Fans and an incredible run: Packers win emotionally, Bills historically

Sunday 17th January 2021

Fans and an incredible run
Packers win emotionally, Bills historically

NFL superstar Aaron Rodgers experienced a "special moment", Taron Johnson even created a moment for the history books: The playoff quarterfinals in the NFL were big games for the Green Bay Packers and the Buffalo Bills on the way to the biggest: The Super Bowl .

It wasn't just the big step on the way to the Super Bowl that made Aaron Rodgers absolutely elated. At 32:18 over the Los Angeles Rams in the playoff quarter-finals, the football star led his Green Bay Packers to victory in front of home fans for the first time since the beginning of the corona pandemic. "It was such a special moment. I forgot how much you missed it," said the 38-year-old quarterback. "I'm definitely a little emotional. I just think about what we went through. It touched me with the crowd out there today." The Packers celebrated the undisputed success in front of 8,456 fans in the legendary Lambeau Field.

The team around Rodgers, the German-American ball recipient Equanimeous St. Brown and his role model Davante Adams continued to present themselves in top form. Even the best defense in the NFL couldn't stop the offensive force at all and then only with great difficulty – the Super Bowl triumph ten years after the fourth and last success of the Packers is within reach for the team from the US state of Wisconsin . "That feels very good right now," Rodgers said.

"One more thing here," he said at the end of his FOX interview, alluding to the NFC Conference final next Sunday against the winner of the game between the New Orleans Saints and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (game on Monday night / CET ). For the first time in his long career, Rodgers will lead the Packers as a starter in a semi-final in his own stadium. So far, the playmaker has been away in the so-called championship game of the NFC four times – and lost three times. The traditional team won the last championship so far in 2011 with Rodgers.

Record touchdown seals Baltimore's fate

The Buffalo Bills are still waiting for their first Super Bowl triumph. From 1991 to 1994 the team lost four finals in a row – and now has a great chance of returning to the final. The Bills beat the Baltimore Ravens by 17: 3 and are playing for the title in the AFC Conference. "You either win or go home. And we're in the next round," cheered quarterback Josh Allen.

Whether the Bills are allowed to compete in front of their own fans for a third time depended on who won the duel between Kansas City and Cleveland on late Sunday evening (CET). In any case, the audience made a difference on Saturday evening. According to the broadcasting broadcaster NBC, only about 6500 viewers were allowed, but they caused noise like in a fully occupied Bills Stadium and made it difficult for the Ravens to command.

Buffalo also benefited in the long even game from an interception in the third quarter, which Taron Johnson carried across the field and transformed into a touchdown. 101 yards, no player in the history of the league ran into the opposing end zone in the playoffs before Johnson. When the Ravens had to do without quarterback star Lamar Jackson a little later, who was no longer allowed to play with a suspected concussion, the chances of a comeback were virtually gone. And the Bills Mafia, as the fans are called, celebrated.