Here's the tale of the tape from the Packers' 51-45 playoff loss to Arizona on Sunday:

Nothing worth defending

The Packers' inability to execute in any of phase of their defensive game plan -- or counter the surprises in Arizona's -- was nothing short of flabbergasting.

Give credit to coach Ken Whisenhunt, QB Kurt Warner and company for exposing the Packers' weak points and covering up their own. They used presnap motion to confuse the Packers' heretofore stout run defense, wore down ROLB Clay Matthews' rush with double teams, showed some new route combinations out of their usual stacks and bunches and fired at the flats and seams to perfection.

But the Packers' fundamental lapses and jarring number of missed assignments were just as damaging as Warner's precision passing and the Cardinals' multi-headed run attack.

It started on the third play, when nickel CB Jarrett Bush and dime CB Brandon Underwood both followed the same receiver inside, leaving WR Jerheme Urban uncovered in the flat for a 13-yard catch on third down to help set up a touchdown. The Cardinals scored again on their next drive when ILB Nick Barnett chased RB Tim Hightower as WR Early Doucet streaked the middle for a 15-yard TD.

The latter came against one of only three five-man rushes DC Dom Capers dialed up in 35 dropbacks -- an 8.6 percentage that easily was Capers' lowest all season. He also mixed in some four-man fire-zones out of the psycho/dime package he'd hoped to use extensively on third down. But Warner carved those up just like the five-man patterns -- 9-of-10 for 125 yards overall -- in part because of physical mismatches and blown assignments.

The Cardinals also ran the ball so well (156 yards on 23 carries, 6.8 average) they only had five third-down plays, further discouraging Capers from dialing up pressure even though the Packers touched Warner just five times all day.

Then again, the long run was a seal-the-edge play for rookie RB Beanie Wells that broke for 42 against one of the Packers' base run calls. ILB A.J. Hawk was slow to the hole and got stiff-armed -- one of two missed tackles by Hawk among an unofficial nine by the team. Matthews misplayed a reverse to WR Steve Breaston for 28, and Warner audibled to a draw for RB LaRod Stephens-Howling that went for 18 when DL B.J. Raji left his gap.

No one got away clean on this day. Not even CB Charles Woodson, who made the defense's two best plays -- a strip of WR Larry Fitzgerald, whom he covered most of the day, and a batted pass up the seam to force Arizona's only punt -- but also ended up on the ground before both of Fitzgerald's second-half touchdown catches.

The defense wasn't primarily responsible for putting the Packers in an early 17-0 hole and it never took the field in overtime. But the season almost surely would remain alive had the unit put together even a mediocre effort.

Grading Rodgers

The first and last plays of QB Aaron Rodgers' day ruined an otherwise solid performance in his playoff debut. While the fault lies with Rodgers for CB Michael Adams' strip-sack -- ILB Karlos Dansby snatched the fumble in midair and returned it 17 yards for the winning TD -- it's tough to outright condemn him for trying too long to make a play. The Packers had run 13 previous plays from empty-backfield sets, and the more Arizona blitzed against those looks, the more success Rodgers had.

WR Jordy Nelson's 10-yard TD came against a six-man pressure, with Rodgers sidestepping SS Adrian Wilson's rush and rolling right. TE Spencer Havner's 11-yard TD came against a five-man rush, with Rodgers holding the ball in the pocket -- much as he did on the final play -- before working his progression all the way across the field. Earlier in that drive, LOLB Clark Haggans walked back LG Daryn Colledge, but Rodgers bounced off, kept his feet and scrambled for 13.

All of which is without mentioning the plays Rodgers kept alive in non-empty sets -- such as the third-down strike to TE Jermichael Finley for 44 after Adams' blitz misfired -- and the fact that Rodgers no doubt had serious concerns about whether he'd get the ball again after a punt.

Rodgers was far from perfect. His atrocious decision on the game's opening play handed the Cardinals an interception and momentum. He took four first-half sacks. He almost threw another pick in the fourth quarter when he tried to squeeze the ball to Finley on a cross through two defenders, and three plays before the strip-sack, he overthrew wide open WR Greg Jennings on a corner-post that would have won it.

But Rodgers also had completed 18 of his previous 24 passes for 300 yards and four touchdowns while rallying the Packers from a 21-point deficit. Yes, he needed to eat the ball on the final play, or throw it out of bounds, or show better vision to avoid Adams' rush -- anything except keep the ball exposed as he looked to WR Donald Driver on a slant and then WR James Jones on an in, both covered. Extending plays is Rodgers' game, though, and so goes the fate of those who live by the sword.

Playmakers

* Coach Mike McCarthy did his part in the second-half comeback effort with a series of calculated gambles that paid off. PK Mason Crosby's well-placed onside kick caught the Cardinals bailing out and Underwood made the sure-handed recovery. FB John Kuhn helped keep the ensuing drive alive with a big block to string RB Ahman Green on fourth-and-1. WR James Jones ran a good route and made a great move to break CB Bryant McFadden's tackle and turn a fourth-and-5 catch at the marker into a 30-yard touchdown.

* WR Greg Jennings showed why the Packers believed he's their No. 1 receiver for years to come. His 6-yard TD catch was amazing not just because he pulled it in with one hand, but because of the velocity of the ball and that Jennings' momentum was spinning away from the back-shoulder throw. It probably stands as the best catch of his career -- even better than the toe-tapping 22-yarder he added later -- and he could have had two long TDs to boot if Rodgers hadn't airmailed him.

* Cardinals DC Bill Davis often kept his single safety over the top of Finley, who still torched all comers for six catches and 159 yards. There's no question Finley's now the No. 1 tight end ahead of TE Donald Lee, who played only 34 snaps to Finley's 63 and summed up his season by letting a would-be TD pass bounce off his chest.

Play breakers

* Between Rodgers' bad interception and Driver getting stripped two offensive plays later, the Packers defense was stuck in two terrible spots immediately and the crowd was into the game. Who knows how things play out without those uncharacteristic miscues?

* Referee Scott Green probably should have flagged OLB Bertrand Berry for a helmet-to-helmet hit in overtime, but Colledge's holding penalty on the second-and-10 play was a no-doubter. He wrapped up DE Calais Campbell better than many of his defensive teammates did all day.

* Barnett's day didn't get much better after the early assignment error. He also missed two tackles and was beaten up the seam by WR Steve Breaston for a 17-yard TD off an inside stutter.

* Crosby's 54-yard field-goal attempt never was between the uprights, sending him into the offseason with all the same questions about whether he can hit a mid- to long-range field goal when it counts.

Dot ... dot ... dot ...

Davis rushed five or more on 25 of Rodgers' 48 dropbacks (52.1 percent), including a pair of seven-man pressures. Rodgers completed passes against both, one of them the Jennings TD. ... The blocking appeared subpar, but Nelson looked downright scared on kick returns before getting benched following a fumble he was lucky to recover himself. ... Jones and Jennings each had a drop. ... LOLB Brad Jones had one pressure but otherwise was invisible. ... In a different game, RB Ryan Grant's 5.9-yard average might have meant a big day. That he got only 11 carries was a product of game flow, because bursts of 10, 10 and 20 yards showed he was running with a purpose. ... Cardinals Pro Bowl DT Darnell Dockett's quiet day was a product of sound work by RG Josh Sitton and RT Mark Tauscher, who actually had a tougher time with the speed of ROLB Chike Okeafor (three pressures).