LANDOVER, Md. — The Packers looked as dead as they had looked for most of the last month.
Then something clicked.
They realized where they were: in the playoffs, playing a Redskins team that had not defeated a team with a winning record all season.
“We’ve been here and done this,’’ Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. “We know how to win these games. We’ve won these games before.’’
So suddenly — around mid-second quarter — the Packers woke up and rolled over the Redskins, 35-18, Sunday night at FedExField.
The win sends 11-6 Green Bay to Arizona on Saturday to play the Cardinals in the NFC divisional round in a rematch of the regular-season meeting Arizona won 38-8 on Dec. 27.
Sunday’s win ended a two-game losing streak during which Green Bay scored a total of 21 points.
“This is huge for us,’’ Rodgers said after completing 21 of 36 passes for 210 yards and touchdowns to Davante Adams and Randall Cobb. “I talked a lot the last couple weeks about being able to turn it on. A lot of you probably thought that was lip service, but we just needed a game like this to get our mojo going, and we got our confidence going.
“I said this week that it just takes one performance to get us going back in the right direction and believing we could make a run.’’
After the sputtering first quarter (1-of-8, 11 yards), Rodgers went 14-of-20 for 148 yards and two TDs in the second quarter, turning an 11-0 Redskins lead into a 17-11 Green Bay advantage at the half.
Though the NFC East-champion Redskins (9-8) were 0-3 against teams that finished with a winning record this season, they did enter the game having won four in a row and with the game’s hottest quarterback, Kirk Cousins, who became famous for his emphatic “You like that?’’ rant after Washington came back to beat Tampa Bay earlier this season.
After the game, in the cramped hallway leading to the visitors’ locker room, several Packers players mockingly screamed the Cousins rant. “You like that?’’ could be heard echoing through the halls.
The Redskins had the upper hand early, but could not deliver the knockout blow when the Packers were struggling. Cousins finished 29-of-46 for 329 yards and a TD and was sacked six times.
“It’s tough to win these types of games,’’ Rodgers said. “There was a time there, down 11-0, where people could have started to have that doubt creep in, but it didn’t happen.’’
The Packers’ rally in the first half was a precursor to an even better second half. At one point they scored on six of seven possessions, outscoring the Redskins 35-7 after that 11-0 deficit.
In a weird twist, the Packers took a 24-18 lead they would never relinquish on their first possession of the third quarter thanks to their rushing attack, which had been anemic in the first 30 minutes (17 yards on nine carries), when James Starks scored on a 3-yard TD.
But it was Eddie Lacy who did the most important work on the drive, gaining 11 yards on fourth-and-1 and then ripping off a 30-yard gainer to the Washington 4 one play later to set up Starks for the gravy.
Lacy got his glory on the next Packers’ possession, giving Green Bay a 32-18 lead on a 2-yard scoring run with 12:23 remaining in the game.
The Packers took their first lead with 28 seconds remaining in the first half when Rodgers found Adams open in the end zone for a TD and a 17-11 halftime edge.
Green Bay had cut the Redskins’ lead to 11-10 on a 43-yard Mason Crosby field goal with 2:54 remaining in the half. Those three points came courtesy of a sack and forced fumble by Packers linebacker Mike Neal, who stripped Cousins of the ball and recovered it with 6:05 remaining in the half.
“A huge momentum-changer,’’ Neal said.
It was one of several plays that kept the Packers alive early when they were struggling, and it helped send them back to Arizona to try and avenge the game that sent them spiraling toward the playoffs with their confidence in tatters.
“It’s not too many times you get the opportunity to go back and have a redo,’’ Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “So we’re looking forward to another opportunity to get back out there.’’
