JUSTIN FORSETT, Ravens running back scores against the Patriots

Green Bay Packers tight end JARED COOK makes a leaping catch of a Aaron Rogers pass for a 26 yard gain in the third quarter of the NFC Playoff Game at A& T Stadium. COOK had 6 receptions for 104 yards and 1 touchdown leading the Packers to 34-31 victory.

The Green Bay Packers will advance to the Divisional Round of the playoffs following a hard-fought win over the New York Giants at Lambeau Field on Sunday. The Packers and Giants both got off to a slow start, but Green Bay turned it on late in the second quarter and kept the momentum throughout the second half, locking up a 38-13 win. It was a defensive battle early. The Giants only managed to get on the board once in the first quarter, with a 26-yard Robbie Gould field goal. New York added one more Gould field goal in the second quarter, and Green Bay answered with two touchdowns on its last two possessions of the half.

The first, a 5-yard strike from Aaron Rodgers to Davante Adams in the end zone, came after Rodgers evaded Giants defenders for over eight seconds until he had an open receiver. The second was a last-ditch effort to put points on the board prior to the half, and Rodgers’ Hail Mary attempt, Rodgers connected with Randall Cobb on a 42-yard pass with just six seconds remaining in the half to give the Packers a 14-6 lead. The Packers kept rolling in the second half. A game that looked at times that might turn into a close match turned against the Giants in the fourth quarter.

After Eli Manning tightened Green Bay’s lead to 14-13 with a touchdown pass to Tavarres King in the third quarter, Rodgers took the game over. He hit Cobb with two more touchdowns, a 30-yarder and a 16-yarder, respectively. There was a Mason Crosby field goal in between Cobb’s two second-half touchdowns, giving the Packers a big 31-13 lead with just under 10 minutes remaining. Cobb’s third touchdown not only secured the victory for Green Bay, it also tied an NFL and franchise record for the most touchdowns in a playoff game.

To finish off the game for the Giants’, Packers fullback Aaron Ripkowski added a 1-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter. The score extended Green Bay’s lead to 38-13 and put the game well out of New York’s reach. The Packers will travel to Dallas to take on the top-seeded Dallas Cowboys in the Divisional Round.