Aaron Rodgers passes for three touchdowns,
Tramon Williams makes clinching interception,
and Green Bay wins a wild-card playoff game at
Lincoln Financial Field, where the Packers also
defeated the Eagles in the season opener.
Green Bay beat the Eagles in their opener, then
ended their season on the same field four months
later, posting a 21-16 victory over Philadelphia on
Sunday before a frigid fan base at Lincoln
Financial Field.
In the process, the Packers closed the book on
the comeback season of Michael Vick, and started
a new chapter of their own — on to Atlanta.
"We've got a lot of momentum and a lot of
confidence in that locker room," said Rodgers,
whose sixth-seeded team clinched the victory
with a timely interception.
Cornerback Tramon Williams made an end-zone
interception of a deep pass by Vick with 33
seconds to play, sending a packed house back to
their cars, left to wonder what might have been.
There would be no breathtaking comebacks on
this night, not for a team that was outplayed
throughout four quarters but somehow
remained within striking distance.
"I just took a shot at the end zone," Vick said of
his final pass. "I could have checked it down to
the back, and I feel like I got greedy. . . . It's a bad
way to go out, but, hey, I went out swinging."
Several times Sunday, the Eagles took swings
and missed. Kicker David Akers was off target on
field-goal attempts of 41 and 34 yards, the team
converted just 38% of its third downs —
compared to 62% by the Packers — and the
Eagles had to commit all kinds of blockers to the
right side in a desperate attempt to stop the
furious rush of Green Bay's Clay Matthews.
At one point, as Matthews was whistling past
him, overmatched Philadelphia tackle Winston
Justice reached out and hooked his arm around
the linebacker's neck, bringing him down with a
clothesline tackle. Justice and Matthews were once
teammates at USC.
"I was the young guy on the scout team,"
Matthews said, cracking a smile. "I didn't have a
lot of friends."
Justice can take solace in this: Matthews is now
somebody else's problem. Specifically, Atlanta's.
The Packers move on to face the Falcons on
Saturday at the Georgia Dome, where Atlanta
beat them by three in late November.
There is precious little time for the Packers to
savor their latest victory. Coach Mike McCarthy
said he planned to start studying the Falcons on
the bus ride to the airport Sunday night, and
continue on the flight home.
In his first playoff start since losing the 2005 NFC
championship game to Philadelphia as Atlanta's
quarterback, Vick threw for 292 yards and ran for
33. He had to deal with losing star receiver
DeSean Jackson to a left ankle injury early in the
game (he would return), and an ankle twist of his
own later in the game.
Vick had the Eagles in position to make a dramatic
comeback, but the effort was derailed by the
interception. He said this playoff loss hurt more
than others he has experienced.
"We didn't finish this year the way we wanted to,
and I certainly feel like I could have done a lot of
things better and I didn't do it," he said. "I guess
you just have to learn from it. That's life."
Then, there was Rodgers, who surgically
dissected the Eagles with his play-action passes,
connecting on touchdown throws of seven, nine
and 16 yards.
McCarthy bristled when asked whether Rodgers
had reached some sort of milestone by collecting
his first postseason victory.
"Milestone?" the coach said, incredulous. "We
don't think of it that way, and we don't want to
talk about that today. We're just getting started.
This is the first round. We've established
ourselves as a team, and we won a big game
here, and we have the opportunity to go to
Atlanta.
"Aaron's still got a lot of football left in front of
him."
Source: http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-packers-eagles-20110110,0,1453221.story
Tramon Williams makes clinching interception,
and Green Bay wins a wild-card playoff game at
Lincoln Financial Field, where the Packers also
defeated the Eagles in the season opener.
Green Bay beat the Eagles in their opener, then
ended their season on the same field four months
later, posting a 21-16 victory over Philadelphia on
Sunday before a frigid fan base at Lincoln
Financial Field.
In the process, the Packers closed the book on
the comeback season of Michael Vick, and started
a new chapter of their own — on to Atlanta.
"We've got a lot of momentum and a lot of
confidence in that locker room," said Rodgers,
whose sixth-seeded team clinched the victory
with a timely interception.
Cornerback Tramon Williams made an end-zone
interception of a deep pass by Vick with 33
seconds to play, sending a packed house back to
their cars, left to wonder what might have been.
There would be no breathtaking comebacks on
this night, not for a team that was outplayed
throughout four quarters but somehow
remained within striking distance.
"I just took a shot at the end zone," Vick said of
his final pass. "I could have checked it down to
the back, and I feel like I got greedy. . . . It's a bad
way to go out, but, hey, I went out swinging."
Several times Sunday, the Eagles took swings
and missed. Kicker David Akers was off target on
field-goal attempts of 41 and 34 yards, the team
converted just 38% of its third downs —
compared to 62% by the Packers — and the
Eagles had to commit all kinds of blockers to the
right side in a desperate attempt to stop the
furious rush of Green Bay's Clay Matthews.
At one point, as Matthews was whistling past
him, overmatched Philadelphia tackle Winston
Justice reached out and hooked his arm around
the linebacker's neck, bringing him down with a
clothesline tackle. Justice and Matthews were once
teammates at USC.
"I was the young guy on the scout team,"
Matthews said, cracking a smile. "I didn't have a
lot of friends."
Justice can take solace in this: Matthews is now
somebody else's problem. Specifically, Atlanta's.
The Packers move on to face the Falcons on
Saturday at the Georgia Dome, where Atlanta
beat them by three in late November.
There is precious little time for the Packers to
savor their latest victory. Coach Mike McCarthy
said he planned to start studying the Falcons on
the bus ride to the airport Sunday night, and
continue on the flight home.
In his first playoff start since losing the 2005 NFC
championship game to Philadelphia as Atlanta's
quarterback, Vick threw for 292 yards and ran for
33. He had to deal with losing star receiver
DeSean Jackson to a left ankle injury early in the
game (he would return), and an ankle twist of his
own later in the game.
Vick had the Eagles in position to make a dramatic
comeback, but the effort was derailed by the
interception. He said this playoff loss hurt more
than others he has experienced.
"We didn't finish this year the way we wanted to,
and I certainly feel like I could have done a lot of
things better and I didn't do it," he said. "I guess
you just have to learn from it. That's life."
Then, there was Rodgers, who surgically
dissected the Eagles with his play-action passes,
connecting on touchdown throws of seven, nine
and 16 yards.
McCarthy bristled when asked whether Rodgers
had reached some sort of milestone by collecting
his first postseason victory.
"Milestone?" the coach said, incredulous. "We
don't think of it that way, and we don't want to
talk about that today. We're just getting started.
This is the first round. We've established
ourselves as a team, and we won a big game
here, and we have the opportunity to go to
Atlanta.
"Aaron's still got a lot of football left in front of
him."
Source: http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-packers-eagles-20110110,0,1453221.story
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