Good evening, everyone. On Christmas Day, the Green Bay Packers were looking to improve to 12-3 on the season. Their opponent at Lambeau Field on this day was the Cleveland Browns, who were still fighting for a Wild Card spot entering the game. The Packers got the win, but it was too close for comfort. Want to know what exactly happened? Let’s find out now.
The Packers defense did not get to a good start as they let the Browns score a touchdown in 5 plays. The one-yard TD run by Nick Chubb was set up by a short pass caught by him that went for 40 yards (plus 14 more yards due to a penalty on Adrian Amos). The extra point kick was wide right, keeping the score at 6-0 Cleveland. On the first drive for Green Bay’s offense, Matt LaFleur made the decision to go for it on fourth and 1 from the Green Bay 34 yard line. Aaron Jones got the first down, keeping the play alive. Unfortunately, things went downhill after that and the Packers were forced to punt it back to Cleveland. Thanks to a block in the back penalty, the Browns started at their own 8 yard line. Baker Mayfield tried to go for a deep shot on first down, but the pass was picked off by Darnell Savage at the Green Bay 47. From there, the offense went down the field for their first touchdown of the game. The 11-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers to Allen Lazard (which was Rodgers’ 443rd, breaking Brett Favre’s all-time mark in franchise history) was set up by a 33-yard pass completion to Davante Adams that got them to the red zone. Rodgers was picked up by Lucas Patrick after the touchdown and was given the ball by Lazard (the ball was then brought to a special compartment for safekeeping). The extra point kick by Mason Crosby was good, giving the Packers a 7-6 lead with 5:13 left in the first quarter. During the Browns’ next possession, Matt LaFleur wasted a challenge on a play in which he thought the pass was incomplete from Mayfield to Donovan Peoples-Jones. The ruling of a catch was upheld, thereby wasting a timeout for Green Bay. Later in the drive, Nick Chubb ran 27 yards to the Green Bay 26 yard line. After an end around by Anthony Schwartz that got the Browns to the 15, the defense made two critical plays. On first down, Mayfield was sacked by Rashan Gary. 2 plays later, Mayfield threw an awful pass that was intercepted by Chandon Sullivan, who returned the pick to the Green Bay 22. From there, the Packers offense went on a 10-play drive that took up nearly 5 minutes of the game clock. On the first play, Rodgers connected with Allen Lazard for a 34-yard pass play that got them into Cleveland territory (a fantastic grab by Lazard on the play). Later in the drive, Lazard ran for 13 yards on an end around play that got Green Bay closer to the end zone. The drive ultimately ended with a 9-yard touchdown pass from Rodgers to Davante Adams that broke the mark for most touchdown connections in Packers history (Rodgers threw 65 touchdowns to Jordy Nelson. Adams’ catch from Rodgers was his 66th from him). The extra point kick was good, giving Green Bay a 14-6 lead with 10:47 remaining in the second quarter. The Packers defense was unable to stop the Browns from scoring a touchdown on their next drive. This drive only lasted 6 plays, but those 6 plays covered 70 yards. The drive ended with a 1-yard touchdown pass from Mayfield to right end Harrison Bryant. Eric Stokes almost intercepted the two-point conversion, but the ball fell off of his hands. The important thing was that the two-point attempt was no good, keeping the Packers in the lead. After the Packers went three and out on offense, the defense gave them another shot at a score before halftime with an interception of Mayfield by Rasul Douglas. From the Cleveland 49, where Douglas ended his interception return, the Packers offense was able to score a touchdown before halftime. With less than 20 seconds left on the clock, Aaron Rodgers connected with Davante Adams for a 1-yard touchdown pass that (with the extra point) gave the Packers a 21-12 halftime lead.
The Packers were on offense to start the second half. During this drive, Aaron Rodgers threw a pass that looked like a throwaway, but was caught by Juwann Winfree. The official ruled the pass incomplete, and Matt LaFleur challenged that ruling. In a shocker, the refs stood with the call. That was a catch by Winfree, darn it! Despite the lost challenge, the Packers were able to move almost all the way down the field. They were forced to settle for a field goal after an incomplete pass from Rodgers to Josiah Deguara (who almost caught the pass for a touchdown) on third and 6 from the Cleveland 14. The field goal by Mason Crosby was good from 32 yards away, increasing the lead to 24-12. The kickoff return by Cleveland was covered well and the Browns started at their own 15 on their next drive. Cleveland was able to move the ball down the field with no problem once again. A frustrating play for the defense was when Baker Mayfield was able to scramble for a first down on the third play. After that play, Nick Chubb got a majority of the touches as Cleveland made it to the Green Bay 8 yard line. Thankfully, Rashan Gary sacked Mayfield on third down and forced the Browns to settle for a field goal. The kick from 37 yards away was made by Chris Naggar, decreasing the lead to 24-15. The next drive by Green Bay went disastrous after Equanimeous St. Brown lost 10 yards on an end around on first down. An incomplete pass and a give up play forced Green Bay to punt it back to Cleveland. The Browns were threatening to score on their ensuing drive after getting to the Packers 31 on a big play to Jarvis Landry from Baker Mayfield. After a three yard gain on first down, it all went downhill. First, there was a false start penalty. Next, Mayfield was sacked two plays in a row for a combined loss of 10 yards (Preston Smith and Dean Lowry each sacked him once). After yet another false start penalty, the Browns were forced to punt it away on fourth and 27 from the Green Bay 48. Amari Rodgers returned the punt to the 20 yard line of Green Bay. From there, the Packers went three and out once again. Aaron Jones was stopped on third and 2, forcing Bojorquez to punt for another time. The punt was fair caught by Donovan Peoples-Jones at the Cleveland 24. From there, the Browns went down the field to decrease the lead to 2 points. They were able to cover 76 yards in 8 plays, culminating in a 5-yard touchdown pass from Mayfield to Anthony Schwartz that (along with the extra point) cut the lead to 24-22. With 4:31 left, I thought that the Packers were going to march down the field, get a couple of first downs, and seal the game. Instead, the drive only lasted 5 plays before the Packers punted it away again without making the Browns call a single timeout. Thankfully, Rasul Douglas saved the win by intercepting Mayfield for a second time in the game. A couple of plays and an encroachment penalty later, the game was over with the final score being 24-22 in Green Bay’s favor.
