Arizona Cardinals beat Green Bay Packers in dramatic overtime finish

And the second-down pass in the final minutes after the Cardinals stopped the Packers on fourth down, a play that essentially gave the Packers a chance at the Hail Mary, was to Fitzgerald. There was questionable playcalling, questionable refereeing, a Hail Mary as time expired, a coin flip that was redone because it didn’t flip and then another epic performance by Larry Fitzgerald in the postseason.

Janis only became part of the offensive gameplan after Packers wide receiver Randall Cobb departed with a chest injury in the first quarter.

As simple as that word is, that describes him best. Carson Palmer was pressured, spun out of it, bounced off his own guy and threw the ball across his body to Fitzgerald, who was wide open and running a decoy route.

Fitzgerald caught eight passes for 176 yards.

Fitzgerald’s touchdown moved the Cardinals (14-3) into the NFC championship game against Carolina or Seattle, and sent the Packers (11-7) to another what-could-have-been offseason.

But ultimately, it was the one that the Cardinals made on the very first play of overtime that sent the Packers home with an overtime playoff loss for the second straight year.

Say this about McCarthy’s Green Bay Packers: When they lose in the playoffs, they make it memorable.

Peterson picked off Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers in the second quarter and returned it 100 yards for a touchdown, pulling off the rare feat of a defensive player reaching the end zone – and it was something he saw coming. At the goal line Jeff Janis jumped up between Patrick Peterson and Rashad Johnson and somehow came down with it on the “Z” of the end zone. The 2016 Pro Bowl receiver gave Cards fans another reason to see why age (32)-for him at least-is just another number.

Had the Packers won the coin toss (which was itself a freaky event, since the referee did not actually flip the coin at first and had to re-do it), the result might have been different.

“Bizarre plays made by both teams”, Rodgers said after the game, per NFL Network.

Not to be outdone, the game’s story – and Rodgers’ and Janis’s legacy – was about to continue to be written.

But that philosophy won games earlier in the season and led to a 13-3 season.

Damarious Randall, who moments earlier had made a key interception in the end zone, deflected a pass intended for Fitzgerald inside the 5-yard line and the ball sailed into the end zone into the hands of Michael Floyd for a 9-yard touchdown.

– Chandler Catanzaro, Cardinals, kicked two field goals in Arizona’s 26-20 overtime win over Green Bay. If the Cardinals still had the lead at the end of the quarter then fine. A penalty pushed it back to the 41 and Rodgers threw incomplete before getting off his last, great completion. Much like Saturday, Aaron Rodgers didn’t get an opportunity to take the field. “My (darn) jaw was on the ground”.

Palmer threw for 349 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions on 25-of-41 passing.

They wanted three more wins entering Saturday, They got one and get to practice and play another week.

Rodgers said Blakeman was in a rush because he was trying to avoid the embarrassment of what had just happened.

The Arizona Cardinals now lead the Green Bay Packers 7-6 at halftime of a NFC Divisional round of the 2015 National Football League playoffs. “They found a way to win and we didn’t”.