Rodgers Gets Hot, and That Gives Packers Hope in Rematch
GREEN BAY, Wis. – If Aaron Rodgers plays like he did on Sunday against Seattle, the Green Bay Packers will have a fighting chance to upset San Francisco and play in their first Super Bowl in a decade.
There was nothing legendary about Rodgers’ performance – 16-of-27 passing for 243 yards – but he was mistake-free, accurate and clutch – just what the Packers needed to hold off the Seahawks 28-23.
Green Bay set the tone on the first drive, with Rodgers throwing a 20-yard touchdown strike to receiver Davante Adams. Rodgers was in total control as the Packers stormed to a 21-3 halftime lead.
When Seattle pulled within 21-10 to start the second half, Rodgers had the answer. On third-and-6, he had pinpoint placement on a deep lob to tight end Jimmy Graham for a gain 27. One play later, Adams turned cornerback Tre Flowers inside-out for a 40-yard touchdown to make it 28-10.
Finally, with the game on the line, Green Bay took possession at its 20-yard line with 2:32 remaining. The Seahawks had all the momentum, and a nervous energy filled Lambeau Field that Russell Wilson – like he did in the 2014 NFC Championship Game – could pull off another heroic comeback.
Not this time.
On third-and-8, Rodgers lofted a perfect deep ball to Adams against cornerback Ugo Amadi for a gain of 32. Adams lined up in the right slot, beat Amadi to get open immediately, then drifted his route to the right to take advantage of the vacant real estate.
“Davante ran a great route in the slot there,” Rodgers said. “I think the leverage looked like the defender may have jumped inside at the snap, and he’s got a great release, got off the ball and I tried to put it in a good spot for him. He was on one tonight. He was really crisp with his route-running, just one of those special nights. He made a number of very heady plays. Tonight reminds me of the connection that Jordy (Nelson) and I had for so many years, where there were some unspoken things that we could do without even communicating anything about it, and Davante made three or four plays like that tonight, so that was pretty fun.”
Adams caught eight passes for 160 yards and two touchdowns. The yardage figure was the most in Packers postseason history.
“This organization has been around for a really long time, so it means the world to me,” Adams said. “I can’t take all the credit because I can’t throw myself the ball, I can’t protect, any of that stuff. Making a play means a lot to me, but it’s not necessarily the records I’m after. It’s getting wins and we were able to do that today. So, that’s what means the most. It is pretty cool, I won’t lie. It is pretty cool.”
Next, the Packers faced a third-and-9 at Seattle’s 45 at the 2-minute warning. Facing a blitz, Rodgers stood in the pocket and threw a dart to Graham on a crossing route. The veteran tight end managed to get to the first-down marker – a ruling that withstood a couple of replay reviews – to clinch the victory.
“I just tried to hold it as long as I could at the snap,” Rodgers said. “I was really thinking Davante pre-snap. At the snap, (safety Quandre) Diggs went to his right and kind of doubled, so I knew we had one-on-ones on the backside. Pretty happy for Jimmy to have a couple really big impact plays for us, all his catches I believe were on third down, all conversions. He’s a great friend, great teammate and I’m really happy that he made those plays.”
Graham, who this season had the fewest receptions since his rookie season of 2010 and had a fumble in Week 16 at Minnesota and a costly drop to start the Week 17 game at Detroit, caught three passes for 49 yards.
“To do that in a playoff game and to do it against my old team when all the bright lights were on, it’s always fun to hear the crowd go crazy,” Graham said. “But it’s awesome to be able to step up and be there for my guys and be there for my team. I love these guys in here. We’ve been through a lot this season and we, a lot of people never really believed in us from the get-go, from this offseason. People say we win ugly, but we’re winning and that’s all that matters.”
Green Bay moved the chains on 9-of-14 third-down plays. The 64.3 percent success rate was its best of the season. Only four times did the Packers even move the chains half the time. In the blowout loss at San Francisco in November, the Packers didn’t move the chains until the bitter end of the game, with Tim Boyle having replaced Rodgers at quarterback at the end of a blowout.
“It’s just really about stepping up and making plays when your name’s called,” Adams said. “Everybody did. Obviously, I had a couple opportunities tonight, but it definitely was not just me. When I was able to make plays, my quarterback put me in a really good position to be able to run with the ball after, slowed me down with a couple of ‘em. When we all work really well together, on third downs, all of that stuff, you’ll see it spike up.”
Rodgers’ production spiked up – and just in time with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line next week. During the second half of the season, Rodgers had just one game with a 100 passer rating. Against Seattle, it was 113.7 – just his fourth 100-plus game of the season.
“As opposed to our last game we played in Detroit, where I felt pretty good about most of the throws and statistically I was way off, I felt good about all the throws tonight,” he said. “I felt good about the ball coming off of my hand. It’s one of those feelings that start to creep up during warm-ups where you really feel like you’re locked in. It’s fun when it translates to the field.”
