Aaron Rodgers makes another incredible, game-saving Hail Mary to force overtime

Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer got the first playoff victory of his career thanks to big plays from Larry Fitzgerald.

However, the excitement of the moment soon passed, when Larry Fitzgerald’s impressive 75-yard catch and run set up his game-winning touchdown as the Cardinals escaped with a 26-20 victory to advance to the NFC championship game. He finished with eight receptions for 176 yards and the one score, enhancing his reputation as one of the best postseason wideouts ever. His overtime score was his 10th.

But the Packers weren’t through.

Earlier in the drive, Janis kept the game alive with a 60-yard reception on fourth down and 20.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Jeff Janis (center) catches a 41-yard touchdown pass between Arizona Cardinals cornerback Pat…

Janis leaped between Arizona’s Patrick Peterson and Rashad Johnson to pull down the pass, injuring himself on the play but holding onto the ball by pinning it to his hip.

But there was no such salvation for the Cardinals, not on that play. “Before that, they blew us out”, Rodgers said.

Randall made another good defensive play late in the fourth quarter, sticking his arm out to deflect a Palmer pass away from his receiver.

Minter said he thought something had to have happened that would render the pass incomplete or the game over. On first down from the Green Bay nine-yard line, Palmer dropped back and tried to hit Fitzgerald on a slant. “We’ve got something going on, something brewing in this locker room”. We’re glad to get this one behind us.

Chandler Catanzaro cut the deficit to three points with a 28-yard field goal but the Cardinals still trailed going into the final 15 minutes as defences remained on top.

Oddsmakers are picking the Cardinals, the NFC’s No. 2 seed, by seven points, although Packers coach Mike McCarthy wouldn’t call his team the underdog.

The Cardinals took advantage of a poor punt from Green Bay’s Tim Masthay to grab the early lead.

Palmer, at the helm of the league’s leading offense in the regular season, struggled in the first half, throwing for 74 yards on 8-of-14 passing with two interceptions. Then, adding injury to insult, Cobb was carted off and later ruled out for the game with a chest injury.

The second pick, by Damarious Randall, came in the end zone with the Cardinals trailing 13-10 in the fourth quarter.

Cardinals linebacker Kevin Minter’s reaction to the tying touchdown? Another long drive, this one also consisting of 17 plays and lasting 7:55, resulted in a Crosby’s 34-yard field goal.

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer celebrates with defensive end Frostee Rucker after the Cardinals defeat the Green Bay Packers in overtime. No one should expect that kind of blowout when the teams meet again Saturday night, this time in the NFC divisional playoffs.