
they don't need much for a miracle.
For everything that has made
this matchup and this moment spectacular,
we need to rewind.
(relaxed music)
While Arizona has a couple of chances to score,
historically this isn't exactly a team
that's known for putting these games away,
especially when you're talking about their quarterback.
Carson Palmer came into the league in 2003
but with this being his 13th season,
he still doesn't have a playoff win to his name.
Part of that's due to spending the first eight years
under Marvin Lewis in Cincy
but even once Palmer came to Arizona
after a couple of seasons in Oakland,
the tune didn't change.
His first season as a Cardinal was mixed
as Palmer posted career highs in yardage which is good
and interceptions which is bad.
And while he lead Arizona to a 10 and 6 record,
they fell short of the playoffs.
But Palmer was just one new piece
in an organization looking to do better.
Along with the quarterback
came first year head coach Bruce Arians,
fresh off a Coach of the Year campaign
after he filled in for Chuck Pagano.
While the offense still had a way to go but under Arians,
the Cardinals jumped from 31st in scoring
to 16th in just one year.
That was a nice boost for their defense
that was also on the rise.
Patrick Peterson and Tyrann Mathieu
headlined a stout secondary
that often didn't have much to do,
thanks to the Calais Campbell led front
bearing down on opposing quarterbacks.
Despite missing the playoffs,
Arizona was quickly on the rise
but year two of the new look Cardinals
was, again, a mixed bag.
Palmer was undefeated as a starter,
but only managed to play in six games
due to a shoulder injury and then a re-torn ACL.
Larry Fitzgerald, the ever reliable leader of this team,
did his best to prop up Drew Stanton and Ryan Lindley.
Along with the continued growth of the defense,
they actually improved on their record
and earned a wildcard spot
but once in the post-season,
they did their part in what some highly respected experts
consider the worst NFL playoff game ever played.
The Cardinals were still seeking their first playoff victory
since the 2009 season
when they happened to beat the Packers in overtime,
needing just three plays
before a defensive touchdown ended it.
The loss was a tough end to a tough season
but Arizona had assembled a core
that just needed consistent quarterback play
to take the next step.
Fortunately for them, despite the knee injury,
Palmer was ready to go.
Hopes were high for this team,
or at least people were aware that this
was the best chance they might have for some time.
Once the 2015 season got underway,
everything actually fell into place for the Cardinals.
Palmer had the best season of his career
which let Fitzgerald look like his old self.
He also got some help in the form of John Brown
who delivered a thousand yard campaign.
The running game got on track thanks to Chris Johnson
who was on pace for his best season since 2012
and even though he went down in November,
third round rookie David Johnson stepped up
and helped Arizona lock up the NFC's number two seat,
earning the franchise's first every playoff Bye Week.
It was extra fortunate rest for a team full of veterans
plus a secondary that was looking to replace Mathieu,
who had gone down in week 15.
And while tonight hasn't always been pretty,
this team that won 13 games
for the first time in franchise history
is now five yards away from making
their first NFC Championship since the 2008 season.
All that's in their way is a team
that's been here again and again and again and again.
Ahead of this year, unsurprisingly Green Bay
was being talked about as a favorite to win it all.
They had come close a season earlier
but squandered a lead in the NFC Championship
and lost to the Seahawks in overtime.
But Aaron Rodgers was the defending league MVP,
leading a team that had won
the NFC North four straight years.
There was good reason to believe
they'd get back to competing for the Lombardi trophy.
Those hopes took a hit in the pre-season
when Jordy Nelson tore his ACL against the Steelers.
Over the previous few seasons,
he had turned into Rodgers favorite target
but if anyone could clear that hurdle,
it was this guy.
He kicked off the 2015 season with six straight wins,
proving the Packers were still more than just a threat.
Although they stumbled out of their bye,
week 13 captured what this team was capable of.
Green Bay found themselves down 20 to nothing
against the Lions late in the third
but one touchdown led to a Julius Peppers strip sack
which lead to a quick second score
from Rodgers to Davante Adams.
A Detroit field goal put it back to a two score deficit
but Rodgers erased part of that on a 17 yard scamper.
Green Bay's defense managed to force a punt
and the Packers had 23 seconds to find a miracle.
The first miraculous moment came
from a questionable face mask penalty
as Rodgers tried to slip away,
giving Green Bay an untimed down.
They found themselves still
over 60 years from the end zone though.
Instead of a long field goal for the win,
Rodgers stayed out there
and when the Lions only brought three,
he was able to find some room to his right
where he could fire off a clean Hail Mary.
Richard Rodgers lept into a mass of bodies
and came down with the victory.
- [Announcer] In the end zone, it is caught!
For the win!
- While they had done enough to bail out the Packers,
Mike McCarthy had seen enough from the offense
to strip play calling duties
from their offensive coordinator after the game.
