In today’s Sunday Night game the Packers were facing the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs, who admittedly have not been playing like one this year. Given the way the Packers have been playing recently, they had more than a chance given the unpredictable way the once potent Patrick Mahomes-led offense has played this year; two weeks ago against the Eagles, the Chiefs led 17-7 at halftime and failed to score in the second half, losing 21-17; offensive penalties and dropped passes have been blamed. The one silver lining in the Chiefs play this year is their defense, fourth in the league in yards allowed and third in points allowed, just over 16 a game.
But as last week against the Lions, Jordan Love led the Packers on two long touchdown drives on their first possessions of the game. I listened to the game on the Packers radio network, so with Wayne Larrivee calling the game, it was all predictably exciting stuff. Love again started off quick, completing 10 of 11 for 109 yards. Twice the Chiefs answered by driving inside the Packers 10, but three sacks against an offensive line that had previously allowed the fewest in the league stunted the drives which ending in field goals.
The Packers didn’t waste time with a little over 2 minutes left in the half. Patrick Taylor took the ball for a 24 yard run to the Chiefs 32 with 32 seconds to play. It was all quite wild; this was only the fifth possession combined for both teams, characterized with minimal defensive effort. But a penalty helped put the ball back at the 39, and instead of chancing a missed field goal giving Mahomes a chance for a Hail Mary pass, the Packers punted to end the half with a 14-6 lead. Love was 13-16 for 121 yards for 2 TDs, but one must note that he was 3-5 for just 12 yards after the first two drives.
In the second half against the Lions on Thanksgiving, when the Packers had a 17-point lead, the Lions dominated the Packers and really only lost the game because of fumble returned for a touchdown and their coach making a lot of stupid decisions, none more so than the fake punt deep on the Lions own end that ultimately led to the Packers only points in the second half. The Chiefs are a pretty good team, and the question was whether Love and company could take advantage of the surprising holes in the defense they were facing.
The Chiefs didn’t start off the second half very well, with back-to-back penalties leaving them with a first-and-25. But on third-and-18 a 27-yard pass to Travis Kelce (and yes, what’s-her-name was gracing Lambeau with her royal presence) put the Chiefs back in business. This time the Chiefs put the ball in the end zone, but failed on a two-point conversion to make it 14-12. How would the Packers answer?
They did, converting on a fourth down play followed by a 33-yard pass to Doubs and Watson catching his second touchdown pass of the game. The Chiefs again answered with a short TD pass to make it 21-19. A couple of punts was followed by a 40-yard field goal by Anders Carlson, but with just a five point lead, Mahomes just need to lead his team to a touchdown and the lead. No turnovers in the game and the Packers had not intercepted a pass in a few games, and what do you know, Keisean Nixon intercepted Mahomes. The Packers managed to hang on for another Carlson field goal to make it 27-19 and the Chiefs needed a touchdown and two-point conversion to tie.
Want “excitement”? A 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty after a 10-yard run by Mahomes was “exciting” for the wrong reasons, as was an apparent fumble recovery returned for a touchdown called back after a reversal, and then the Chiefs leading rusher Isaiah Pacheco was kicked out of the game for unsportsmanlike conduct. Mahomes had time from the Packer 33 to throw four passes into the end zone, and in Aaron Rodgers fashion misfired on all of them (well, yes with the help of an egregious DPI non-call) and it was all over.
Yes, it was an impressive win, and all of sudden Jordan Love and the Packers appear to be for real. Against one of the top defenses in the league, the Packers scored 27 points—a season high against the Chiefs’ defense. That defense allowed a first-year starter to complete 25 of 36 for 267 yards and 3 TDs and no interceptions. Either this was just a bad day for a great defense, or they just came up against a quarterback that somebody in the Packer front office actually saw something that a lot of people didn’t, including me.
I don’t know. Passes that were being intercepted before, like that 33-yard pass to Doubs that was floated into the air with a prayer, with three Chief defenders surrounding Doubs, are suddenly not being intercepted, and actually completed. Does this mean that Love has the “touch” now, or is it simply good luck instead of bad?
But there are still five games to play for the now 6-6 Packers who beat three teams in a row that were expected to beat them after the slow start. Now we can possibly say that the easy schedule now comes into play as the Packers next face four opponents (including the Giants next week) with losing records and another one that may have one (the Vikings) by the time the Packers face them playing with a backup quarterback. Suddenly a 10-win season and the playoffs after a 3-6 start seems suddenly more than a possibility if Love continues to play the way he is and the defense follows suit. We shall see.
No comments:
Post a Comment