Good afternoon, everyone. On Sunday December 15th, the Green Bay Packers took on the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field. Entering this game, the Packers were not just looking for their first win in Seattle since 2008, but they were also looking to get closer to clinching a spot in the playoffs. Seeing that the Packers will most likely be a road warrior in the playoffs (though anything can happen in these last couple of weeks), they needed to be ready to deal with a tough road environment. Thankfully, the Packers took care of business on the road against the Seahawks by a score of 30-13. With that introduction out of the way, let’s get started with recapping this game.
The Packers started this game on the offensive side of the football. Their first drive started at the Green Bay 37 yard line after a nice kick return by Keisean Nixon. The drive started with two straight passes from Jordan Love to Josh Jacobs that gained a total of 17 yards. On the second play, 15 yards were added to the 13-yard pass play after Jordan Love took an unnecessary hit by Tariq Woolen. After that penalty, Josh Jacobs took over the drive with some good runs (with a Jordan Love scramble during that stretch). The 10-play drive ended with a one-yard TD plunge by Josh Jacobs on third and goal. The extra point kick by Brandon McManus was good, giving the Packers a 7-0 lead with 9:19 left in the first quarter. The Seahawks’ first drive started at the Seattle 25 yard line. Geno Smith connected with DK Metcalf on a 15-yard pass play. After that, the Packers defense kept Seattle’s offense from doing anything on their first drive. Seattle was forced to punt after Geno Smith was sacked by Edgerrin Cooper on third and 4 from the Seattle 46 yard line. The punt was fair caught by Jayden Reed at the Green Bay 20 yard line. On the first play, Jordan Love connected with Josh Jacobs on a short pass that Jacobs took 21 yards to the 41 yard line while going through a defender in the process. 3 plays later, Josh Jacobs ran for 19 yards to the Seattle 30 yard line on first and 10 from the 49 yard line. The drive ended with a pass to Romeo Doubs, who was able to fight for extra yards to the end zone for a 13-yard TD reception. The extra point kick by McManus was good, increasing the lead to 14-0 with 1:54 left in the first quarter. The Seahawks were able to get into scoring range on their next drive thanks to a couple of big plays, but the Packers defense was able to keep them from getting a touchdown. On third and 2 from the Green Bay 24 yard line, Geno Smith was sacked for a loss of 6 yards by Rashan Gary. That sack forced Seattle to settle for a field goal. The kick by Jason Myers was good from 48 yards out, decreasing the lead to 14-3 with 12:59 left in the second quarter. After the kickoff return by Keisean Nixon, the Packers started their next drive at their own 29 yard line. The biggest play of the drive was when Jordan Love connected with Christian Watson, who made a great tip-toe catch at the Seattle 24 yard line. The bummer was that the Packers could not get a touchdown after that big play. Brandon McManus made the field goal from 39 yards out, increasing the lead back to 14 points with 9:21 left in the first half. The Seahawks then went on a long drive that took 6 and a half minutes off of the game clock. During the drive, the Seahawks faced a third and 2 from their own 47 yard line. The pass intended for Zach Charbonnet went incomplete, which would have forced the Seahawks to punt it back to Green Bay. However, there was a bad holding penalty called on Keisean Nixon on the opposite side of the field. Nixon’s receiver fell down on his own, which made that holding penalty an awful one. Thanks to the penalty, the drive continued for the Seahawks. They were able to go all the way to the Green Bay 12 yard line. Geno Smith then threw two straight passes to CB Carrington Valentine. The first one was dropped, but the second one was caught by Valentine for an interception. Valentine tried to run with it, but he got tackled at the Green Bay 14 yard line. From there, the Packers offense took over with 2:54 left in the half. The Packers were able to use up all of the time to end the half, though I wish they could have saved more time when they got to Seattle territory. During the drive, Jordan Love was able to draw the defense offsides and chucked a pass down the middle of the field to Tucker Kraft, who made the catch in traffic. Later in the drive, the Packers faced a third and 2 from the Seattle 37 yard line with 10 seconds left. On that play, Jordan Love threw a deep pass to Romeo Doubs. The pass went incomplete, but Tariq Woolen was called for pass interference, giving the Packers an automatic first down at the 3 yard line. The offense then went on the field on first and goal. I thought that they were going to go for the TD there, but they did not get it. The only reason that the offense was on the field was because they were trying to get a free play and draw the defense offsides, which did not work. Brandon McManus was called upon to kick the 21 yard field goal. The kick was good, giving Green Bay a 20-3 lead at halftime.
