Larry Fitzgerald’s career-best playoff game in NFC Divisional vs. Packers turns 10

Remember 2016? It seems like a distant memory for the Arizona Cardinals, who have made one postseason appearance since, but the year featured an unforgettable moment for wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.

On Jan. 16, 2016, the 11-time NFL Pro Bowler set a career-best for receiving yards in a single playoff game (176) in a 26-20 overtime win against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Divisional round.

Fitzgerald accomplished the feat on eight catches and his lone touchdown was on the game-winning shuffle pass in OT from quarterback Carson Palmer.

He set the table for the five-yard score with a 75-yard catch and scamper, as he secured the ball at the Arizona 35-yard line and stiff-armed his way into the Green Bay red zone.

“We were able to win the coin toss and (head coach Bruce Arians) came right over to me and said, ‘Look Larry, this is what we want to run.’” Fitzgerald said in 2018 on Arizona Sports’ Big Red Rage. “I was like, ‘Cool coach, let’s run for it,’ and I started running like, nobody’s with me, and I was like, ‘Huh. That’s cool. I like that. I know I’m never running free, but I’ll take it,’”

January 16th, 2016: The wild ending to the Packers vs Cardinals NFC Divisional Game, that include 2 Hail Marys & an OT game-winner #BirdGang #GoPackGo pic.twitter.com/uqxotdzk2a

— Back Then Sports (@BackThenSports) January 16, 2026

This particular game was also memorable for how it even got to an extra period, as Rodgers completed one of his signature Hail Mary throws to Jeff Janis from 41 yards out as time expired in regulation.

A quarter-by-quarter breakdown of Fitzgerald’s catches that historic day:

• 1st – one catch for 6 yards
• 2nd – no catches
• 3rd – four catches, 77 yards
• 4th – one catch, 13 yards
• OT – two catches, 80 yards

Fitzgerald holds the league record for most receiving yards (546), touchdowns (seven) and targets (42, tied with Cooper Kupp) in a single postseason, as Fitzgerald did so on the Cardinals’ 2008 run to Super Bowl 43. In that four-game span, he also had the fourth-most receptions (30).

His four games of 100 or more receiving yards during that same stretch also stand as an NFL record.

The 42-year-old is one of 15 finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2026 in his first year of eligibility.

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