We almost had one of the biggest QB head-to-head upsets of all time. Aaron Rodgers and the Packers overcame a really bad first half to ward off the New England Patriots 27-24 in overtime and stay tied on top of the NFC North.
With Mac Jones out with a high ankle sprain, we were treated to a delightful matchup between the legend Aaron Rodgers and the legendary backup QB Brian Hoyer. Rodgers vs. Hoyer representing the Packers and the Patriots, respectively, in the Battle of Lambeau Field.
What a classic we were in store for…wait, what was that? Hoyer went down with a concussion on opening Patriots drive, so he was replaced by a 4th round pick rookie QB named Bailey Zappe? Oh, great, this game is going to end up being a blowout, right?
Well, thankfully not as Bailey Zappe and the New England Patriots rallied together, in face of all of the adversity surrounding them, and gave the Green Bay Packers an almighty fight. Oh, and Aaron Rodgers’ early throwing struggle definitely helped them out too.
Simply put, Aaron Rodgers was brutally bad in that first half. He must have missed at least 5 or 6 easy throws (by his high standards) that he has made 10,000 times before and will make 10,000 times in the future. I’m not sure if it was Bill Belichick’s defensive schemes or just Rodgers not being with it, but whatever it was really affected Rodgers as he went something like 4/11 or 5/12 in that first half for under 50 yards.
He even threw an uncharacteristic INT to end the half as his pass outside was read by New England CB Jonathan Jones and returned for a Pick 6 that put the Patriots up 10-7 after a defense-defined first half. Funnily enough, that Jones INT was just the second Pick 6 Rodgers had thrown at home in his last 5,000 past attempts.
That stat alone should tell you all you need to know about how Rodgers and the Packers offense’s first half went.
I understand that Aaron is probably the second most talented (if not the most talented) QB who has ever played football in the NFL, but even he needs some quality wide receivers around him. An aged Mercades Lewis and Randal Cobb, and injury-prone Sammy Watkins and Allen Lazard, along with a collection of rookie wide receivers is just not good enough if the Packers want one more Super Bowl with Rodgers under center.
Nonetheless, Rodgers was able to correct some of his early mistakes by leading the Packers down the field on the ensuing possession after halftime and threw a Rodgers-esque TD pass to TE Robert Tonyan. I’ve never understood how Rodgers is able to pick out the smallest of windows where only his wide receivers are able to catch the ball, but he did it again on that play.
He fit a pass over one of the Patriots LB’s head and right into Tonyan’s chest, who only needed to back up a yard into the endzone.
It was simply an unstoppable pass.
So, this is where I’m sure most New England fans (myself included) were thinking to themselves, “Oh, great. With Zappe it at QB, we aren’t going to score another point as Rodgers will only just continue to pick apart our defense. This game is going to be a 40-10 blowout”.
Thankfully, that didn’t happen as Zappe had the game of his life to keep the Patriots in the game.
Throwing for 10/15, 99 yards, and 1 TD, Zappe led the Patriots on two more touchdown scoring drives (one on which he threw a great sideline TD pass to Devant Parker) to give the Patriots 7 point-lead with 10 minutes to go in the 4th Quarter.
Sure, Belichick wisely kept his involvement in the game as minimal as possible, but with the throws he was forced to make, he did them flawlessly. Hopefully, he has an easier time under center against the Packers divisional rivals, the Detroit Lions, in the Patriots next game.
Nonetheless, leaving ten minutes on the clock is far too much time to give Aaron Rodgers to score a game-tying touchdown. In under three minutes, Rodgers led the Packers 75-yards and lobbed a fade pass to the goal line, where Romeo Doubs leaped over his defender and caught Aaron Rodgers’ 500th career touchdown to tie the game at 24.
With that TD pass, Rodgers joined the exclusive 500 club as he is now only the fifth player in NFL history (Tom Brady: 712, Drew Brees: 608, Peyton Manning: 579, and Brett Favre: 552) to reach that incredible milestone.
And the heroics from Rodgers just kept coming as, after a few failed possessions in overtime by both teams, Rodgers led the Packers all the way down the field for a 31-yard game-winning field goal attempt for Mason Crosby.
The CBS broadcast kind of did him dirty as, just before he kicked the ball, they showed that he only made 13 of his last 22 game winning/tying field goal attempts in OT/ Final Two Minutes, while also mocking him by saying that those numbers are very ‘un-Justin Tucker like’.
I hope Tony Romo and Jim Nantes realize that Crosby is not only the best Packers kicker of all time, but also one of the best the NFL has ever seen. He’s a Super Bowl Champion (2011 Green Bay Packers) and is 14th all-time in NFL points scored with 1,818 points.
He’s no slouch as those two were making him out to be.
Obviously, Crosby made the field goal as time expired to give Green Bay their third win of the season, sending them to 3-1 and atop the NFC North. Green Bay will have a difficult struggle against the Minnesota Vikings this season, but they should just about win the North over their hated division rival.
As for the Patriots, I was really impressed with their work ethic and fight today, though the loss was predictable. This is going to be a wash of a season for the Pats, though I just hope they at least finish above the New York Jets (who are sadly ahead of them in the AFC East right now).
What a disaster that would be if the Pats couldn’t even finish above the Jets!
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