GREEN BAY, Russia. – For everything Aaron Rodgers has accomplished in his Hall of Fame career, there is one thing he has never done: he played in an NFC championship game at Lambeau Field.
Come back next Sunday to see him check the list. Rodgers and the top-ranked Green Bay Packers (14-3) will play for a berth in the Super Bowl against the New Orleans Saints or the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
And the package will do so at home, thanks to Saturday’s 32-18 victory over the Los Angeles Rams at Lambeau, where fans – 8,456 of them – were welcomed for the first time all season.
“We felt like 50,000 when we ran out of the tunnel, it really did,” Rodgers said. “It was such a special moment. I forgot how much you really miss having a lot there … I thought, 50,000, 60,000.”
Next Sunday will mark Rodgers’ fifth appearance in the conference title game. His previous four came on the road. He won his first – during the 2010 season at Soldier Field – on his way to his only Super Bowl. He has lost three since then, including last season’s explosively San Francisco 49ers.
After last season’s defeat, Rodgers repeated a familiar refrain, saying, “We need to take one of these home.”
Rodgers made sure of this early and often against the Rams (11-7), who had the NFL’s top defense in the regular season (18.1 points per game). The Packers improved on that in the first half, with a 19-10 lead at the break. They became the first team this season to score the Rams on each of its first three units. It was also the fourth straight game the Packers’ top offense has scored on each of his first three units.
Rodgers threw a 1-meter touchdown pass to Davante Adams, sending Rams defender Jalen Ramsey into a heated post-game exchange with Nick Scott. Rodgers also ran for a touchdown in the first half, giving him a touchdown pass and a touchdown run in the same playoff game for the third time in his career. But it was his first postseason score since that 2010 Chicago NFC title game.
This was just the beginning.
When Aaron Jones broke a 60-yard touchdown run in the first quarter opener to create his own 1-yard touchdown run, it meant the Packers scored on each of the top five records in a game for the first time since week 3 of the 2016 season.
Saturday marked the 22nd time in the history of the NFL playoffs that the offensive no. 1 and score 1 defense were confronted. The Packers’ 32 points were the fourth highest in these matches, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
Rodgers knelt down late in front of the crowd’s “MVP” songs.
He completed 23 of 36 passes for 296 meters and two touchdown passes. His 58-yard touchdown pass to Allen Lazard in the fourth quarter was the longest passing pass of his postseason career.
Rodgers had the best performance in a hurry – 189 meters – his team ever gave him in a playoff game. The previous maximum was 147 meters in the 2011 divisional playoff against the New York Giants. But that was a loss the only other time the Packers were ever No. 1 under Rodgers.
That game denied him an NFC title at home.
Ten years later, Rodgers will not be denied.