The pain had been reminding him of his limitations all day, starting with the first touchdown pass he’d thrown. His coach had been doing his part, too, perpetually lining him up in the shotgun, leaning heavily on the running game with his play-calls, and carefully scripting his passes to keep him out of harm’s way.

And then, at some point early in the second half on a mild – by Ice Bowl standards, anyway – January afternoon at Lambeau Field, Aaron Rodgers decided enough was enough.

Enough of being so cautious. Enough of being uncharacteristically inaccurate. Enough of letting his torn left calf keep him from being, well, him.

And so, Rodgers let ‘er rip. He didn’t do anything stupid, of course. Just stupendous. It was as if he’d decided that, if the Green Bay Packers’ season was going to end Sunday with a loss in the NFC Divisional Playoffs at Lambeau Field, their quarterback certainly wasn’t going down playing it safe.

And now, by virtue of their 26-21 come-from-behind victory over the Dallas Cowboys, Rodgers and the Packers live to fight another day. They are one victory away from a berth in Super Bowl XLIX, and while that victory will be difficult to earn – in Seattle, against a Seahawks team that has been better at home over the last three NFL seasons and postseason (24-2) than anyone else in football – and his calf most certainly won’t be 100 percent, Rodgers intends to do whatever it takes to give his team a chance at its second title in five years.

“I think I’ve got 120 minutes left in me,” Rodgers said. “So I’m going to do everything I can to make sure I can play all those minutes.”

via Jason Wilde of ESPN Wisconsin