"Pro football, a quarterback's game, was ever thus Sunday afternoon in the NFC wild-card round at University of Phoenix Stadium.

In one of the most spell-binding playoff games in National Football League history, Arizona's Kurt Warner outplayed Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers, and the Cardinals outlasted the Packers in overtime, 51-45.

Just as Warner made one mistake more than Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger in one of the greatest Super Bowls ever played by two quarterbacks last year, Rodgers made many more mistakes than his 38-yard counterpart, and it was just too much for his team to overcome.

"It's personally one of the toughest losses I've ever been a part of," said coach Mike McCarthy, whose last playoff foray two years ago died on Brett Favre's overtime interception against the New York Giants. "This is a hard game to swallow . . . but it sure was a great game to watch."

Warner took the art of quarterbacking to a level seldom, if ever, witnessed. Playing without distinguished wide receiver Anquan Boldin (ankle) and against the NFL's No. 2-ranked defense, Warner completed 87.9% of his 33 passes and amassed a passer rating of 154.1.

Game as could be, the Packers recovered from a 17-0 deficit to tie the score at 38-38 and then again at 45-45. Overtime was forced when Arizona's Neil Rackers gagged on a field-goal attempt of 34 yards, yanking it far wide left with 9 seconds left."