PHILADELPHIA There they stood, two men separated by seven years and a couple dozen metal lockers, their memories vastly different of that January 2004 afternoon.
Which is to say, Chad Clifton couldnt help but think about it, and Tramon Williams had not a clue.
Fourth-and-Twentywhat? Williams said with a quizzical look.
Clifton, meanwhile, just nodded.
I know this, he said quietly. Towards the end of the game, I was like, This is feeling really similar to 03. But the defense came through big. Big.
And so it was that Williams, the Green Bay Packers 27-year-old rising-star cornerback, was standing in the Lincoln Financial Field visitors locker room, failing his franchise history lesson but delivering what mattered most the victory-clinching interception with 33 seconds to play. Meanwhile, at the other end of the room was Clifton, the teams sage 34-year-old veteran left tackle, one of only four players still with the team (wide receiver Donald Driver, injured right tackle Mark Tauscher and injured linebacker Nick Barnett being the others) who were here for that fateful 2003 NFC Divisional Playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
So while many of his youthful teammates couldnt possibly appreciate what the Packers 21-16 NFC Wild Card victory over the Eagles meant on Sunday to the old guys still on the roster, to the staffers still on the payroll, to the loyal fan base fearing a Fourth-and-26 sequel Clifton knew exactly what it meant.
A few of those (young) guys said, Oh, yeah, I remember watching that game when I was in high school, Clifton said with a laugh. That last drive, we gave the ball back to them with 1:45 left. And I was thinking, Man, lets not let this thing happen again to us. And to our defenses credit, they went out and played lights out.
And in the process, they turned out the lights on Michael Vick and the third-seeded Eagles (10-7) while exorcising the ghost of Freddie Mitchell.
As a result, the Packers (11-6) are headed to Atlanta Saturday night to face the top-seeded Falcons (13-3) at the Georgia Dome, where theyd escaped with a 20-17 last-second victory on Nov. 28.
You have to win the close games in the playoffs. We knew it was going to be a 60-minute fight, said Packers coach Mike McCarthy, who evened his playoff record at 2-2. We spent so much time on the (playoff) overtime rules this week I thought, Heck, we might as well go into overtime, too. But this is the way it's going to be. We're on the road. You play uphill when you get off the bus. It feels good.
We started (working) Thursday night on Atlanta, just because you have to from a preparation standpoint. Me personally, I'll watch Atlanta (film) on the bus ride and the plane ride home because tomorrow's our game-plan day. I think this will be one of those (victories) that after the season's over you'll look back on."
And savor.
(There are) a lot of resilient guys in that locker room and guys who believed in each other, said Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who played a controlled, smart, efficient game (18 for 27, 180 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions, 122.5 rating) while rookie running back James Starks (123 yards on 23 carries) helped with the heavy lifting. A lot of guys stepped up who we didnt expect a lot of things from.
Weve had a number of contributions from men who at the beginning of the season were not expected to play big roles for us. So I think that says what kind of character weve got in that locker room.
The Packers built a 14-0 lead just as they had on Jan. 11, 2004 with Rodgers 7-yard touchdown pass to tight end Tom Crabtree with 8 seconds left in the first quarter and 9-yard scoring strike to James Jones with 5:21 left in the second quarter. But no one believed the game was over.
David Akers 29-yard field goal shortly before halftime the only one of his three kicks that he made got Philadelphia on the board, and when Rodgers fumbled on a Darryl Tapp sack on the opening possession of the second half, the Eagles had their chance. Two plays later, Vick his Jason Avant for a 24-yard touchdown to pull the Eagles within 14-10, and the game was on.
We were very confident, said Vick, who finished the day having completed 20 of 36 passes for 292 yards with a touchdown and an interception (79.9 rating) throwing the ball and with 33 yards and a touchdown on eight carries running it. We thought we were going to win the game.
The Packers offense responded, however, with their third long touchdown drive of the game: An 11-play, 80-yard, 6:17 masterpiece that featured a 6-yard Rodgers-to-Driver completion on third-and-5 and a 20-yard Rodgers-Driver hookup on third-and-10. Those conversions set up Brandon Jacksons 16-yard touchdown on a brilliantly execute screen pass to make it 21-10 midway through the third quarter.
It was very important. I think it was evident to everybody that the momentum really swung in their direction, McCarthy said. The crowd was really into it. We had the two long drives there in the first half. It was very important for us to respond.
After that, the game was in the defenses hands. The Packers went three-and-out on their next possession, then after Akers missed from 34 yards out with 13:05 to play, picked up only one first down before punting again. Vick then directed his best drive of the day, a 13-play, 75-yard mark that ended with his fourth-and-goal 1-yard sneak. The two-point conversion attempt failed twice, oddly and while the Starks-fueled 4-minute offense had a chance to run out the clock after that, it wasnt going to be that easy.
Starting from his own 34-yard line, Vick threw a rope to DeSean Jackson on a crossing route that gained 28 yards and might have gone the distance had linebacker Desmond Bishop not tripped Jackson up by the shoestrings. After two incompletions, Vick found fourth wide receiver Riley Cooper on a slant for an 11-yard gain to keep the drive alive and set the stage for Williams heroics.
We used four verticals there, and Michael pumped inside and threw outside to Riley, Eagles coach Andy Reid explained of the final play. The corner just made a nice play on it.
That corner, of course, was Williams, who leaped high to deliver the victory-sealing play that the Packers had failed to come up with seven years before.
I remember that game, cornerback Charles Woodson said, recalling watching that game, a member of the Oakland Raiders at the time. I probably thought the same as everybody else: Theres no way theyre going to convert a fourth-and-26. And they end up doing it.
For the fan base and for guys that were in that game, they had to hear about it all week this week. So you know those guys wanted to come in here and get a win. It meant a lot. Especially to the players that played in that game.
This is the time of year where youve got to step your game up. You know if you dont win this game, youre out of there, youre going home. So everything youve got, leave it on the field and just try to move on. Today, guys went out and played their hearts out.
"Jason Wilde" wrote: