Baltimore ran riot from the first play on Sunday to end New England’s streak of home dominance in the NFL playoffs, while Arizona took to the air in a record-setting victory over Green Bay.
Baltimore’s Ray Rice exploded up the middle for an 83-yard touchdown on the opening play to set the tone for the Ravens, who downed the Patriots 33-14 to book a second-round clash with Indianapolis.
In Arizona, the Cardinals also started fast, then had to hang on in the face of a Green Bay rally before triumphing 51-45 in overtime in the highest-scoring playoff game in league history.
Despite the offensive onslaught, it was defender Karlos Dansby’s 17-yard fumble return for a touchdown in overtime that gave Arizona the victory.
Michael Adams stripped Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers of the ball, which bounced off the foot of the Packers’ signal-caller and into the hands of Dansby.
He raced for the score to seal a game that had been a passing duel between playoff newcomer Rodgers and veteran quarterback Kurt Warner.
“He made a sack, the ball went in the air, I just made a play on the ball,” Dansby said.
Warner, who improved his playoff record to 9-3, completed 29 of 33 passes for 379 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions.
Warner threw two touchdown passes to Larry Fitzgerald, two to Early Doucet and one to Steve Breaston.
Rodgers was 28 of 42 for 422 yards and four touchdowns.
“It’s clearly one of the toughest losses I’ve been a part of,” Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy said. “I’m very proud of our football team and fight. This is a hard game to swallow.”
The previous high for combined points in a postseason game was 95 in Philadelphia’s 58-37 win over Detroit on December 30, 1995.
“That’s probably one of the best games ever played in the playoffs,” said Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt, whose Cardinals next face New Orleans.
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