Aaron Rodgers returns to the site of his first playoff game as Packers starting quarterback on Sunday against the Cardinals. It was one wild wild-card game at what is now called State Farm Stadium, when Rodgers ended up on the short end of a playoff shoot-out for the ages against Kurt Warner.
The date was Jan. 10, 2010, five weeks after Rodgers had turned 26, and he recalls virtually everything about that crushing, 51-45 overtime defeat.
“I threw a pick on the first play, and then we fumbled on like the second or third play, and then we were kind of lights out after that,” Rodgers told The Post.
“Unfortunately, some of my memories are real negative, like how Kurt Warner had five touchdowns passing and four incompletions.
“Or how we went to overtime and we called my favorite play, maybe of all time, and I threw it way too flat and not high enough for Greg Jennings. It could have been a walk-off touchdown.
“Or that I fumbled to let it return for a touchdown, lose the game 51-45.”
Rodgers (423 yards, four TDs) was stripped by Michael Adams, and Karlos Dansby returned the fumble off Rodgers’ foot 17 yards to win it.
“I remember it was a great atmosphere,” Rodgers said. “But I threw across my body on the first play of the game for a pick, and after that I settled in and played pretty damn good.”
It was Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie who intercepted a pass short right intended for Jordy Nelson.
“A fun game always you’re proud to play in, just disappointed I threw a pick on the first play and missed Greg in overtime,” Rodgers said. “We felt good about the team that we had. Our defense was coming along in the first season under Dom Capers. We had two first-round picks, B.J. Raji and Clay Matthews, who were playing really well. We couldn’t stop ’em, and then we turned the ball over twice, and that came back to get us.”
Rodgers also lost a playoff overtime battle at Arizona following the 2015 season. That game is famous for Rodgers basically completing two Hail Marys to tie the game — one to get to around midfield then another on the final play to Jeff Janis for 41 yards to tie. Though Larry Fitzgerald had a 75-yard catch-and-run, then two plays later a 5-yard touchdown to end it quickly in OT, 26-20.
Rodgers has won at Arizona in the regular season — easily in 2010, 33-7 — though he also lost in 2015, 38-8. He was victorious in his most recent trip — 24-21 in 2021, when Rasul Douglas intercepted Kyler Murray in the end zone with 12 seconds left.
“It’s the all-time meme for me, I can’t shake it,” Rodgers said. “I threw a touchdown to [Randall Cobb], my facemask was up here, my chinstrap was here. It’s the No. 1 searched-for meme of all time for me.”
Now Rodgers tries to get the Jets to 4-6 following their 21-13 win over the Texans.
“We just gotta build off the momentum,” he said. “If you want to be a great team, you gotta practice like a great team, and I think the last few weeks, we’ve practiced a lot better.
“But there’s still a standard that we just need to come up an extra notch, and when we do that, which I’m confident we will, then the consistency I think shows up on game day.
“But you don’t just roll out of bed — that’s a misnomer — you just don’t roll out of bed and play freaking great. You’ve gotta practice the right way.”
The extra rest following the Thursday night game has rejuvenated his 40-year-old body. “Feel like a jackrabbit, man,” he joked. “I got all this energy.”
It wasn’t the ideal practice Wednesday, with guards Alijah Vera-Tucker and John Simpson idled.
“I want more reps,” Rodgers said. “But I understand this is the way it is. We gotta make the most of the walk-through reps, so challenge ’em every single play with signals, with adjustments, with little reminders and get those guys stimulated so they’re dialed in on those walk-through reps, no throwaway reps.”
He was encouraged by how he played in the second half against the Texans and the drastic reduction in missed assignments.
“Probably the best I’ve played,” Rodgers said. “Obviously couldn’t go anywhere but up in the second half.”
Rodgers knows it is go time.
“I think there was a weight lifted off, but there’s a baseline level of kind of energy and enthusiasm that we kind of held ourselves to in training camp, and we haven’t necessarily been there the entire time,” he said. “So we gotta find a way to bring it every single day. The key for young players to learn is that consistency starts with the minute that you walk into the building, and everything you do needs to be intentional, and that starts with the conversation you’re having, the time you get to work, the way you take notes. We’re starting to do some of the right things, but we’re a work in progress still.”
Razing Arizona for Aaron Rodgers.
