Rodgers returns to lift Packers into playoffs.
With a minute remaining, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers had the season in his hands after returning from a seven-game injury lay-off with a broken collarbone.
On a fourth-and-8, Rodgers found a wide-open Randall Cobb with a 48-yard touchdown pass to beat the Chicago Bears 33-28 to capture the NFC North championship on Sunday and seal their place in the playoffs at the expense of their division rivals.
Green Bay will now host the San Francisco 49ers next weekend in the wild-card round, and with their influential quarterback back in action and healthy, they will be a threat moving forward.
“To be in that moment at the end of the game and have that opportunity, it’s a blessing,” Cobb told reporters after the game.
In contrast, there was a mixed reaction for Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, who now faces an uncertain summer with his contract set to expire.
Coach Marc Trestman was unable to avoid missing out on the playoffs in his first season in charge, as Chicago have now slipped out of the post-season in six of the last seven seasons.
Cutler has also now gone 1-9 against Green Bay, and although he had a good game overall it was Rodgers who took the plaudits in a memorable first game back as he will now look to repeat 2010’s heroics, where the Packers won the NFC title game at Soldier Field before winning the Super Bowl.
The BEST play from Week 17?
"Rodgers to Cobb for the game winning TD (without a doubt)!" – @RachelD88
WATCH: http://t.co/KJL6dTRpTq
— NFL (@nfl) December 30, 2013
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