Arizona Cardinals no postseason friend of Aaron Rodgers

The Green Bay Packers signal-caller has had his share of playoff success but not when the opponent is the Arizona Cardinals

There’s at least one NFL quarterback who’s probably relieved that the Arizona Cardinals didn’t qualify for this season’s playoffs. And no, his name is not Russell Wilson.

The quarterback being referred to is one Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers. Out of the six career playoff losses Rodgers has suffered, two of those have been to Arizona. Both were heart-thumping, exhilarating contests that literally were not decided until the final gun.

The first, played on January 10th, 2010 in the desert, will go down as one of the NFL’s all-time greatest games. If you’re a fan that prefers defensive battles, this game wouldn’t have been for you. Instead, it was a classic quarterback duel between Cardinals’ Hall of Fame candidate Kurt Warner, and Rodgers.

After Arizona had taken a 24-10 lead at halftime, the two clubs pretty much traded touchdown for touchdown in the second half. The two quarterbacks were brilliant, both producing eye-popping numbers during the seesaw battle.

Warner somehow managed to throw more touchdowns than incompletions. He completed 29 of 33 attempts for 379 yards, five touchdowns and zero interceptions. Wide receiver Steve Breaston hauled in seven of the passes for 125 yards and a score, while Larry Fitzgerald caught six balls for 82 yards and two touchdowns.

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Rodgers finished 28 of 42 for 423 yards, five touchdowns (one rushing) and one interception. But in the end his fumble in overtime was scooped up by Cardinals’ linebacker Karlos Dansby, who proceeded to take it into the end zone for the win. The final score: Cards 51, Packers 45.

Last January, the Cards once again met Rodgers and the Pack in the playoffs. Another nail-biter ensued. And for a short while, it seemed as if Arizona would suffer one of the most heart-wrenching losses in organization history.

With the Cardinals up 20-13 with seconds to play, Green Bay had the ball at Arizona’s 41-yard line. Time for one more play, a “Hail Mary” to be exact. A play that Rodgers has become quite adept at executing.

The ball was snapped, Rodgers bought some time by scrambling to his left, and then threw a missile towards the Cards’ end zone. Somehow, wide receiver Jeff Janis came down with the prayer, and the game was miraculously tied at 20 apiece.

A bad feeling came over Cards’ fans everywhere until quarterback Carson Palmer and Fitzgerald came to the rescue in overtime. Palmer found the Arizona legend wide open in the flat, and Fitzgerald raced 75 yards down to the Packers’ five-yard line. Fitzgerald then took a shovel-pass into the end zone and the Cardinals triumphed 26-20.

It’s obvious that Cards have had Rodgers’ number in the postseason. But because Arizona had a poor 2016 campaign, the leader of the Pack will not have to worry about meeting Big Red in this year’s tournament. Rodgers must be breathing a sigh of relief about that.

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