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GREEN BAY, Wisconsin. – For everything Aaron Rodgers has accomplished in his Hall of Fame career, there is one thing he’s never done: play in an NFC Championship game at Lambeau Field.
Come back next Sunday to see him check that off his list. Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers (14-3) will play for a Super Bowl spot against the New Orleans Saints or the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
And the peloton will do it on their own turf thanks to Saturday’s 32-18 victory over the Los Angeles Rams at Lambeau, where fans – 8,456 of them – were cleared for the first time this season.
This will be Rodgers’ fifth appearance in the conference title game. His previous four have all come on the road. He won his first – in the 2010 season, at Soldier Field – en route to his only Super Bowl. He’s lost three since, including last season to the San Francisco 49ers in a resounding fashion.
It was after last season’s loss when Rodgers repeated a familiar refrain, saying, “We have to have one at home.”
Rodgers made sure of that early and often against the Rams (11-7), who had the best defense in the NFL in the regular season (18.1 points per game). The Packers improved that in the first half, taking a 19-10 lead at the break. They became the first team this season to score on the Rams on each of their first three records. It was also the fourth game in a row that the Packers’ strongest offense has scored in each of his first three records.
Rodgers threw a one-yard touchdown pass to Davante Adams, sending Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey into a heated post-game rally with goaltender Nick Scott. Rodgers also ran for a touchdown in the first half, giving him a touchdown pass and a touchdown in the same playoff game for the third time in his career. But it was his first playoff score since that 2010 NFC Title game in Chicago.
It was just the beginning.
When Aaron Jones snatched a 60-yard run in the opening play of the third quarter to set up his own 1-yard touchdown, that meant the Packers scored in each of their first five drives in a first-time game. times since week 3 of the 2016 season.
Saturday marked the 22nd time in NFL playoff history that the No.1 offense and No.1 scoring defense have faced each other. The Packers’ 32 points were the fourth most important of those encounters, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
Rodgers knelt the late game to chants of “MVP” from the crowd.
He completed 23 of 36 passes for 296 yards and two touchdowns. His 58-yard touchdown pass to Allen Lazard in the fourth quarter was his longest goal assist of his playoff career.
Rodgers enjoyed the best rushing performance – 189 yards – his team had ever given him in a playoff game. The previous high was 147 yards in the 2011 Division Playoffs against the New York Giants. But it was a loss in the only other time the Packers were the No.1 seed under Rodgers.
That game denied him an NFC title game at home.
Ten years later, Rodgers will not be refused.
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