Good evening, everyone. On Thanksgiving Night November 28th, the Green Bay Packers hosted the Miami Dolphins at Lambeau Field. Entering this game, the Packers were looking to add to their winning streak and keep up with the NFC North division race with the Detroit Lions, who barely won against the Chicago Bears earlier in the day. This game was also the first of 4 straight prime time games for the Packers. Thankfully, the Packers were able to take care of business against a Dolphins team that wanted nothing to do with the cold weather, which included some snow flurries. With the introduction out of the way, let’s get started with the recap of this game.
The Packers got the ball first after the Dolphins deferred to the second half at the coin toss. The drive started at the Green Bay 46 yard line after a big kickoff return by Keisean Nixon. Unfortunately, Corey Ballentine got injured during the play and had to leave the game after the return. The drive resulted in a three and out and a punt. Among the bad things that happened were a false start penalty called on Tucker Kraft and two straight incomplete passes. The second incomplete pass was very close to being ruled a fumble, but thankfully it was not ruled as such. Daniel Whelan punted the ball to Malik Washington, who muffed the punt. The resulting fumble was recovered by Robert Rochell at the Miami 9 yard line. 3 plays later, Jordan Love found Jayden Reed for a three yard touchdown pass that was thrown exactly where only Reed could get it. The extra point was good, giving Green Bay an early 7-0 lead with 12 minutes left in the first quarter. After the kickoff went into the end zone for a touchback, the Dolphins started their first offensive drive at their own 30. Actually, they started at their own 25 after a false start penalty called on Jonuu Smith. Even with a first and 15 situation, Tua Tagovailoa completed 2 passes that got Miami a first and 10 at the Miami 43. On that play, Kingsley Enagbare sacked Tua for a loss of 12 yards. However, that sack got wiped out due to an offsides penalty on Rashan Gary. After that, a first and 5 got changed to a first and 10 due to a second false start penalty on Miami. 2 negative plays later, plus an unnecessary roughness penalty called on Jonuu Smith during a scuffle, the Dolphins ran a give up play and punted the ball back to Green Bay. The punt went out of bounds at the Green Bay 24 yard line. From there, the Packers went on a 13-play drive that lasted nearly 7 minutes of game time. The drive nearly went disastrous when a pass intended for Dontayvion Wicks bounced off his hands and was almost picked off. Thankfully, Christian Watson was there to prevent the pick from happening. After that scare, the Packers were successful in their quest to score another touchdown. The drive concluded with a one-yard scoring run by Josh Jacobs. The extra point was good by Brandon McManus, increasing Green Bay’s lead to 14-0 right near the end of the first quarter. After the kickoff went into the end zone for another touchback, the Dolphins started their second drive at their own 30 yard line. During this drive, the Dolphins had a fourth and 4 at the Green Bay 25 and decided to go for it. Tua completed a 16-yard pass to Jaylen Waddle that gave Miami first and goal at the 9 yard line. Thankfully, the Packers defense was able to force Miami to settle for a field goal after the fourth down conversion. Arron Mosby tackled Devon Achane for a loss of 6 yards on first down and the next two plays resulted in nothing. The 33-yard field goal by Jason Sanders was good, decreasing Green Bay’s lead to 14-3 with 8:44 left in the first half. The Packers’ next drive started at their own 30 yard line after the kick return by Keisean Nixon. The drive started great with a 23-yard end around run by Jayden Reed. After that, the drive stalled and the Packers were forced to punt it away. The drive for Miami started at their own 6 after a holding penalty during the punt. After another offsides penalty by Green Bay, this time called on Kingsley Enagbare, the Dolphins got 5 free yards. On the next play, Tua found Raheem Mostert for a 14-yard pass play that gave Miami a first and 10 at the 25 yard line. After that, the drive went backwards with a holding penalty called against Miami. Tua completed a pass that went for 16 yards to Jonuu Smith, then he got sacked on two straight plays, setting up another Dolphins punt. The punt was fair caught by Jayden Reed at the Green Bay 38 yard line. From there, the Packers started their next drive with 3:03 left in the half. The drive started with an 8-yard catch by Dontayvion Wicks and an 18-yard run by Chris Brooks that gave Green Bay a first and 10 at the Miami 36. After a false start penalty on Rasheed Walker backed the Packers up 5 yards, Jordan Love found Christian Watson for a 21-yard pass play that gave the Packers another Red Zone opportunity. 3 plays later, Love found Jayden Reed for his second touchdown pass of the night from 12 yards out. Reed caught the short pass and did the yards after catch all the way to the end zone. The extra point was good, increasing the lead to 21-3 with 1:36 left in the half. The Packers were able to get another chance at points before halftime. The reason was because the Dolphins turned the ball over on downs due to a pass that Tua threw incomplete on fourth and 5 at the Green Bay 39 yard line with 22 seconds left. The drive started with a pass completed to Chris Brooks, who got out of bounds at the Miami 44 yard line. On first and 10, Jordan Love found Tucker Kraft for a 9 yard pass that set up a second and 1. On that second down play, Chris Brooks ran for 8 yards to the Miami 27 and the Packers took their last timeout with 3 seconds left. Brandon McManus made the 46-yard field goal, increasing Green Bay’s lead to 24-3 at halftime.
