The match-up that was billed as a Super Bowl preview almost lived up to the hype. In the end, the NFC’s hottest team — the Green Bay Packers — outlasted the AFC’s hottest team — the New England Patriots — 26-21.
It took an all-around effort from the Packers to grind out the win, which wasn’t assured until Aaron Rodgers hit Randall Cobb for a first down with just over two minutes remaining in the game.
It also took big contributions from unexpected places. The biggest of those came from rookie receiver Davante Adams, who stepped up with six catches for 121 yards. That contribution was key to the Packers’ offensive success because both Jordy Nelson (2 for 53) and Randall Cobb (7 for 85) were getting extra attention from the Patriots secondary.
Rookie tight end Richard Rodgers also stepped up with a 32-yard touchdown in the first quarter.
Those contributions allowed Aaron Rodgers to outduel Tom Brady, despite Rodgers badly misfiring on some throws early. Rodgers had 368 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions to Brady’s 245, two and none.
More importantly, Eddie Lacy’s effectiveness (98 yards on 21 carries) allowed the Packers to control the clock. The Packers held the ball 13 minutes longer than the Patriots in the game.
So while the Green Bay pass rush never really got going, the Packers did the next best thing to pressuring Brady. They kept him off the field.
That’s an effective game plan.
The Packers defense looked aggressive in the first half, which is when they played their best ball. In the second, they employed the good old bend-but-don’t-break philosophy and Brady took advantage. If the Patriots would have had another possession, this may have been a different story.
Of course, if the Packers could score touchdowns in the red zone, this would have been a blowout.
Statistically, the Packers dominated. However, they were 0-4 when it came to scoring touchdowns in the red zone. Green Bay’s inability to get in the end zone is the only thing that kept this game close.
We’re not going to overanalyze it though.
This was a big win for the Packers. It gives them the best record in the NFC and keeps them one game ahead of the Detroit Lions for the NFC North lead.
It’s also a good win for the team’s psyche. They just beat a team that is undoubtedly Super Bowl-caliber.
This is the kind of win you build off of.
78 Comments
If you think that
1) We shouldn’t pay Cobb
and/or
2) House is good enough to be a starting CB
Then get the fuck out of here. Just shut the fuck up, you don’t know anything about football
Hallelujah AMEN brother!! House is one of the most overrated players on the team! He’s ok, but a starter he is not. I still like Casey Hayward a lot.
Ummm….Davon House is a dam good NFL corner.
Not great…but good.
Not he isn’t, he’s a good backup and a fucking clown when he needs to start. Are you blind? “dam good NFL corner”? Who are you trying to fool? Are YOU Devon House?
I agree with everything you just said
Where the hell is Casey?
TOTAL agreement. My “theory” is that by finding a starting quality rookie D5 center we will be able to pay Cobb and keep the band together. GO PACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
ps: Dear TT, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE use one of our top picks on some ILBs. Your pal, BZ.
A lot of bad things had happen to even keep the Patriots in the game, including a bullshit illegal contact penalty on 3rd and 5 to extend the Patriots drive 2) missed field goal 3) dropped TD pass. And we still won. The Lambeau mystique is back!
That Illegal Contact penalty was a clear make-up call for that push-off by Adams earlier. You can’t complain about that call, it was obviously coming
That dropped pass by Adams REALLY hurt. Rookies, I guess….. sooooooooo fuckin pay Cobb so we don’t have to say “ahhh fuckin rookie mistake” anymore. Fuckin pay him, goddamnit
Except there were all kinds of pass interference and holding not called on Revis and other Patriots defenders. TOTAL BULLSHIT. And yet we prevailed.
Nah I can’t complain about it. it’s football, after all. Fuck these new garbage rules, we should play tough, and expect the defense to play tough
They did nothing that was worth complaining about
Nope–non calls going the Patriots way, because Espn, Chris Berman Tony Kornheiser and crew think they are the best ever. Fuck that. We won anyway.
Where are all of the McCarthy/Capers haters at now?!?!?! Huh? Everyone on this fucken site callen him McFatty & Bafoon after week 3…over reaction from fricen morons. Be thankful for what you have, otherwise you could be a bears or viqueens fan.
Um…yea. We’re there, man.
Still not happy with our special teams. & I hope Lattimore & Shields are ok.
My sentiments exactly.
Other than Crosby’s miss and illegal procedure our STs were great-stellar kick (and punt) coverage (vs. a bad return ream granted) no blocks and 3 of 4 FGs, and the miss was close, granted it wasn’t a long field goal.
How about the effen kick-off out of bounds? That was a 20 yd. penalty. … Mathstay kick-off please.
& the missed FG was 40 yards.
I think we’re the only team in the NFL that cant just drill a touchback.
You won’t find them here. Even worse, you won’t find any credit where credit is due. It’s the nature of the fair weather fan. I guess it’s just easier to be an asshole and point fingers then to simply support your team though the good times and the bad. I agree whole-heatedly, these Packer fans have no idea how good they have it. In their blindness they will have robbed themselves of enjoying one of the best decades of this franchise.
