Good afternoon, everyone. On Sunday afternoon/evening, the Green Bay Packers took on the Seattle Seahawks at a snowy Lambeau Field. The Packers were looking for their 10th straight home win against the Seahawks. This winning streak dates back to 2003, and includes 3 playoff wins in 2003, 2007, and 2019. The Packers were able to get that win and shut out the Seahawks in the process. Let’s get into detail on what exactly happened in this game.
The Packers started this game on the offensive side of the ball. The offense was able to get into scoring range with a 41-yard pass completion from Aaron Rodgers to Marquez Valdes-Scantling that could have been a touchdown. The drive unfortunately stalled after a holding penalty and a sack of Aaron Rodgers. The field goal attempt by Mason Crosby from 42 yards away went wide right, keeping the score at 0-0 with 10:49 left in the first quarter. Luckily, the defense was able to force the Seahawks to go three and out on their first possession. At first, it looked like Russell Wilson was able to scramble for the first down. Upon looking at the replay, his knee touched the ground before the ball crossed the first down marker. Rather than go for it, Seattle elected to punt back to Green Bay. Thankfully, Amari Rodgers was able to field the punt and return it 9 yards to the Green Bay 22. From there, the Packers offense wasn’t able to get things going on their next drive and were forced to punt. After 4 punts on the next 4 drives (two by each team), the Packers offense took over at their own 9 yard line with 37 seconds left in the first quarter. From there, they went on a 14-play drive that took a little over 6 minutes off the game clock. During this drive, the Packers were able to convert a couple of third downs, including an Aaron Rodgers scramble that got them to the Seattle 10. The bad news was that the Packers were unable to score a touchdown and were forced to settle for a 27-yard field goal by Mason Crosby (which was good). The field goal gave Green Bay a 3-0 lead with 9:31 left in the second quarter. The Packers defense was able to force the Seahawks to punt after a short possession. On third and 5 from the Green Bay 41, Russell Wilson was sacked for a 7-yard loss by Rashan Gary. After the punt, the Packers took over at their own 17. They went on another drive that took 6 minutes off the clock. During the drive, there was a lucky moment for Aaron Rodgers. On second and 2 from midfield, there was an issue with the snap exchange and the ball was loose. Rodgers was able to recover it, but Seattle head coach Pete Carroll challenged the ruling. He pulled out his flip phone instead of the red flag, which was hilarious to see. The ruling was upheld, resulting in a wasted timeout by Seattle. Unfortunately, the Packers drive resulted in no points after a failed fourth down conversion attempt. On fourth and 2 from the Seattle 34, Aaron Rodgers tried to hit Allen Lazard for a first down. Lazard was unable to catch the ball and the Seahawks turned the ball over on downs. The Seahawks tried to score a touchdown before halftime, but the Hail Mary attempt by Russell Wilson fell incomplete, keeping the score at 3-0 in the Packers favor.
Both teams failed to do anything on their first second half drive and punted away the ball. After the punt by Corey Bojorquez, the Seahawks took over at their own 38. This time, they were able to get into scoring range. However, the Packers defense was able to force a turnover. On third and 10 from the Green Bay 12, Russell Wilson was running to his left looking for an open receiver. CB Kevin King was able to get the interception in the end zone, giving the Packers the ball at their own 20. From there, the offense went on a drive trying to capitalize on the turnover. The drive started well with a couple of short passes to Aaron Jones that went for over 20 yards each. I thought that the Packers were going to get their first touchdown of the game on this possession. Unfortunately, that did not happen because Aaron Rodgers threw an uncharacteristic interception in the end zone that was caught by Jamal Adams. After the pick, Jamal Adams mocked the “Discount Double Check” (Why do they never learn to not mock the belt?). Thankfully, the defense forced a three and out and got the offense the ball back. From their own 38, the Packers went on a drive that resulted in a touchdown. There was an injury to Aaron Jones during the drive, which turned out to be a sprained MCL (he won’t be out for too long). Because of the injury, AJ Dillon was given a larger role in the possession. The Packers had no problem going down the field (partly thanks to a penalty on Carlos Dunlap for throwing Billy Turner’s shoe). The drive ended with a 3-yard touchdown run by AJ Dillon in which he ran through Bobby Wagner. After the score, both he and Elgton Jenkins did a Lambeau Leap, which was awesome to see. The extra point kick by Mason Crosby was good, increasing the lead to 10-0 with 10:37 left in the game. The Packers defense got another turnover in the form of an interception by Adrian Amos in the end zone. That interception was turned into another AJ Dillon touchdown run (and a second Lambeau Leap) on the ensuing drive. In that drive, there was an amazing catch and run by Dillon in which he was evading tacklers for a 50-yard gain. By this point, there was plenty of snow falling to the ground, which made the 17-0 win all the more sweeter. The Seahawks tried to avoid a shutout, but were unable to score on their last possession. A sack by Preston Smith helped in this regard. The 17-0 win improved the Packers to 8-2 on the season. It was also the first shutout win since 2018 against Buffalo.
