Clutch Packers Advance to NFC Championship Game

A third-down sack by Preston Smith and two third-down conversions by Aaron Rodgers helped the Packers survive Seattle 28-23

GREEN BAY, Wis. – On Friday, veteran defensive back Tramon Williams proclaimed with the widest of smiles that the Green Bay Packers were “the worst 13-3 team in the world.”

Make that the worst 14-3 team that will be playing for a trip to the Super Bowl.

The Packers, who had sputtered through a five-game winning streak to clinch the No. 2 seed, held on for dear life to beat the Seattle Seahawks 28-23 in Sunday night’s NFC Divisional playoff game. With that, the Packers will have their rematch against the San Francisco 49ers. On Nov. 24, Green Bay was demolished 37-8.

“I still like our chances,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said after the November game. “I think we have the makeup to bounce back from these kind of things and put ourselves in a position to potentially come back here and play again.”

Green Bay hasn’t lost since that game, though its sixth consecutive win wound up being the usual high-wire act. The Packers escaped again, improving to an incredible 9-1 in games decided by one score.

First, with Seattle having the ball with a chance to take the lead, they got a third-down sack by Preston Smith to force a punt. Then, on third-and-8 with 2:19 remaining, Rodgers connected with Davante Adams for a gain of 32. Adams lined up in the right slot and beat rookie corner Ugo Amadi. Still, Green Bay needed one more first down. On third-and-9, Rodgers fired a pass to tight end Jimmy Graham against the blitz. Graham made the catch and got the first down – a play that withstood two replay reviews, the second coming after the replay supervisor frantically yelled for referee Clete Blakeman to take another look after Blakeman initially said the ruling stood as called.

"The guys were just telling me, 'Short, it looked short,'" Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. "And if they would've called it short, it would've been short. It's the same thing as last week."

Rodgers took three knees to run out the clock.

“All I can say is that was pretty indicative of our entire season right there with another game right down to the wire,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “So proud of our guys and the way they battle and play for each other. It’s a resilient group. It wasn’t always pretty at times, but it was great at the end of the game there we made plays when we had to. Our defense stepped up and was able to get that sack on Russell, and there’s no better way to close out a football game than in a four-minute mode where you have to convert a couple third downs.”

Rodgers didn’t have a monster game but it was one of his more efficient performances of the season. He was 16-of-27 for 243 yards and two touchdowns. Adams was the prime beneficiary with eight catches for 160 yards – a franchise playoff record.

“Winning is always satisfying but there are moments in the season that rank higher than others, and this obviously is one of those moments where, based on the way their offense was moving the ball, I knew I was going to have to make some plays tonight,” Rodgers said. “I felt good about my preparation and the performance. I felt really locked in from Wednesday on and practiced well and felt really good today all day. Just felt like today was going to be one of these type of performances tonight.”

Wilson threw for 277 yards for Seattle.

Green Bay struck first. On third-and-7, Rodgers fired a 20-yard touchdown pass to Adams. Adams took a couple steps to the post, then took his route to the corner. In the process, he lost cornerback Tre Flowers for the score. The Packers extended their lead to 28-10 midway through the third quarter on another superlative Rodgers-to-Adams connection against Flowers. First, it was the route – a post-corner that freed up Adams for the catch at the 20. Adams then used a wicked open-field move to outrun Flowers to the end zone. It was the NFL version of a basketball player’s dunk putting a hapless defender on a poster.

In between, Aaron Jones scored on a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs – touchdowns Nos. 20 and 21 on the season.

These were the Seahawks and this was Wilson at quarterback, so they weren’t going down without a fight. Green Bay led 21-3 at halftime but Seattle charged right down the field to open the second half to score, with Marshawn Lynch pounding it in from the 1. The second touchdown by Adams rebuilt the 18-point margin but Wilson turned in a virtuoso drive in which he completed passes for 48 yards and scrambled for 26 more. The touchdown came on an extended play, with Wilson hitting receiver Tyler Lockett for a 7-yard score that made it 28-17.

The Seahawks forced a three-and-out, with linebacker Bobby Wagner breaking up a third-down pass, and Wilson kept the momentum going. The former Wisconsin star was magnificent, including a 16-yard checkdown to running back Travis Homer delivered just before he was sandwiched between a pair of defenders. Lynch scored again from the 1, making it 28-23 with 9:33 remaining. Carroll went for 2 but cornerback Jaire Alexander blitzed from the slot and decked Wilson to keep it a five-point game.

Green Bay got close to scoring range on Rodgers’ 14-yard scramble but he was sacked on third-and-9 from the 40 by Shaquem Griffin. Green Bay punted the ball back to Seattle with 5 minutes to play. The defense held, Rodgers hit two key third downs to run out the clock and the Packers are going back to pay another visit to the 49ers.

The stakes are much higher this time.

“There’s a lot to learn” from Round 1, LaFleur said. “First of all, that’s a really good football team. We know we’re going to have to be at our absolute best in order to compete with them.”