Mike Roemer/Associated Press
Aaron Rodgers completed passes to 10 receivers. The Packers will play the 49ers next weekend.
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Aaron Rodgers rolled right toward the Minnesota sideline. He pumped his right arm. Then again. Then a third time, before throwing a pass so pure and straight and true to his receiver, Jordy Nelson, that it seemed shot by a master archer, not tossed by a champion quarterback.
That pass, thrown just before halftime, led to a touchdown by Green Bay. It also epitomized the mismatch at the most important position on the field.
One team had Rodgers, who is among the best quarterbacks of his generation. The other team had Joe Webb, who had not thrown a single pass this season.
The result was as predictable as the Lambeau Leap. And there was plenty of jumping around Saturday night after third-seeded Green Bay, backed by another sparkling performance from Rodgers, throttled the sixth-seeded Minnesota Vikings, 24-10, in an N.F.C. wild-card game.
Rodgers's surgical dismantling of a soft Vikings secondary produced a statistical line as impressive as the game before, or the game before that, or the game before that. On Saturday, Rodgers completed 23 of 33 passes — to 10 receivers — for 274 yards, running his four-game total to 11 touchdown passes and no interceptions.
"I think everyone on our team is kind of in awe of what he can do," Packers linebacker A. J. Hawk said.
The Packers advanced to a divisional-round matchup Saturday in San Francisco, where they hope to avenge a season-opening defeat in much the same way — complete and absolute — that they rebounded from losing in Minnesota last Sunday.
One difference: the Packers' defense, gashed for 199 yards by Adrian Peterson, yielded him only 99 on Saturday. Another: the Vikings' starting quarterback, Christian Ponder, whose poise complemented Peterson's power, did not play, sidelined by an ailing elbow and limited range of motion.
Pressed into emergency duty was Webb, a third-year backup, who according to ESPN Stats and Information became the first quarterback in N.F.L. history to start a playoff game after not attempting a pass all season. On Saturday, Webb threw 30 passes, completing 11, and judging by their trajectories, there were likely busloads of Vikings fans at Lambeau who thought he threw 30 too many.
The Vikings went ahead, 3-0, and did not score again there were 3 minutes 39 seconds left in the game. In between, the Packers had 24 points, scoring on four of five possessions. Their final touchdown — a 9-yard catch by John Kuhn, who earlier scored on a 3-yard run — came on the first play after a too-many-men-on-the-field penalty by Minnesota, on fourth-and-4, gave the Packers a first down.
From St. Cloud to Sheboygan, Peterson dominated the discussion all last week — as if no other player existed. His pending arrival inspired taunts: the Stadium View Bar & Grille here welcomed him by unfurling a 27-foot banner — the same length by which he fell short of surpassing Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record. It also inspired a solemn vow: the Packers pledged not to let Peterson rush for 200 yards, a threshold as distant as the moon for most but attainable for him; in his two previous games against Green Bay, Peterson gained 409 yards.
And then the focus shifted about four hours before kickoff, in the fading daylight. Ponder threw a few passes, Webb threw many more than a few, and it became less possibility than a certainty that Minnesota would unleash at quarterback a player whose last start came in Week 13. Of 2011. At wide receiver.
Such is the allure of the playoffs, when a flawed backup with limited but specific and tantalizing skills — athleticism, elusiveness, improvisation — can ascend on a national stage and surprise a defense that had spent the week preparing for someone else. That happened on the Vikings' opening drive, when Webb (22) and Peterson (31) teamed to rush for 53 yards as Minnesota went ahead, 3-0. Once, but not again.
Their next five possessions before halftime produced 44 yards and 3 first downs. Green Bay stuffed Peterson on first and second downs, which created more passing situations for Webb, who, as it became clear, does not excel in passing situations.
But as Minnesota's offense sputtered, Rodgers operated Green Bay's to perfection. A 9-yard touchdown run by DuJuan Harris capped a possession run mostly out of the no-huddle, showcasing Rodgers's tempo and precision. On their next scoring drive, Rodgers toyed with Minnesota, flitting around the pocket, his nimble feet buying precious extra milliseconds, connecting with Greg Jennings for 32 yards on fourth-and-5.
Taking over at their own 38 with 1:48 before halftime, the Packers covered 62 yards in 70 seconds. As if playing seven-on-seven, Rodgers completed passes of 22 and 14 yards, then that magnificent 23-yard strike to Nelson, before Kuhn's 3-yard burst.
"Anytime he's in that game, he's that threat," Packers receiver Randall Cobb said about Rodgers. "He puts us in that position. He makes it easy for us as receivers out there."
In dropping their two previous playoff games at Lambeau Field — both to the Giants, in the 2007 and 2011 postseasons — the Packers lost a smidgen of their home-field advantage. And, perhaps, some of their invincibility, too.
Not anymore. As long as a certain No. 12 is flinging passes in green and gold, anything is possible. Even the fulfillment of a sign along a fence on Lombardi Avenue: "The Big Easy Gets Cheesy Again at Super Bowl XLVII."
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