Green Bay, Wis. - It was defense that featured in the battle of quarterbacks at Lambeau Field as a late Patriots drive was stifled and a field goal missed as the Green Bay Packers hold off the New England Patriots 26-21 Sunday.
The Patriots and Packers came into the contest ranked first and second respectively in scoring offense, though it didn't show early.
Or late.
Aaron Rodgers would finish 24-of-38 for 368 yards passing and two touchdowns and is yet to throw an interception at home this season.
He slung a 32 yard score to Richard Rodgers with 8 seconds left in the first quarter, shutting out the visitors 13-0 in the slow-moving opening session.
Green Bay has outscored opponents 79-0 at home in first quarters on the year and today finished the first fifteen minutes outgaining the Patriots 209-32 on total yardage.
New England was held to only 7 points in the second half of play.
And with 43 seconds left in the first half, he darted a pass to Jordy Nelson, who outraced Darrelle Revis and the entire Patriots secondary, across the field, diving for the pylon with Jason McCourty clinged to his back and the 23-14 Packer lead.
Nelson finished with 2 catches for 53 yards for the Packers, who are 6-0 at home.
"Everybody contributed to this win," Rodgers said of his offense, which gained considerably more steam in the middle of the game.
Davante Adams led the Packers receiving with 121 yards on 6 catches, including a 45 yard reception on their first touchdown drive, and Randall Cobb added 85 yards on 7 receptions.
"I said all week they had good skill players," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said of the Packers.
"They have good everything."
But Adams would drop a wide open 3rd-and-5 pass late, a sure touchdown, from the Patriots 10 as the Packers went 0-for-4 in the red zone, having previously been ranked 9th in red zone offense.
"We just stalled in the red zone," Rodgers said of the Packers' woes there. "When you're playing a good team like this, you're fortunate to win when you're 0-for-4 in the red zone."
New England, however, finished 3-for-3 inside the 20 today, though it would not be enough as their splendid 7-game winning streak ends in defeat.
After the Packers (9-3) drove 65 yards for a field goal following Adams' drop, Tom Brady had one more chance to secure victory for New England.
He would lead the Patriots 43 yards the other way with extreme difficulty.
And have nothing to show for it.
Brady faced an early 4th-and-5 at midfield, though found Julian Edelman on a quick throw to the right, and again on 3rd-and-7 to Rob Gronkowski under a heavy blitz. LaGarrette Blount (58 yards rushing) charged up the middle through tackles for another first-down.
But Brady was sacked on 3rd-and-9 when Mike Neal and Mike Daniels raced around left end and through the middle, bringing down the quarterback for a 9 yard loss.
"The last defensive play of the game is when we got to him," Daniels said of the sack.
But every story has two sides.
"I hate to take a sack in that situation," Brady said of the play. "I really would have liked to score there."
But score they would not as Steven Gostkowski missed the resulting 47 yard field goal wide right, only his 2nd missed kick on the season after making 13 straight before then.
"I just wish we would have won this one," Brady said afterwards. "We put a lot into this one, and this was a great test for us. I think the guys knew how important this was for our season."
Tom Brady passed for 245 yards in defeat, completing 22-of-35 passes and two touchdowns for the Patriots (9-3). Rob Gronkowski caught 7 balls for 98 yards.
Brandon LaFell caught both scores for New England, from 2 yards late in the first half, and a 15 yarder in the third to bring the visitors within 2 points.
Mason Crosby made 4-of-5 field goals, scoring his career-1,000th point. He missed a 49 yarder in the fourth quarter.
Green Bay outrushed New England 130-84 as Eddie Lacy rushed 21 times for 98 yards for the Packers, who head into the final stretch of the season.
"We have some big goals, and we're getting into December football now with a chance with everything right in front of us," Rodgers said in victory.
No comments:
Post a Comment