With the win, the Packers improve to 12-3 on the season with only 2 games left to play. As of now, they are in the driver’s seat for the number 1 seed. Offensively, the Packers need to play better than they did on Saturday. I’ll start with the positive stuff. First, Aaron Rodgers broke Brett Favre’s mark of 442 career touchdown passes for a Packers quarterback. Rodgers threw for 3 touchdowns on the day: 1 to Allen Lazard, which broke the record, and 2 to Davante Adams. Speaking of Rodgers to Adams, that touchdown connection is now the most in franchise history with 67. The previous mark was Rodgers to Jordy Nelson with 65. What a late birthday and Christmas present for Adams on that day. Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon combined for 107 yards on the ground on 21 carries (12 carries for 66 yards for Jones, 9 for 41 for Dillon). The backs also combined for 36 yards in the passing game. Allen Lazard added 13 yards on an end around in addition to his 2 catches for 45 yards and a touchdown. His 34-yard grab that set up the first touchdown to Adams was a wonderful one-handed grab while his other arm was being held by a defender. Most of the good stuff happened in the first half. The second half, however, was not good at all for Green Bay on offense. From not getting into the end zone at all to going three and out a couple of times, all the while keeping a wounded Cleveland team in it. Thankfully, the defense bailed them out in the end. They need to play more consistent from now on, especially come playoff time. I have confidence that Matt LaFleur and his staff (along with the players) will get things figured out by next week.
At times, the defense played very well. Baker Mayfield was sacked 5 times, with Rashan Gary getting to him twice and the trio of Dean Lowry, Preston Smith and Tipa Galeai each getting to him once. Mayfield was picked off 4 times in this game. First was Darnell Savage on the deep pass in the first quarter that set up the record-breaking touchdown for Rodgers. Second was Chandon Sullivan’s pick in the red zone on an awful throw by Mayfield. The last two were by Rasul Douglas, including the game-sealer in the fourth quarter. Yes, there are arguments on whether there should have been a penalty on Douglas. I’ll make a point that the Packers had similar situations where a receiver was held and it wasn’t called either. Anyway, back to the defense. Other than the sacks and interceptions, the defense did not play their best game. Nick Chubb ran for 126 yards and a touchdown on 17 rushing attempts (7.4 yards per attempt). In addition to that, Chubb also caught 3 passes for 58 yards in this game. Rashard Higgins and Jarvis Landry also had over 50 receiving yards on the day. On a number of occasions, the defense was playing 6 yards off on plays where Cleveland needed only one yard to get a first down. I get it in the sense that the defense doesn’t want to get beat over the top. But in those situations, the defensive backs have to play man to man against the receivers. What also didn’t help matters were a couple of missed turnover opportunities. Eric Stokes dropped an east interception and De’Vondre Campbell deflected a pass that also could have been picked off. It was a tough game for the defense, but at least they got the stops when they were needed the most. Hopefully they get the sacks and interceptions against Minnesota next week.
Thankfully, Special Teams did not screw up as much as they did last week. There were no worries about an onside kick, and no returns went past midfield. The kick return coverage played well on the return that only got to the 15 yard line. Mason Crosby made every one of his kicks while also not kicking a ball off out of bounds. The kick and punt returners did not turn over the ball. Corey Bojorquez punted well, although he should have been on the field less. Also, there were no blocked kicks that went in Cleveland’s favor. At this point, I’ll take this performance any week for the Packers on Special Teams. If they keep this up, they won’t be the death knell for Green Bay.
Overall, it was a tough win for the Packers on Christmas Day. There are no style points in the NFL, and I am sure the Packers will take the win anyway. Next up for Green Bay is a home game at Lambeau Field against the Minnesota Vikings, who won the previous matchup this season in Minnesota. I’ll talk about this game later. Have a great night, everyone. Go Pack Go!
(Here are the highlights of the game, provided by the NFL’s YouTube page.)
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