Back in Charge

If this is who the Green Bay Packers really are — a complete and balanced team that didn’t panic when it trailed by double digits in Sunday’s35-18 wild-card playoff victory against the Washington Redskins — then perhaps the Arizona Cardinals and the rest of the teams still alive in the postseason have reason to fear them.

Aaron Rodgers looked like the quarterback we talked about as an MVP candidate when the Packers were 6-0 heading into their bye week. He led the Packers on five straight scoring drives (four touchdowns — including one two-point conversion — and a field goal) after they fell behind 11-0 early.

With calm and resourceful efficiency, the 32-year-old Rodgers helped the Packers storm back not once but twice on Sunday in a convincing 35-18 rout of the Redskins. Green Bay scored 17 unanswered points in the second quarter to overtake Washington, and when the Redskins regained the lead early in the second half, the Packers scored the next 18 points to win going away.

“For us offensively, it’s about rhythm,” Rodgers said. “And once we get that, we become like a snowball going downhill. We’re tough to stop once that happens.”

Wide receiver James Jones insisted there had been no panic on the Green Bay sideline.

“We were down, 11-0, but offensively, we were only out there a few plays,” Jones said. “We knew if we could get a few first downs, our tempo would wear down the defense. We would be clicking, and they would be tired.”

He added: “We play fast all the time in practice. We’re used to it. Other teams aren’t.”

As much as the Packers, who will advance to the divisional playoff round at Arizona next weekend, seemed poised after the game, they had appeared unsettled early in the second quarter.

The home crowd was in full voice cheering on the Redskins, who had won six of eight home games in the regular season.

But piece by piece — at first with a few consecutive first downs, as Jones said — the Packers gathered themselves and slowly began to carve out smooth and efficient drives. Their offensive line dominated the line of scrimmage. And Rodgers, despite his humbling start, evaded the pass rush with little sidesteps, gaining just enough time to throw two touchdown passes and set up four other scores while completing 21 of 36 passes for 210 yards.

“It’s a patient, resilient group,” Green Bay Coach Mike McCarthy said. “It was still early in the game.”

While the Packers stormed back to take a 6-point lead at halftime, Washington did not go out meekly. On their first possession of the third quarter, Cousins, who completed 29 of 46 passes for 329 yards with one touchdown, quickly led the Redskins to the Packers’ 3-yard line. Cousins, showing some versatility, faked a dropback pass and then sprinted through the middle of the Green Bay defense on a quarterback draw. Running untouched into the end zone, Cousins gave Washington an 18-17 lead.

But Rodgers was unfazed. He completed his first pass of the second half to wide receiver Davante Adams, and Green Bay advanced smoothly down the field. A balanced 11-play, 80-yard drive ended with running back James Starks dashing untouched 4 yards on an end-around and in for the score.

So much for the Washington comeback. The Packers had swiftly regained the lead, 24-18.

By the start of the fourth quarter, the Packers were imposing their will on the Redskins’ defense again. The Packers called plays and moved at a pace that had the Redskins desperate to keep up. Green Bay was unpredictable, too, with Randall Cobb both catching passes and taking handoffs in the backfield. With the Packers deep in Washington territory, Starks took a handoff for an off-tackle play and then broke it outside, running for 22 yards until he was pushed out of the bounds at the Washington 2-yard line. Eddie Lacy bulled in for a touchdown from there.

When wide receiver Jared Abbrederis caught a pass for a 2-point conversion, the Packers led, 32-18, and the rout was on.

The early moments of the game, and the Packers’ sluggish play, seemed a long way off. The worst of it for Green Bay was on its second possession, when Rodgers was forced to try to pass out of his own end zone on a third-and-13.

No Packers receiver was open, and with the Redskins’ pass rush closing in, Rodgers tried to escape the pocket to his left. Instead, he ran into a blitzing linebacker, Preston Smith, who knocked Rodgers to the ground for a safety.

A field goal and a touchdown by Washington followed before Green Bay started its rally. Afterward, it was almost as if the Packers preferred the come-from-behind nature of their victory.

“A game like this is huge for us,” Rodgers said. “We needed a game like this to get our mojo going.”