But rest assured, when the Packers lose again (and hopefully that doesn’t happen again this season) they’ll be back. Because there were only three things certain in life: death, taxes, and fair weather fans.
Well said, Packer Bob.
Been saying this for 5 years:
McCarthy = top 5 coach
Rodgers = top 3 QB
Thompson = top 5 GM
Packers = top Franchise
I just don’t want to be a whiney, unrealistic, entitled fan base like the Nebraska Cornhuskers fans are. (Lived in Nebraska first 23.5 years of my life)
Yes, yes. Monty has to admit things were done right on this very tough game.
word!
McCarthy is still a shit coach. Take away MM and you think AR would struggle? Not a bit.
Take away AR and MM’ll get you 2-5-1.
The same could be said of Belichick (the coach considered by many to be the greatest of this era)-WTF did he accomplish without Brady? Jack shit. Ridiculous, ignorant comment.
MOST IMPRESSIVE VICTORY SINCE SUPERBOWL 45!!! Bar none!
We’re finally getting more players instead of Cobb and Nelson involved in the passing game! This is the biggest key imo, it means this offense will be UNSTOPPABLE!!
I said this is what needed to happen for us to win, and happen it did! GO PACK GO!!!
Ahhhh imagine what could have been with Colt Lyerla becoming something dangerous…
Rookie TE’s rarely, if ever have a deep impact. His development will show next season, barring another injury of course.
If what happened today continues, along with hopefully, just JUST maybe Boykin will finally get going, the passing game will become as unstoppable as ever.
So much for calling McCarthy a buffoon, right? He really shut you up. I’ll forgive that though, because I like some of your articles. That abortion of an article you put out yesterday though… It wasn’t even well written. Not even a good enough read to keep my attention, either. Try to avoid that hateful, boring, pretentious, wordy, and inaccurate crap from now on.
That was written by E. Wolf, not Monty.
Wrong, puppy pup. I have never called McCarthy a buffoon. Not ever.
Misread, sorry. Yeah I wrote that article trashing the Patriots, and I stand by it, both in terms of content and writing style. I am implacable.
Okay.. I know who the true buffoon is now. That’s refreshing.
Just be happy the team you despise with every fiber of your being is finally given a kick to the gut.
Hi Chad
Good to hear from you. And you know I am happy. Not just happy but Beethoven’s 9th Symphony level of ecstatic. And the best part is we won even though we are capable of playing better and that the refs allowed the Pats secondary to get away with murder and that that pivotal patriots drive was predicated on a bs illegal contact flag. Don’t throw the flags against the Brady Bunch–get it, Brady Brunch because it’s Tom Brady’s crew. Fuck that. To be sure I hate the Vikings even more but they have not been a threat since 2010.
Where were the Lambeau leaps in this game?
Great team win. No doubt this would be the outcome. By the way a little story. After the post this week regarding chess or checkers. I go get a cup of coffee at a local coffee shop this A.M. Two guys come in I have never seen before, roll out a chess board (never happened before), start playing chess. One of the guys chess set is Packer green. No way would we lose! go Pack!
Can Crosby get a touchback anymore?
Answer = No
Why isn’t Mathstay kicking off?
He had at least 2 in this game. You guys don’t think that maybe, just maybe he’s directional and squib kicking to help out the coverage unit because it’s hard as fuck to kick the ball deep when it’s freezing out? You ever kick a football in the freezing cold? It’s like kicking a 3-lb rock.
Well, dude …
We seem to be the only effing team in the NFL that can’t consistently kick a TB
Gostkowski didnt exactly have a bushel of TBs either and he has a pretty good leg.
This was a fucking GAME, though. This was a real, balls-out football game. Your old man’s football. Tough everywhere.
And we were at home, and we won. If we were at Foxboro, we might have lost.
But this was a real accomplishment. We passed the test. This is a serious benchmark for how good this team is. If Shields didn’t get hurt, it might have been an easier game.
But man, this was good.
All kinds of pass interference and holding by the Pats…Watch your film again…
Yep.
I’ve said for many weeks (actually several years now) that the Packers will not be legitimate Super Bowl contenders until AJ Hawk is replaced. The Packers may have turned a corner…finally…and Thank You!
Good game summary……..
Great victory…
Only real concern is inability to score from red zone…. Shoulda been a blowout !
Really enjoyed watching Brady storm down sideline yelling FUCK after the final GB first down…
Number 2 seed right now !
WWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
agreed!
Hard to not over analyze this game. Defense looked shitty multiple times but they still showed up and essentially won the game, considering GB couldn’t get in the end zone. I said it before, get Eddie involved down the stretch. Game plan was obviously to own the clock, which they did. At the time I thought that Adams drop was going to cost them the game.
Must respectfully take exception to your statement “the defense looked shitty multiple times”. The D played like a top ten Defense against a very hot offense. The game stats will prove how well the D played. We all need to remember the Pack is playing against other men who also want to win. There is no way you win every play. If the Team can play this kind of D the rest of the season there is no limit to the teams success.