The second half started with both teams punting on their first possession, with the punt by Daniel Whelan not being great at all. The Seahawks started their second third quarter drive at the Green Bay 46 yard line. Thankfully, the Packers defense was able to keep the Seahawks to only a field goal on that drive after a 22-yard pass from Geno Smith to Tyler Lockett. The three plays after that chunk play went nowhere, plus Geno Smith unfortunately got banged up during the drive. Because of his injury, which I hope is not too serious, Sam Howell had to enter the game as QB for the Seahawks. The drive stalled and Jason Myers was called upon to kick a 45 yard field goal. The kick was good, decreasing the lead to 20-6 with 6:20 left in the third quarter. The kickoff went into the end zone for a touchback, which meant that the drive started at the Green Bay 30 yard line. On the first play, Jordan Love was looking deep to Christian Watson. The pass was incomplete, but there was another pass interference penalty called on the Seahawks defense, giving the Packers a first and 10 at the Seattle 31 yard line. After Josh Jacobs was stuffed for a three yard loss, it became second and 13. The Packers were able to get out of that situation and get a fresh set of downs at the 14 yard line. Later, Sean Rhyan committed a false start penalty on what would have been a third and 5 at the 9 yard line. On third and 10, Love connected with Christian Watson for a 9 yard pass. Instead of going for it on fourth and 1, the Packers decided to play it safe with a field goal by Brandon McManus. The kick was good from 23 yards out, increasing the lead to 23-6 with 1:36 left in the third quarter. After that field goal, there were three straight drives (2 by Seattle, one by Green Bay) that ended in a three and out. After the second three and out by Seattle, the Packers started a drive at their own 43 yard line in the hopes of sealing the game. 2 plays into the drive, Josh Jacobs lost the ball during a run play. The fumble was forced by Ernest Jones and recovered by Julian Love, who returned the fumble to the Green Bay 45. 5 plays later, Zach Charbonnet ran it in from 24 yards out for Seattle’s only touchdown of the night. The extra point kick by Jason Myers was good, cutting the lead to 23-13 with 12:44 left in the fourth quarter. After two straight three and outs (one by each team), the Packers started a drive at their own 16 yard line. The offense was moving the ball well during this drive as they got to Seattle territory. At the Seattle 39 yard line, the Packers decided to go for it on fourth and 2. The play was a run out of shotgun up the middle for Josh Jacobs, which was stuffed for no gain. Thankfully, the Packers got the ball back 2 plays later when Sam Howell was picked off by Edgerrin Cooper, who returned the pick to the Seattle 27 yard line. 3 plays after the interception, Jordan Love connected with Romeo Doubs, who made a great catch in the back of the end zone for his second TD catch of the night. The extra point was good, giving Green Bay a 30-13 lead with 4:59 left in the game. After that, the game was basically over. There was a bit of an injury scare with Christian Watson when he got hit in the shin, but he said in the locker room that he was okay. The rest of the clock ran out as the Packers escaped Seattle with a 30-13 win. With the win, which was the first in Seattle since 2008, the Packers improve to 10-4 on the season and are closer to a playoff berth. In addition to that, the Packers are now 2-0 in their new all-white “Winter Warning” uniforms.
(Here are the highlights of the game, provided by the NFL’s YouTube page. Click on “Watch on YouTube” if you’re curious.)
