Cardinals’ win earns best Saturday night divisional rating

It was a freaky night in the desert when the Cardinals escaped with a 26-20 overtime victory Saturday night.

“I didn’t know where anybody was really”, said Rodgers, who threw for 261 yards, two touchdowns and an interception on 24-of-44 passing.

Still, if the Packers could hold Arizona to a field goal, Rodgers would get another chance with the ball in his hands. Then, the ageless Larry Fitzgerald almost went 80 yards on the first play of overtime before scoring on the very next play to give the Cardinals the win and a berth in the NFC Championship Game.

Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers was left fuming at the decision to re-flip the coin without asking him if he wanted to revise his call of tails.

With the Cardinals off to the NFC Championship Game, McCarthy was left to deal with an overtime elimination from the postseason for the second straight season.

Then came the coin flip, repeated because it didn’t flip the first time, and Arizona won the toss. “I never regret a call….”

On the first play of overtime, Carson Palmer spun out of a sack and found Fitzgerald uncovered.

Carson Palmer finished 25 of 41 for 349 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Jeff Janis, a second-year player from Saginaw Valley State, caught a pair of touchdown passes and might have been the hero of the game if not for Fitzgerald’s overtime dramatics. “But that’s football.” Both teams seemed upset and confused by the coin-toss incident.

And, as time expired, Rodgers forced overtime in incredible fashion, again escaping the Arizona pass rush and heaving a “Hail Mary” pass into the end zone for Janis to make a leaping grab, with the extra point tying the game up at 20-20. Green Bay failed on four downs on the next drive.

Reid said the problem occurred in the first half between the coaching staff and the radio in quarterback Alex Smith’s helmet.

With the victory, the Cardinals must await the result of the other NFC Divisional Round Game to see where they will be playing next week.

Rather than rotate a few times in the air, the coin effectively hovered for a few seconds before falling to the grass.

The Cardinals, who lost to Pittsburgh seven years ago in their only Super Bowl appearance, reached a National Conference final date with either Carolina or Seattle.

After spending the last two weeks recovering from knee and back injuries, Gronkowski had touchdown catches from 8 and 16 yards.

Though losing Cobb didn’t help, especially after already having to rule out fellow receiver Davante Adams because of a right knee injury, Green Bay caught a break of its own after Arizona thought it had extended its lead to 14-0 early in the second quarter.

Rodgers did it again on an even bigger stage, marching Green Bay 85 yards in the final 1:15 of regulation for another high-in-the-sky completion.