Cardinals 51, Packers 45, OT

Glendale, Ariz. — Old master Kurt Warner and playoff newcomer Aaron Rodgers staged a passing duel to rival any the NFL has seen. And when the highest-scoring postseason game in league history ended abruptly in overtime, Rodgers flung his helmet to the sideline in disgust.

He can blame the Arizona defense for his misery.

Karlos Dansby returned Rodgers’ fumble 17 yards for a touchdown to give the Cardinals a victory over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.

Rodgers, intercepted on the game’s first play but marvelous after that, was stripped by Michael Adams. The ball careened off Rodgers’ foot and into the hands of Dansby, who ran untouched for the score.

“He made a sack, the ball went in the air, I just made a play on the ball,” Dansby said.

The reigning NFC champion Cardinals (11-6) rushed the field to celebrate.

“That’s probably one of the best games ever played in the playoffs,” Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said.

Incredibly, Warner had more touchdown passes (five) than incompletions (four).

“We knew how tough it was going to be on our defense with all the weapons they have offensively and how they’ve been playing,” he said. “It was just one of those games where I felt great. I felt like I was seeing everything well, and it accumulates to 51 points.”

Warner, who improved his playoff record to 9-3, finished 29-of-33 for 379 yards with no interceptions.

Rodgers, in his first playoff start, was 28-of-42 for a Packers postseason-record 422 yards and four TDs. All but two of Rodgers’ yards came after the first quarter.

“It’s clearly one of the toughest losses I’ve been a part of,” Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy said. “I’m very proud of our football team and fight. This is a hard game to swallow.”

Ravens 33, Patriots 14

Foxborough, Mass. — In a matter of minutes, Tom Brady and his New England Patriots went from being the team of the last decade to looking old, overmatched and, oddly, inept.

Fans sat in frozen silence. Barely into their seats, they saw the shocking truth on the scoreboard.

Five minutes into the game, New England trailed the Baltimore Ravens, 14-0. Just one minute later the crowd came to life, booing Brady and his teammates who hadn’t lost a playoff game at Gillette Stadium.

Until Baltimore’s win Sunday in the AFC playoffs.

“I’d have been booing us, too, the way we played,” Brady said. “Playing the way we played today, we weren’t going to beat anybody.”

From the very first play, Ray Rice and the running Ravens were in control.

Rice ran 83 yards for a touchdown, Brady had three of his four turnovers in the first quarter, and Baltimore had knocked off the team that had changed into an inconsistent, mistake-prone group this season.

“Their era is not over, they know how to win,” Rice said, “but for the Ravens, to beat the New England Patriots set a precedent. We’ll always remember this win.”

The Ravens (10-7) were only slight underdogs to the team that won three Super Bowls from 2002 through 2005. That myth faded as quickly as Baltimore charged into its early lead in a game that began with a wind chill that made it feel like 8 degrees.

Rice and his running mates heated up early.

“One thing we said as an offense is we want to start games fast,” Rice said. “I wanted to be the guy today to start fast, whether it was a five-yard run or an 83-yard run. I wanted to be the guy to say this will be a fast-tempo game. We want the other team to play catch-up to us.”

Now, if they beat Indianapolis and Peyton Manning on Saturday night, they’ll reach the AFC championship game for the second straight year as a wild-card team.

“We’ll enjoy it,” safety Ed Reed said, “and I know what’s next. No. 18 is coming. I know it, and he knows we are coming.”