And why not? He has a lot added fun if his breach is counterbalanced -- and the Green Bay Packers account acutely at will.
Spurred by a bit of hurry-up, and a agglomeration of running, the wild-card Packers got traveling afterwards a asperous alpha Sunday, with Rodgers throwing for a brace of TDs while Eddie Lacy and James Starks anniversary rushed for a score, and Green Bay exhausted the NFC East best Washington Redskins 35-18 to adeptness the bounded round.
Rodgers opened 1 for 8, and the Packers' aboriginal four drives concluded this way: punt, safety, punt, punt. They had all of 11 yards -- yes, just 11 -- afterwards one quarter.
But abaft 11-0 aboriginal in the additional quarter, backstab NFL MVP Rodgers and the Packers al of a sudden began to appearance the array of adeptness to accretion yards in chunks and put credibility on the lath they had been missing while accident six of their final 10 amateur and absolution the NFC North appellation blooper away.
Green Bay (11-6) will play at the No. 2 berry Arizona Cardinals on Saturday night. In the added NFC bold next weekend, the No. 1 berry Carolina Panthers will host the wild-card Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.
With the Packers and Seahawks abutting the AFC's Pittsburgh Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs, it's the aboriginal time alley teams went 4-0 in the wild-card annular beneath the accepted NFL playoff format, which started in 1990.
Washington (9-8) had won four amateur in a row, but its division ends afterwards a individual achievement over a aggregation that accomplished with a acceptable record.
Rodgers accomplished 21 for 36 for 210 yards and no interceptions. Washington QB Kirk Cousins, authoritative his aboriginal career playoff alpha afterwards a advance season, was 29 for 46 for 329 yards. He threw for one touchdown, absent one bollix and was sacked six times.
Here is how able Green Bay was adjoin a Washington aegis that had developed a bend-but-don't-break-reputation: The Packers denticulate on 5 afterwards backing in one stretch, with four touchdowns and a acreage goal.
Green Bay aggregate its accomplished point absolute back a season-high 38 in Week 3.
Rodgers affiliated with Randall Cobb and Davante Adams in the end area en avenue to a 17-11 halftime lead. In the additional half, Starks denticulate from 4 yards out, and Lacy from 2, as the Packers ran the brawl on 13 of 15 snaps. Afterwards accepting 17 yards on nine carries in the aboriginal half, Green Bay accomplished with added than 140 yards rushing.
The Redskins looked like the bigger aggregation in the aboriginal going.
The bold was almost 4 1/2 account old if Washington led 2-0 on its aboriginal postseason assurance back 1984 -- amateur linebacker Preston Smith got to Rodgers for his sixth sack in the accomplished four games.
The Redskins again went advanced 5-0 on Dustin Hopkins' 25-yard acreage goal, but the advance could accept been larger. DeSean Jackson bent a canyon from Cousins and initially was disqualified to accept scored, but the credibility came off if it was disqualified that the brawl never beyond the ambition line.
Later, Cousins affiliated with bound end Jordan Reed for a 24-yard account and, afterwards a absent extra-point attempt, it was 11-0.
That was if Rodgers, the MVP of the 2011 Super Bowl, angry things around.
Rodgers looked a lot added like himself in the additional quarter, traveling 5 for 6 for 68 yards on a drive that concluded with a 12-yard TD canyon to Cobb, cartoon Green Bay aural 11-7. And Rodgers pulled out all his accepted tricks, alert traveling with a quick breeze that generated a too-many-men amends on Washington's defense.
Later in that quarter, Cousins was strip-sacked by Mike Neal, who aswell recovered the fumble, which the Packers angry into a 43-yard acreage ambition to trim their arrears to 11-10.
And Rodgers added his additional scoring bung of the division with 28 abnormal left, a 10-yarder to Adams that gave the Packers a 17-11 halftime lead. Rodgers danced about afterwards that TD, and threw some anchor pumps, too, activity acceptable about his breach for the aboriginal time in a while.
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