Packer Post-Op New England

8/3/2018  dwm photo

Except for the small fact that Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady are not on the field at the same time; last night's game was seen as a face-off between two of the best quarterbacks in the National Football League.

The Patriot's Brady came out fast on the opening drive with a break-neck pace that quickly moved downfield on the Green Bay defense to take a touchdown lead.

Aaron Rodgers answered the drive, but ultimately came up short inside the New England 10 yard line and settled for a field goal.

The Patriots got a field goal of their own the third time they had the ball.

Rodgers and the Packer offense got on the same page during their fourth possession with a 13 play, 79 yard drive that took more than 6 and a half minutes off the clock with a mix of run and pass before Rodgers flipped the ball to Davante Adams for the tying touchdown.

Things went a little sideways at that point.  Packer defensive safety Jermaine Whitehead was upset after he was pushed after the whistle by New England's center and threw an open-swing at the helmeted lineman.  That's the part of the play the refs saw and Whitehead was thrown out of the game.

New England lost their running back (former Wisconsin Badger) James White and handed the ball to a back-up wide receiver/kick returner.  Cordarrelle Patterson promptly picked up 51 yards on the next drive including the go-ahead touchdown to make it 17 - 10 Patriots at the half.

While not great, I felt pretty good about the game at the break.  The Packer defense played good enough to win.  The Green Bay offense needed to get things going to escape Foxboro with a victory.

They did thanks to a 56 yard pass from Rodgers to Maquez Valdes-Scantling to the Patriot 21 followed by a couple of running plays before Aaron found Jimmy Graham in the end zone for the tying touchdown. 

That score endured during a rough stretch as the Packer defense lost a couple players and had a horrible penalty called on a Patriot punt that gave them a first down.  The Packers got the ball back and were driving again with two more great passes from Rodgers to Valdes-Scantling as the third quarter came to a close tied at 17.

On Green Bay's first play, Aaron Jones lost the ball when it was knocked from his arms.  A Patriot trick-play backward pass to a wide receiver who completed a screen pass that found its way to the Green Bay 3.  New England scored, then scored again after forcing the Packers to punt with a long pass to Josh Gordon.

That was it for the Pack as they fell to 3 - 4 - 1 with a home game coming up against Miami on what should be a very cold day for the Florida visitors.

It was 45 minutes of hope and expectation - dashed on the rocky shores of reality.  New England 31, Green Bay 17.

That's a second straight game where Green Bay represented itself better than during their first five games, but didn't get the win.  A push to the play-offs, if this team has it in them, needs to start on the not yet frozen tundra of Lambeau Field, Go Pack, Go.