Hail Mary magic not enough as Packers fall to Cardinals in OT thriller

With about 10 minutes left, all hell broke loose.

The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers broke open a tight, nervy, mistake-filled game with the strangest of shootouts that ended in an absolutely classic finish. On the opening drive of overtime, Carson Palmer flipped a shovel pass to Larry Fitzgerald for the game-winning score in a 26-20 Cardinals win, but that was about the 10th most interesting play of the game.

In those final of 10 minutes of the fourth quarter, and just over a minute’s worth of overtime, the Cardinals drove 80 yards to take the lead, stopped the Packers on fourth down, mishandled the clock and then saw Aaron Rodgers — down to fourth-and-20 at his own 4-yard line with under a minute left — hit a reprise of his Miracle in Motown Hail Mary to force overtime. Who caught it? Why, Jeff Janis, he of the four career receptions entering Saturday, of course.

Bonkers.

Fitzgerald set up his game-winning touchdown with an incredible, side-winding 75-yard reception in OT. He finished with eight receptions for 176 yards and the one score, enhancing his reputation as one of the best postseason wideouts ever.

When the Packers lose in the postseason, it’s often in painful fashion, and this one was no different. The Packers’ past three playoff losses — the 2013 wild-card game against the San Francisco 49ers, the 2014 NFC title game at Seattle, and now this — all have ended on the final play of the game.

This was a see-saw battle that had more highlights in the final five minutes than the first 55. The Cardinals cranked it up when they had to. And let’s face it: They caught a few breaks, too. They have advanced to the NFC title game — either at home if the Seattle Seahawks win, or at Charlotte if the Carolina Panthers win.

The Cardinals rallied with a miracle drive that took up almost half the fourth quarter to take the lead. Palmer had a poor game overall, but he was bailed out by some terrific plays by his receivers, winning his first postseason game in three attempts in his 13th NFL season.

First, he fit the ball just inches over the head of Packers linebacker Jake Ryan for a first down to receiver John Brown for 21 yards. Then to Fitzgerald, gaining 13 on a great reach for the sticks. Clutch third-down conversions to Floyd, Brown and Johnson, who caught a pass and tumbled backward one link past the sticks.

Luck was everywhere on this drive. Palmer nearly threw a pick, a ball that glanced off both of the hands of Packers cornerback Sam Shields, who earlier in the game had a clean chance to intercept another pass. And then, the start of the wild plays: Palmer’s pass, intended for Fitzgerald, was tipped by Randall on what looked like a heck of a play. But it deflected up into the air — usually a good thing for the defense — and into the hands of Floyd in the back of the end zone to give the Cardinals a 17-13 lead. Making it worse for the Packers was the fact that Cardinals receiver Jaron Brown should have been called for offensive interference on the play.

Nonetheless, the score counted. The drive: 14 plays, 80 yards, seven minutes, and maybe two dozen mini-heart attacks.

But it was a slow start for both teams. Rodgers hit on only two of his first six passes for eight yards and, like the wild-card win over the Washington Redskins, looked frustrated.

On the Cardinals’ second possession, set up by a nice Patrick Peterson punt return for 12 yards, they drove to the Green Bay 8-yard line, converting a fourth-down run in the process. On third-and-goal, Palmer hit Michael Floyd in the back of the end zone for a toe-tapping touchdown and a 7-0 Arizona lead. Palmer was 6-of-7 passing on the drive after a shaky start to the game.

The Packers responded with back-to-back 17-play drives but only could tally six points before the half and also lost one of their few remaining playmakers. Randall Cobb made what appeared to be a spectacular catch for 51 yards down to the Arizona 3-yard line, but it was called back on offsetting penalties. Then, adding injury to insult, Cobb was carted off and later ruled out for the game with a chest injury.

That left Rodgers without his top four receivers to start the season, throwing to James Jones, Jared Abbrederis, Jeff Janis and Richard Rodgers, primarily. Although Abbrederis and Janis did surprisingly good work early, the Packers had to settle for two Mason Crosby field goals and a 7-6 halftime deficit.

But the Packers’ defense was spectacular early. It held the Cardinals to 67 yards in the first half, 42 of them coming on the scoring drive. And after a terrible Aaron Rodgers interception to open the second half, the Packers took the ball right back. Palmer underthrew a sideline route to Floyd, and Packers safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix — who had two picks in the NFC title game last season as a rookie — stepped over the top for the interception.

The Packers then handed it to Lacy for gains of 14 and 61 yards, with a great block from T.J. Lang springing the latter, and Rodgers finished the drive off with some great freelancing, escaping pressure a few times and finding Janis for an eight-yard touchdown to give Green Bay the lead, 13-7.

Janis had two catches on the season entering Saturday, and four in his career. He finished with seven receptions for 145 yards and two scores.

Palmer struck back immediately, hitting Fitzgerald three times for 55 yards on the ensuing drive. But after the Cardinals got to the Green Bay 7-yard line, Fitzgerald gave back with a crack-back block that cost them 15 yards. After two incomplete passes, a Chandler Catanzaro field goal cut the Packers lead to 13-10.

And right when it looked like the Cardinals had stolen the momentum after getting a much-needed three-and-out, Palmer led a drive 59 yards down to the Green Bay 10 but gave it away again with a miserable interception off his back foot in the end zone. Rookie Damarious Randall was credited with the pick, but Palmer faded back with pressure in his face and threw off his back foot, eliminating a chance to tie or take the lead.

After a Richard Rodgers dropped pass was ruled a catch and then called back, the Packers had to punt again. With the run game doing nothing, the ball ended up back in Palmer’s hands. It wasn’t pretty, but he and the Cardinals delivered.

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm