"For the second year in a row, we have seen what life might be like for the Cardinals without Anquan Boldin.

And it doesn't look all that bad.

Boldin was in street clothes Sunday, sidelined by a sprained knee and ankle, yet the Cardinals offense still put 45 points on the board.

And as an unexpected bonus, the Big Red defense made a play, too - and scored the game-winning touchdown as the Cardinals began defense of their NFC championship with a crazy 51-45 overtime victory over the Green Bay Packers at University of Phoenix Stadium.

Offensively, the game was reminiscent of last year's divisional round victory, when the Cardinals went to Carolina without Boldin and smoked the Panthers to reach the NFC Championship Game.

Over the past two seasons, Arizona is 6-1 in games Boldin has missed because of injuries. The Cardinals are 2-0 in playoff games without him.

His day-to-day status is likely to continue through the week as the Cardinals prepare to travel to New Orleans for another shootout.

It will be hard to top Sunday's show, even in the Big Easy.

Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner outdueled Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers and accounted for one of the more astounding statistics you'll ever see:

Five touchdown passes. Four incomplete passes.

And after giving the Packers nothing but vanilla in a preseason loss and a meaningless regular-season finale, the Cardinals served up the chocolate, strawberry and a couple scoops of Rocky Road when it mattered."