Packers fortunate to escape with win against Browns after sloppy play on both sides

 

The Packers survived a sloppy game against the Browns, with help from the officiating, to win 24-22 on Christmas Day. The defense was awful against the run as the Browns gained 219 yards on just 25 carries. Fortunately, the Browns again proved that their passing game behind Baker Mayfield wasn’t their strong suit as he threw four interceptions. Nevertheless, despite the Packer defense being bailed out on those interceptions, three of them should have been overturned by defensive penalties, including on the Browns’ last possession as they were attempting to get into game-winning field goal range after a third straight Packer offensive possession in meltdown mode. Those interceptions were more than just the difference in the game, as the Packers wound-up scoring all their touchdowns following the first three interceptions, and the fourth ended the game.

Aaron Rodgers looked mostly sharp in the first half, throwing for 155 yards and three touchdowns to extend his career team record to 445. But he appeared to aggravate his injured toe on the last play of the first quarter, and we can speculate if it effected his play in the second half, throwing for just 47 yards as the Packers managed just a field goal in the second half on their first drive, and then were unable to find a way to put the game away or make up for shoddy defense play as they have for the past five weeks. The Packers have admittedly had some key injuries on defense, but  using that as an excuse after a five-game stretch of allowing just 10 points per game now followed by five games allowing 28 points per game seems a little too much of a stretch.

Watching this game was frustrating because despite some apparent easy touchdown drives in the first half, the Packers still seemed to be the team playing “catch up” with the Browns, who—if you take into consideration the missed calls by the officials that advantaged the Packers—by the “eye test” were the better team. The Packer defense repeatedly gave up huge chunks of yards on key downs, and on the Browns fourth quarter touchdown the defenders seemed completely discombobulated on what they were supposed to do. But the offense didn’t help much either, with three consecutive abbreviated possessions in the second half which allowed the Browns to pull within two (instead of a tie, after two failed extra point tries). This is the kind of game which the Packers cannot afford to play like against the teams they meet in the playoffs if they expect to make it to the Super Bowl.

Still, as they say, a win is a win no matter how it comes. Matt LaFeur now has 38 wins in his first three seasons as coach, tying him with George Seifert. The Packers next play at home against the Vikings, a game which they should win, and then finish on the road against the Lions, which should be another win as well. In his congratulatory message to Rodgers on the jumbo screen at Lambeau for breaking his team touchdown record, Brett Favre—who led the Packers to two Super Bowls—added a “friendly” reminder of that fact concerning Rodgers' resume.