Our defense is one of the NFL’s best kept secrets. Top 10 rite now & our secondary is killing it!
Put a picture of all those Capers haters on the side of a milk carton
The defense looked shitty? In the pass-happy NFL of today they held Tom Brady to 2 TDs, 250 yards and they had a huge stop in the 4th quarter to keep him from taking the lead.
Get some freakin perspective.
Barrington nearly picked Brady too, kid had a helluva game sans that out-of0posiotion missed tackled on the TD run.
The patriots scored every time they made it to the red zone. How is that for perspective? Tramon got burned a couple time. There were a few pats rushes where nobody could tackle. They played a good enough game, but this was won by the offense controlling the time of possession and grinding one out.
Yep TW, one decent football game this season and maybe several chess games at home. ;)
Things got harder when Shields left to the locker room.
Also, I think HaHa was legit tonight. I love him so much
Agreed, dude covered Gronk incredibly well, though he did bounce off him when he tried to knock him out on a high hit.
Yep
and honestly, bouncing off Gronk is nothing to be ashamed of. Guy is a monster.
Isn’t every win a big win? especially late in the season when in Playoff contention?
The Packers’ pass rush was actually pretty decent, they got Brady moving around and frazzled for at least half the game. The run D was good to start, then went downhill big time in the second-half-big backs and receiving backs give us problems.
Every win is a big win, but, you cannot tell me the this win and the Vikings win are the same.
We mailed it in against Minnesota, and played balls-out this week.
There are wins, and there are WINS
They’re both worth 1 W. I’ll agree though, they aren’t the same-the Vikings win was a road win vs. a conference opponent that knows our teams and has an incredible defensive-minded coach and the number 7 pass D.
Sure it’s nice to beat a team “with a winning record” but this game wasn’t nearly as important as some of the others the Packers have had.
We did NOT mail it in vs. MiniSoda and we didn’t play balls-out this game. The O did not play up to their usual standard today, the D was pretty good, though they need to learn how to tackle Legarrette Blount and other big RBs.
The Vikings game was more important cause it was a divisional win…
The Patriots game wasn’t even conference match. If anything, it was important because it was holding serve at home & a confidence builder because of the build-up & hype
…no… not too sure what the hell you’re talking about
But yeah, we won. We are the best team in the league at home.
Sorry, this should have been a quoted post from earlier, don’t know what happened…
Don’t be slow–I listed the bs calls and non calls and misques in bullet form. I cannot break it down any simpler than that.
And if the road to the Superbowl goes through Lambeau then being the best team in the league at home will suit me just fine.
This was benchmark…I think I have an ulcer now. But we pulled through. Go Pack Go!
Thanks for texting me back, Lisa! :*
You guys have an issue on this site with quoting posts
Meant to quote this post, both times
“Nope–non calls going the Patriots way, because Espn, Chris Berman Tony Kornheiser and crew think they are the best ever. Fuck that. We won anyway.”
I would like to see us use screen plays more often – not a single one today. It seems to me that setting up matchups between Eddie Lacy and DBs is a good bet in our favor. Why isn’t he they final option when none of the receivers can get open? Like on the play where AR had 12 seconds and still couldn’t find anyone….
ps: Kudos to the OL, then did an all around GREAT job today, against a very tough defensive front.
Yes, I want more screen plays!
Screen plays, slant passes, dink and dunk, that is the best antidote to the cover two, as far as I know. And yet Mac is reluctant to use that. Can’t understand it.
Actually the run is the BEST antidote, and we did that jut fine. Short passes ACROSS THE MIDDLE and seam/honey-hole routes are also effective. You notice Jordy’s and RR’s TDs were of that type? I think MM knows WTF he’s doing. FYI, screens are not good vs. cover 2, they are good vs. aggressive D, i.e. blitzes.
screens are to slow down the rush. Didn’t need to do one today because Rodgers had all the time in the world. All the sacks we took were on Rodgers, not the line.
Yep, Buffoon and Capers pulled another one out of their collective asses. I still can’t believe we got rid of James Jones. Davante Adams will obviously be cut tomorrow for dropping that touchdown. And where the fuck was Clay Matthews?!
Our DBs can’t cover anyone, our O-line couldn’t block Pee-Wees, and Eddie Lacy is a pussy-footing milquetoast! Fire EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!
Ha, you almost sound like a Bears fan with that post.
GO PACK GO !!!!!
Sam barrington started over hawk. He was aggressive and was solid. Laid some hard hits. Capers is back baby. Hes making all th right moves. Watch out. Ive always said that hawk was the last piece of the puzzle to solve and Capers solved it. We are SB bound.
Tyko, he’s still mclardy bad special teams and Fuckin plain stupid play calling. Why he can’t figure out how to run the ball is pathetic. And why he kept trying the run when Aaron was killing their D is fucking retarded, he’s a qb coach/O coordinator professional eater at best