Cards-Packers sets all the records
- As a fan of great storylines, I'll admit I was a little dismayed over the outcome of the Cardinals-Packers wildcard game. It means we won't get the chance to see Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers face each other with everything on the line in the NFC Championship Game. However, if we're going to be deprived of a showdown, it might as well come at the expense of an instant classic like yesterday's game. Not only did it make up for a lack of Favre Bowl III, it more than made up for the previous three wildcard games, all of which were dull as dirt.
- With a 51-45 outcome, yesterday's game was the highest-scoring postseason game in NFL history.
- Had the Packers managed to win, despite a 21-point deficit early in the first half, it would have been the third-biggest postseason comeback in history. The two biggest ones are the 49ers-Giants classic from 2003, and the Bill-Oilers comeback from 1993.
- With his five-touchdown, 29-33 performance, Kurt Warner played absolutely phenomenal -- especially considering it might have been his final NFL game had the Cardinals lost. Warner's quarterback rating of 154.1 was the second-highest in a playoff game in history (only Peyton Manning, who had a perfect rating against the Broncos, had a higher one). Warner also become just the sixth player in history to throw more touchdown passes than incomplete passes in a playoff game. He has also gone two consecutive postseasons with at least a four-touchdown-zero-interception game, joining only Joe Montana.
- With nine touchdowns and 628 yards, Larry Fitzgerald has set records in both categories for the most in the first five playoff games of a career. Who knows if he would've reached those marks had the Packers not left him wide open all game.
- Aaron Rodgers, who had 408 yards at the end of regulation, narrowly missed out on the record for yards in a postseason regulation -- a record held by Kelly Holcomb of all people. He did however throw for 300 yards in the second half and also threw four touchdowns -- becoming the first player to accomplish both. With four TD's in the second half, Rodgers tied Frank Reich (in the Bills-Oilers comeback) and Sid Luckman (from the 1943 NFL Championship Game) for the most ever in a second half.
- While some people are noting that the game ended on a defensive play, it couldn't have finished in a better way. Had the Packers managed to go down the field and score, people would have forever criticized the outcome of the game, claiming that both teams were playing so well offensively that whoever won the coin flip would have won it. With the game ending on a fumble recovery, Packer fans can never complain they didn't get the ball at least once.
- This is only the second time since the NFL-AFL merger that a game took place in which both quarterbacks threw for four touchdowns and 300 yards each. The previous occurrence: a 1999 Vikings-Rams showdown between Jeff George and, yes, Kurt Warner.
- From Sports Media Watch:
- Of the eight teams still remaining, all of the quarterbacks carry different, unique storylines with them. Mark Sanchez and Joe Flacco are trying to establish themselves as some of the best QB's in the game, particularly Sanchez, who put up awful numbers in the regular season. Kurt Warner, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees are both looking to augment their historical status with a championship ring, particularly Brees, who has yet to win one. Philip Rivers is looking to prove that the Chargers were right in letting go of Brees, who has lately put up some of the gaudiest numbers ever seen. The quarterbacks with the biggest to prove are facing each other next week in Minnesota: Romo is looking for an Eli Manning-esque postseason to silence his critics once and for all; Favre, meanwhile, is looking for his second career ring and the vindication that his latest comeback was actually worth it.
The only close game of NFL Wild Card weekend also drew the highest overnight rating.
The Cardinals' overtime victory over the Packers drew a 21.8 overnight rating on FOX Sunday afternoon, up 10% from Eagles/Vikings on FOX last year (19.9), up 17% from Titans/Chargers on CBS in '08 (18.6), and up 7% from Giants/Eagles on FOX in '07 (20.4).
Ratings peaked at a 27.0/40 from 7:45-8 PM.
The 21.8 overnight is the highest for any NFL Wild Card game since Packers/Vikings in '99 (24.2). From 2000-09, the highest overnight for a Wild Card game was a 21.6 for Giants/49ers in '02.
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