On offense, it wasn’t the best performance for Green Bay. Aaron Rodgers played a bit rusty on Sunday. It didn’t help matters that he was unable to practice for a week and a half due to COVID. A couple of his passes were tipped at the line of scrimmage and he was pressured a few times by the Seahawks defense. It also didn’t help that Allen Lazard dropped a couple of his throws, including one that could have been a big gain. Rodgers also missed a few throws, including a potential big play to Marquez Valdes-Scantling. The interception that he threw was a Brett Favre-like turnover that he would commit. I am sure that he will be back to normal next week. The Packers offense was able to score two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to put the game away. AJ Dillon ran for both touchdowns in that quarter, doing a Lambeau Leap after each one. It was awesome to see Dillon do a Lambeau Leap with a full crowd. On his first one, he was able to clear the wall and get into the crowd. My favorite play on offense was the 50-yard catch and run by Dillon that set up the second touchdown. The snow made the offense play better, kinda like spinach making Popeye stronger.
Thankfully, 17 points were enough to win this game because of the defense‘s fantastic performance. It was awesome to see the Packers defense shut out Russell Wilson and the Seahawks offense in his return from finger surgery. Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf were held in check all game long, with Metcalf getting so frustrated that he was ejected from the game (for some reason, he stayed on the sidelines until the game ended). Wilson was sacked three times, once each by Whitney Mercilus, Rashan Gary, and Preston Smith. Other than the sacks, Wilson was pressured all game long by the defensive front. Wilson was also picked off twice (once by Kevin King and Adrian Amo), with a couple of potential picks dropped. I was proud of the way the defense played, even with injuries to Mercilus and Gary. Gary’s arm injury looked scary, but it was revealed to be just a hyperextended elbow. Unfortunately, Mercilus is out for the rest of the season with a bicep injury. I am also impressed with the secondary play on Sunday. Rasul Douglas, Kevin King, Eric Stokes, Darnell Savage and Adrian Amos all came to play and were not afraid of any receiver. Joe Barry deserves a ton of credit for the defense’s performance on Sunday. The only thing that the defense can do is to keep it going.
Thankfully, Special Teams did not screw up too much. No big kick returns were allowed, no fumbles happened, and there were no blocked kicks. Mason Crosby redeemed himself after his first miss by making every other kick (1 field goal, 2 extra points). Corey Bojorquez punted a couple of balls deep into Seattle territory. Amari Rodgers did ok with the punt returns on Sunday (thank goodness that he didn’t muff any punt). With how close the game was until the fourth quarter, I am happy that the Special Teams unit avoided crucial mistakes. As long as they stay competent, everything should be fine.
Overall, it was an ugly win for Green Bay. There are no style points in the NFL. I will gladly take a shutout like that over a nail-biting victory. For the Packers, it’s on to the next game. That game will be against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium. I will talk more about this game later. Have a great day, everyone. Go Pack Go!
(Here are the highlights of the game, provided by the NFL’s YouTube page.)
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