The Dolphins’ first drive of the second half ended in a three and out after a delay of game penalty on third and 3 and an incomplete pass intended for Odell Beckham Jr on third and 8 from the Miami 25 yard line. The punt was fair caught by Jayden Reed at the Green Bay 22 yard line. From there, the Packers started their first second half drive. On the third play of the drive, Jordan Love found Christian Watson on a pass play that went 46 yards to the Miami 28 yard line. On first and 10 from that spot, Josh Jacobs caught another pass that went for 15 yards, setting up a first and 10 at the 13 yard line. The drive stalled after 2 Chris Brooks runs that did not go far (the second one went for minus 4 yards) and a pass to Jayden Reed that was short of the first down marker. The 24 yard field goal by Brandon McManus was good, increasing Green Bay’s lead to 27-3 with 7:42 left in the third quarter. The Dolphins were then able to go down the field with relative ease, with the drive ending with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Tua Tagovailoa to Devon Achane. Tua then completed the 2-point conversion pass to Jaylen Waddle, cutting the lead to 27-11 with 2:43 left in the quarter. The Packers’ next drive ended in a punt after Josh Jacobs was stuffed for a loss of 2 yards on third and one from the Green Bay 49 yard line. The punt was downed by Zayne Anderson at the Miami 18 yard line. From there, the Dolphins were once again able to move the ball down the field. However, their 6 minute drive ended in a goal line stand after Quay Walker sacked Tua for a loss of 6 yards on fourth and goal from the Green Bay 1 yard line. The Packers offense then went on their own drive that should have resulted in more than just a field goal. On back to back plays, Jordan Love completed short passes that turned to big gains. On first and 10 from the Green Bay 16 after a holding penalty on Jalen Ramsey, Love found Tucker Kraft on a pass play that went 16 yards to the 32 yard line. On first and 10 from the 32, Love found Jacobs on a pass that went 49 yards to the Miami 19 yard line. After another fumble that was turned into an incomplete pass, Jordan Love found Tucker Kraft for a 10-yard pass that gave the Packers first and goal from the 9 yard line. The first two goal to go plays were runs by Josh Jacobs that set up a third and goal from the 4 yard line. The pass to Dontayvion Wicks came up one yard short of the goal line, but the Packers were backed up 15 yards due to an unnecessary roughness penalty called on Elgton Jenkins. That penalty forced the Packers to settle for a field goal. The kick was good from 33 yards out, increasing Green Bay’s lead to 30-11 with 5:02 left in the game. The Dolphins did go down the field for another touchdown, with Tyreek Hill catching the pass after a ricochet, but it was all for naught as the Packers were able to hold on to the win by a score of 30-17. With the win, the Packers improve their record to 9-3 on the season. Even better, Jordan Love got his turkey leg after the game.
(Here are the highlights of the game, provided by the NFL's YouTube page. Click on "Watch on YouTube" if you want to.)
