Green Bay, Wis. - Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady have traded touchdowns as the Packers lead the Patriots 23-14 at the halftime break in a possible Super Bowl preview Sunday.
Jordy Nelson took a 45 yard catch-and-run pass from Rodgers with 23 seconds left in the first half, outrunning the entire Patriots' secondary, coming across the field and lunging for the pylon with Jason McCourty hanging off his back.
An official review preserved the on-field ruling, Nelson's second catch of the day against 5 targets for 53 yards as the receiver was largely shut down by corner Darrelle Revis until then.
New England responded with a two-touchdown quarter after being shutout 13-0 in the first.
Rob Gronkowski caught a 29 yard pass from Tom Brady on the Patriots' first drive in the second quarter. Brady found Michael Hoomanawanui for 23 more to the Packers 18 and Bolden carried to the Packers 6 on a 12 yard rush.
Bolden finished the job on the 1st-and-Goal play, rushing through the left side and taking a sharp cut in traffic before galloping into the end zone to put New England (9-2) on the board.
The score was his first rushing on the season.
Tom Brady is 12-of-16 on 148 yards passing and a touchdown.
Randall Cobb opened the Packers' second drive, coming from the backfield and racing down the far sideline to snag a 33 yard reception to the Patriots 34. He nearly converted a 2nd-and-4 after breaking a tackle and did convert the resuting 3rd-and-2 on a fake handoff toss right.
With that, the Packers (8-3) entered the red zone. Jordy Nelson and Darrelle Revis did battle for a would-be touchdown catch on a 2nd-and-12 that fell incomplete and Cobb featured again on a quick toss that look a yard shy of the line to gain, but after a measurement was found to be a 1st-and-Goal to the Patriots 8.
Lacy carried over the middle to the 6, and Rodgers' pass to Nelson over the right side fell off the receiver's hands.
Rodgers was sacked by Dont'a Hightower on the 3rd-and-Goal for a 9 yard loss, and Mason Crosby kicked for the third time on the day, from 33 yards and the 16-7 Packer advantage.
And for the third time on the afternoon, the league's 9th-best red zone offense was held.
Rodgers finished the half on 14-of-23 on 282 yards and two touchdowns. Davante Adams has 3 receptions for 90 yards and Randall Cobb snagged 4 catches for 55 yards in the half for Green Bay.
Tom Brady would led the Patriots on their second touchdown drive over 4:45, scoring with 1:09 left in the half, finding Brandon LaFell on a 3rd-and-Goal play from the Packers 2 along the sideline.
The scoring throw was Brady's 23rd touchdown in the red zone this season, the best mark of any passer in football.
Brady's first throw of the drive was touched by Clay Matthews after the linebacker raced around left end and nearly got to the quarterback. But Brady responded on a 12 yard first-down connection to Tim Wright on the next play.
Brady suffered another compromised throw when Morgan Burnett barrelled through the right side, but on the next snap Julian Edelman scampered for 16 yards on a quick-release screen play right to the Pats 49.
Shane Vereen took a Brady pass 26 yards down the far side into the red zone, where the visitors are 14-of-16 recently.
Rob Gronkowski snagged a 3rd-and-3 pass, whizzing past Burnett and shaking off three potential tackles, spinning out of a fourth, on a hard-earned carry as he powered to the Packers 2.
The 1st-and-Goal was pushed back to the 7 after a false start, and Brady was pressured a third time on the drive as his pass went wide. Vereen carried to the 5 on 2nd-down, though the Patriots got back to the 2 after a neutral zone call against the Pack, from which Brady found LaFell for the score.
Facing 1:05, Rodgers rolled out for a 28 yard toss to James Starks and again for Jordy Nelson's first catch on the day, a 9 yarder to the Patriots 43. His 2nd-and-2 pass found him pressured from the pocket and his pass for Nelson batted down by Darrelle Revis.
But Nelson's 45 yarder to end the half regained the 9-point lead for the hosts.
Aaron Rodgers connected with Richard Rodgers on a 32 yard touchdown reception, the quarterback's 31st score this season, with 15 seconds left in the first quarter. He found Davante Adams for 45 yards on the previous snap.
No comments:
Post a Comment