It was a Wild Card playoff game played on January 10, 2010 between the Green Bay Packers and Arizona Cardinals, that is the Throwback Thursday feature this week, with those 2 clubs battling on this week’s NFL slate of contests. Arizona sported a 10-6 record entering the game, while the Packers stood at 11-5. It was a quarterback duel for the ages between a Hall of Famer, Kurt Warner, and a certain future one, Aaron Rodgers.
Making full use of their home field advantage at University of Phoenix Stadium, the Cardinals dominated the opening quarter. Tim Hightower plunged a yard for the first score, then Warner found Early Doucet on a 15 yard touchdown toss. Neil Rackers’ field goal completed the first quarter scoring with Arizona holding a comfortable 17-0 lead. Green Bay rebounded somewhat in the second stanza, sandwiching a 1 yard Rodgers QB sneak touchdown and a Mason Crosby field goal around another 15 yard Warner to Doucet touchdown connection. The second half exploded into an aerial showdown between the 2 signal callers. First it was Warner to Larry Fitzgerald for 33 yards to build Arizona’s lead to 31-10. Rodgers battled back, bringing the Packers to with 7 points with touchdown passes of 6 yards to Greg Jennings and 11 to Jordy Nelson. Warner countered that with another touchdown connection with Fitzgerald of 11 yards, ending the wild third quarter with a 38-24 Cardinal advantage.
The scoring barrage continued in the final quarter. Rodgers rallied the Packers back to a 38-38 tie with a scoring toss of 30 yards to James Jones, while another drive ended with a 1 yard touchdown run by fullback John Kuhn. Warner and Rodgers then traded touchdown passes to a couple of their lesser known weapons. Arizona took the lead as Warner connected with Steve Breaston from 17 yards out, while Rodgers followed that with an 11 yarder to Spencer Hayner to tie the contest once again. The game now would have to be settled in overtime. With the day’s aerial battle that proceeded the extra period, of course a majestic touchdown pass would surely finish it, right? That was not to be. Instead, the Cardinals’ defense, ravaged all game by Rodgers, took matters into their own hands. They blitzed the Packer QB, causing a strip sack that Karlos Dansby scooped up and returned 17 yards to the end zone to secure a wild 51-45 win. Arizona rode the momentum of this victory all the way to the Super Bowl, where they lost a heartbreaker to the Steelers.
In this game, Warner’s final numbers were 29 of 33 completions for 379 yards and 5 touchdowns, while Rodgers accumulated 423 yards and 4 scores on 28 of 42 passes.
Cardinals’ playoff hero Karlos Dansby