Five Things We Learned in the Wild Card Round

The Green Bay Packers (11-6) will be looking to forget their dismal performance at Arizona less than three weeks ago when they visit the Cardinals (13-3) again Saturday in the divisional round of the playoffs.

Game-planning sessions can get a little dry sometimes for the Green Bay Packers. The Cardinals had made it to the Super Bowl against Pittsburgh Steelers in Tampa Bay, Florida, Feb. 1, 2009.

Green Bay Packers tight end Richard Rodgers (82) celebrates with quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) after wide receiver Davante Adams caught a touchdown pass during the first half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game against t…

There’s a bit of familiarity between the Green Bay Packers and Arizona Cardinals, familiarity that was not bred in success for Green Bay.

Aaron Rodgers led the Green Bay Packers over the Washington Redskins on NFL’s Wild Card weekend. The Cardinals could see the same Packers that beat the Washington Redskins.

And the Packers? While beating the Redskins pumps some life into their body, filling them with excitement, this means playing against the Arizona Cardinals on the road.

“I think they understood I was fine”, Tretter said about the safety after the game.

If the Packers are moving the ball, defenders could get worn down while being stuck on the field when Rodgers goes no-huddle. In Washington, their sputtering offense generated 346 total yards, as Rodgers threw for 210 to go along with a pair of touchdowns. “When you get into playoffs, you don’t have to talk about the regular season no more”.

Rodgers hit Cobb in the end zone for the first time since Week 11 to put the Packers on the board, as the veteran quarterback put all of his tools to use while driving down the field.

“It’s huge for us; it really is”, Rodgers said. But as quickly as the tickets were sold out, I think the crowd will be very much red come Saturday night. The Packers’ defense allows only 84 rushing yards and plummets the Washington offense into ineptitude on its last five possessions of the game, which went this way – punt, punt, ball over on downs three times. Behind quarterback Carson Palmer, the Cardinals feature the league’s top-ranked offense and finished second in the league in scoring with an average of 30.6 points.TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, NBC. They have running backs who can actually run and catch.

The battle got off to a slow start for the green and gold, as the road team just could not get going in the first quarter.

Green Bay added a field goal and the spirited defense stopped Washington on fourth-down conversion attempts three times to clinch victory.

“There’s a high percentage that they make them, but you’ve still got to do it”. Rodgers said the Packers had their “mojo” back after erasing an early 11-point deficit versus Washington to set up a rematch with the Cardinals. He threw for one touchdown, ran for one and, lost one fumble and was sacked six times.

REDSKINS TASTE PLAYOFFS: After finishing last in six of the past seven seasons, the Redskins put a positive spin on making the postseason by winning the NFC East in Jay Gruden’s second year as coach.