On offense, the Packers were able to put up at least 30 points for a fourth straight game. However, after the first couple of drives, they were not as efficient in terms of moving the ball down the field. There were a few possessions in the second half that went nowhere and ended in a three and out. Two possessions in the second half ended in a lost fumble by Josh Jacobs and a turnover on downs. Those two drives were chances at scoring points that failed to do so. Thankfully, they got the chance to get the touchdown in the fourth quarter due to an interception by Edgerrin Cooper. Jordan Love thankfully did not throw a pick for a fourth straight game. He made some great throws, including the deep pass to Christian Watson that ended in a tip-toe catch, the heave to Tucker Kraft on a free play during the last first half drive, and the two touchdown passes to Romeo Doubs, who came back from missing a few games due to a concussion. On the first TD catch, Romeo was able to drag two defenders, including Tariq Woolen (who did the unnecessary hit on Jordan Love), on his way to the end zone. On the second TD catch, which sealed the game, he made a great catch in the back of the end zone. Josh Jacobs ran for 94 yards on 26 carries and added 42 yards on 4 catches. He scored the first touchdown of the game during a fantastic drive that set the tone early. I do wish that he had better blocking by the offensive line in the second half, but he had a productive night. The offensive line did a great job protecting Jordan Love as he did not get sacked at all. What I hope for the offense during the last 3 weeks is for them to be more efficient for all 4 quarters. They are capable of doing that, and I hope that begins next week against the Saints. At the very least, they were good enough to quiet the crowd in Seattle on Sunday night.
On defense, the Packers played much better than in the previous two games. They were able to get 7 sacks on the night, with Kingsley Enagbare getting two, and one each for Rashan Gary, Brentan Cox Junior, Devonte Wyatt, Karl Brooks, and Edgerrin Cooper. Speaking of Edgerrin Cooper, he was fantastic on Sunday night as he had a total of 7 tackles (2 for a loss), one sack, and an interception that led to Romeo Doubs’ second TD catch. Cooper nearly had another pick earlier in the game, but he dropped that one. Carrington Valentine dropped a pick the play before he caught a pick that helped set up the field goal at the end of the first half. Even though the Seahawks were able to get a touchdown late with Zach Charbonnet’s 24 yard run, I had a feeling that the Packers defense was going to prevent a collapse from happening. Sam Howell, who came in after Geno Smith got hurt, would not have gotten it done anyway. The Packers defense did lose Quay Walker due to a non-contact injury, and I hope that Quay’s injury is not too serious. Thankfully, no other injuries happened on the defensive side of the ball (and in general). The Packers need everyone for this last stretch of the season. There is a huge elephant in the room, and that is regarding when Jaire Alexander will be back for the Packers. He has not played since he only played 10 snaps against the Bears in Week 11 due to his knee issues. In my opinion, I think that Jaire won’t be back in action until at least Week 17 against Minnesota. Maybe the Packers will decide to keep him out until the playoffs. Regardless of when he comes back, the defense needs to be ready for anything in these last 3 weeks of the regular season, even if two of the teams left (New Orleans next week and Chicago in Week 18) have nothing to play for but pride.
On Special Teams, the Packers thankfully did not make huge mistakes that gave Seattle extra momentum. There was a moment where Jayden Reed muffed a punt, but he recovered that one. More of the kickoffs were returned, so it was up to the coverage unit to keep Seattle from breaking one open, though one was almost a huge one. Keisean Nixon had a couple of nice returns, but he still has not taken one all the way for a TD yet. Hopefully that happens at some point in these last few games. Daniel Whelan punted the ball 4 times in this game, with one of them going inside the Seattle 5 yard line. The defense did bail him out when his first punt went for less than 40 yards. Whelan was also great at securing the holds for Brandon McManus, who made every one of his kicks on Sunday night. Thankfully, there were no kicks or punts that were blocked by Seattle. There were no blocked kicks at all on Sunday night, which made things more normal on that front. I’m glad that the Packers were not a victim of any tricks due to Seattle not doing any fake punts or fake field goals. Hopefully the Packers are ready for anything on Special Teams during these last few weeks of the season, including the playoffs.
Overall, it was a good win for the Packers on Sunday night against the Seahawks. They were able to survive a tough road environment and score 30 points in Seattle. I want to give a huge shoutout to the Packers fans who made it to Seattle. Hearing chants of “Go Pack Go” was glorious on Sunday night in a stadium that emphasizes the importance of crowd noise with the 12 flag. For the Packers, they haven’t yet clinched a playoff berth. It can be clinched if the Falcons lose to the Raiders on Monday Night Football, which is highly unlikely. Most likely, the Packers will be able to clinch their spot in the playoffs during next week’s matchup with the New Orleans Saints at Lambeau Field. The Saints have basically no hopes for a playoff spot, but anything can happen. The Packers need to take care of business and win this game in front of their home fans. In the meantime, I’m celebrating a Victory Monday. Have a great week, everyone. Go Pack Go!
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