Speaking of Jordan Love, he had a great game as he completed 21 of his 28 passes for 274 yards and 2 touchdowns and no picks. He had great protection from the offensive line, who made sure he did not get sacked even once. The O-Line wasn’t as effective when the Packers were running the ball (kudos to the Dolphins defensive front on some plays). Even with that, the Packers still ran for a total of 114 yards on the night, with Josh Jacobs leading the running backs with 43 yards and a touchdown on 19 rushing attempts. Jacobs was more effective in the passing game with 74 yards on 4 catches. Tucker Kraft barely edged out Jacobs in receiving yards with 78 yards on 6 catches, while Jayden Reed caught both of Jordan Love’s touchdown passes. The first of those TD passes was a pass that was thrown just right to avoid an interception. I was relieved when the pass that was intended for Dontayvion Wicks was not intercepted thanks to Christian Watson playing defense for a play. I was also relieved that the two fumbles that would have given the Dolphins extra momentum were turned into incomplete passes. The offense was pretty good at putting up points in the first half, but they cooled down in the second half. There were some mistakes, including pre-snap penalties and a couple of red zone drives that did not result in a touchdown. Thankfully, the Packers did put up at least 30 points for a second straight game. That offense better be ready with little to no self-inflicted errors next Thursday against the Lions defense.
On defense, the Packers were able to keep the Dolphins high-powered offense in check during the game. They were not able to intercept any of Tua’s passes, but they were able to get 5 sacks on the night. Among the sacks was the one by Quay Walker that concluded the Packers’ crucial goal line stand in the second half. Tua did throw for 365 yards and 2 touchdowns on the night, but the majority of those yards were after the Packers got up by double digits. As a result of the double digit lead, the run game for Miami was ineffective. Overall, the Packers defense held Miami’s offense to only 39 yards on the ground. In addition to his sack on the goal line stand, Quay Walker was also great against the run for a second straight game. I’m glad that he and Lukas Van Ness were able to sack Tua in addition to Kingsley Enagbare, Kenny Clark, and Brenton Cox Junior. What I was not a fan of was the numerous offsides penalties, including one on Rashan Gary that nullified a sack of Tua. The Packers can’t afford those errors against a Lions team that took advantage of the Packers’ mistakes last time they played each other. Hopefully next week is a different story with Jeff Hafley’s unit against Detroit.
On Special Teams, the Packers continue to improve and make impact plays. On the first punt of the game, Robert Rochell was there to recover the fumble after the punt was muffed by Malik Washington. Daniel Whelan continues to be a fantastic player for Green Bay as punter and holder for Brandon McManus, who made all of his kicks. There were no kicks blocked that could have given Miami any extra momentum. Keisean Nixon finally had a big return as he made it almost to midfield, though I wish he did not get tripped up. There were no turnovers by the Packers on Special Teams, which is always good. I hope that Rich Bisaccia’s unit continues their good play next week and beyond.
Overall, this was a game that the Packers dominated from the beginning. The final score was made more respectable in garbage time, but it was another mostly stress free game for the Packers at Lambeau Field. It was great seeing them win against a team that does not perform well in the cold at all. As I started watching the game, NBC had a great introduction segment that honored the late great John Madden and the bus that he took across the country. Part of that segment showed John Madden's love for Lambeau Field, which got me a bit teary-eyed. As soon as I saw that, I had a great feeling that he was watching the Packers play well from Heaven. After the game was over, I was happy that Jordan Love was able to get his turkey leg and eat it in celebration of the win. Like I said at the beginning of this post, this game was the first of 4 straight prime time games (for the moment anyway). Next week is a Thursday Night Football showdown against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. This upcoming game will be a tough one, but I have a lot of hope that the Packers can get the win on the road against their hated rivals. I also hope that the Packers stay relatively healthy and also get some guys back soon, including Romeo Doubs, Edgerrin Cooper, and Jaire Alexander. I’ll be back for the recap of the Lions game on either Friday or Saturday of next week. For now, I’m celebrating a Packers win for the second time this week. Have a great weekend, everyone. Go Pack Go!
Comments