After a disappointing opening round playoff loss to Arizona last season, Aaron Rodgers picked up his first career playoff victory
Aaron Rodgers
today, leading the Green Bay Packers to a 21-16 win in an NFC Wild Card game in Philadelphia.
Rodgers threw three touchdown passes and rookie running back James Starks rushed for 123 yards, but the game wasn’t decided until the final minute when Tramon Williams intercepted Michael Vick’s pass in the end zone to seal the win for the Packers.
The 6th seeded Packers (11-6) are now headed for the divisional playoffs next Saturday night at Atlanta (13-3). The Packers fell to the Falcons down in Atlanta 20-17 in week 12 on a field goal with 9 seconds to play.
Vick threw for 292 yards and ran for 33 more and appeared to be driving the Eagles for a potential game winning touchdown, but when he went for it all in the left corner of the end zone, his pass intended for Riley Cooper was picked off.
The Packers won their 3rd straight game, all in elimination fashion. They had to beat the Giants to keep their playoff hopes alive, and then beat the Bears to gain entry into the playoffs. Now, in a win or go home scenario, the Packers got the job done.
The Eagles were also hurt by a pair of missed David Akers field goals, from 41 and 34 yards.
Rodgers TD passes were 7-yards to Tom Crabtree, 9-yards to James Jones and 16-yards to Brandon Jackson. Jones dropped what could have been Rodgers 4th TD pass on a fly pattern down the right sidelines. Rodgers pass hit Jones in perfect stride and would have resulted in a 63 yard touchdown pass, but Jones, like he has several times this season, dropped it.