And they started to get back on track,
winning comfortably against the quarterbackless Cowboys
then got past the Raiders in week 15
to lock up a playoff spot,
but with the NFC North still up for grabs,
Green Bay began to put it in reverse.
They got their first taste of Arizona in week 16
and it led to what was arguably
the worst game of Rodgers career.
It wasn't entirely his fault considering the Cardinals
sacked him eight times,
but it was a beating that carried
into the following week when they fell to the Vikings,
losing the division in the process.
And yet, they're here.
They've reached the divisional round
and they're the reason that we're in overtime at all.
Or Rodgers is the reason.
Especially compared to the first time these teams played,
tonight has been extremely close.
The Cardinals opened the scoring
then each team traded 13 point runs.
It set up an ending
that made way too much sense for this Packers team.
Down seven with under two minutes to play,
Green Bay got the ball back
and had 86 yards to go in order to tie it up.
That quickly became 96 yards
thanks to a Dwight Freeney sack.
By fourth down, nothing had changed.
It didn't even matter that they had
less than a minute to work with.
The bigger issue was needing 20 yards on one play.
Rodgers dropped back, spun out to the left
to avoid pressure and from his goal line,
threw up a perfect pass that found
the previously unknown Jeff Janis inside the Arizona 40.
So when Nelson went down in the pre-season,
the Packers needed other guys to step up and fill the void.
Janis had not been one of those guys.
Entering the divisional round,
he had four catches in his career for 95 yards.
Primarily used on special teams,
Janis was called on in the clutch
and had given Green Bay new life.
And once they were down to a new last chance,
Rodgers again looked Janis' way.
With five seconds left and the Cardinals bringing pressure,
Rodgers for a second time slipped out to his left
and heaved it towards the end zone.
Janis waited to make his break
until he saw where the ball was heading,
and once he tracked it,
lept into a pair of Cardinals and came down for a touchdown.
Janis' career day saved the Packers
and the teams headed to overtime.
All of that wasn't too long ago
but just one minute into OT,
the Cardinals have gotten into this spot
thanks to a wide receiver of their own,
albeit one slightly more accomplished than Janis.
Larry Fitzgerald.
He was seemingly on a mission
to prove he was still a top threat in the league.
The career Cardinal had put the team on his back
plenty of times,
most notably being his four game stretch
in the 2008 playoffs.
One of the greatest post-season performances
ever by a wide receiver,
but it hadn't been enough to win the Super Bowl
and Fitzgerald hadn't gotten many more chances since.
In Arizona's following three playoff games,
he failed to crack 100 yards receiving
but as was the case in 2014,
he could only do so much without a quarterback.
This past season with a healthy Palmer,
Fitzgerald once again erupted.
He had the first regular season three touchdown performance
of his career in week two,
then followed that up with another gaudy stat line
against the 49ers.
In week 13, he became the youngest player in NFL history
to reach the 1,000 catch milestone
and for the first time since 2011,
went over 1,000 years in a season.
But at the start of tonight,
Fitzgerald struggled to recapture the playoff magic.
He finished the first half
with just six yards on a single catch and unsurprisingly,
the offense couldn't get too much going.
Looking to fix that, Arizona knew Fitz
needed more than just a pair of targets in a half.
With Palmer looking his way, Fitzgerald started rolling.
As their connection heated back up,
it also helped free Michael Floyd
for his second touchdown of the game.
Once he got to overtime though,
Fitzgerald wasn't sharing the spotlight.
Arizona got the ball to start and after Rodgers Hail Mary
had swung momentum in Green Bay's direction,
the Canton bound wide receiver stole it right back.
On the very first snap in OT,
Palmer managed to escape a Packers swarm
then threw across his body to Fitzgerald
who somehow had found himself without a defender in sight.
He came down with the ball
and started up the sideline with Clay Matthews in pursuit.
He split defenders, warded off another
and sprinted his way down to the five.
Seven catches, 171 yards
and after a first and goal incompletion
once again to Fitzgerald,
we find ourselves here.
Second and goal with the chance
to go to the NFC Championship on the line.
It's been a game filled by spectacular plays by each side.
The last three completions combined for 176 yards.
For Green Bay, it's been par for course
in a season that easily could've slipped away
had it not been for Rodgers and company
finding more miracles than some franchises
have in this history.
Their defense looks to find one of their own
or, at the very least, force a field goal
and give the offense a chance to do what they do best.
As for the Cardinals,
they can cap off their remarkable season right here.
Their quarterback looking for the first post-season win
in his long career,
a head coach looking for the same
and Fitzgerald doing what he can
to not let his heroics go to waste.
Okay.
Here in overtime, second and goal.
Welcome to a moment in history.
- [Announcer] Brown is the motion man.
He’ll flip to Fitzgerald.
He scores!
And the Cardinals win an amazing game.