15. Packers 26, Patriots 21 (2014)

It was one of the biggest games of the year and many thought it would be a preview of the Super Bowl. After an embarrassing 41-14 loss in Kansas City on Monday Night Football in week four, the Patriots had won seven in a row to improve to 9-2. Of those seven wins, only one was won by fewer than 14 points. Green Bay had won three in a row and seven of eight to come into the game at 8-3. This game was at Lambeau Field, and the Packers had been rolling at home. Since the 7-point win over the Jets in their home opener, Green Bay had won its next next four home games by an average of 31.8 points per game. It was a true heavyweight fight and it turned out to live up to the hype. Green Bay would jump out early and hold off New England for a 26-21 win in Green Bay.

I mentioned Green Bay would jump out early. Well, the Packers scored 13 consecutive points to start the game. On their first two possessions, the Green and Gold would move into the red zone, but would have to settle for a pair of Mason Crosby field goals to put Green Bay in front 6-0. Eddie Lacy was featured quite a bit early in the game, as he accounted for 51 of the Packers 58 yards on the opening drive. The second drive would belong to rookie wide receiver Davante Adams. He would catch two passes for 45 yards, including a 33-yard catch to move into New England territory. It would be a 66-yard drive for Green Bay, but the Packers missed on a 3rd-and-9 from the Patriots 17, so Crosby would come on and make his second field goal of the day to give the Green and Gold a 6-0 advantage.

While the Green Bay offense was driving up and down the field, but settling for field goals, the Packers defense was keeping the high-powered New England offense off the scoreboard. The Patriots would have just seven combined plays on their first two drives, which both resulted in punts. After the second New England punt, the Green and Gold finally were able to break through for six. On a 3rd-and-2 from the Packers 23, Aaron Rodgers would lob a perfect pass to Adams once again. His catch and run down the left sideline of 45-yards moved the ball down to the Patriots 32. On the very next play, Rodgers made a hard pump fake to the right, but somehow held onto the ball. He then threw a perfect pass into the end zone to Richard Rodgers for the 32-yard scoring play and it was 13-0 Green Bay with eight seconds to play in the first quarter.

The Patriots offense would wake up, though, early in the second quarter. It would only take New England five plays to travel 73 yards to cut it to 13-7. After a run of three by LeGarrette Blount on first down, Tom Brady would slide away from pressure to buy time and find Rob Gronkowski for a 29-yard gain. That was followed by a 23-yard pass from Brady to Michael Hoomanawanui to move the Patriots into the red zone. Two plays later, Brandon Bolden would run through the Packers defense for a 6-yard score to cut into the deficit.

Every Packers player was getting involved in the first half. The Packers would drive down the field once again, but would have to settle for another field goal. On this drive, Randall Cobb would the key player. Cobb would catch a 33-yard pass on 3rd-and-5 down to the New England 34. He would catch four passes on the drive for 55 yards to set up the Packers inside the 10. However, a sack on third down would force Green Bay to settle for a field goal and a 16-7 lead.

The Patriots would move down the field once again to cut into the lead further. They would travel 80 yards in 12 plays. Julian Edelman would move the Patriots into Packers territory with two catches for 22 yards to start out the drive. That was followed by a 26-yard pass from Brady to Shane Vereen to move to the Green Bay 20. Three plays later, Brady faced a third down and went to Gronk. The big tight end caught it and plowed his way all the way to the 2. Three plays later, Brady found Brandon LaFell for the 2-yard touchdown in the right corner of the end zone and Green Bay’s once 13-point lead had been trimmed to just two.

When it looked like the Patriots would escape the first half only trailing by two, Rodgers and Jordy Nelson made the biggest play of the game. Prior to the drive, All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis had shut down Nelson. The big-play wide receiver for the Packers did not have one catch to that point. Green Bay started its final drive of the half on its own 19, but on second down, Rodgers rolled out and threw a perfect pass to James Starks down the right sideline for 28 yards. After Nelson caught his first pass of the game for eight yards, the Packers faced a 3rd-and-2 from the New England 45 with 23 seconds to go in the half. With the Green and Gold having a timeour available, Rodgers threw a slant over the middle to Nelson, who beat Revis on the play. He would outrace the New England defenders to the pylon on the left side of the end zone for the score with 14 seconds left in the half. With Patriots fans thinking it will be a one-score game at halftime and then receiving the ball to start the second half, that was a gut punch. The Packers would lead 23-14 at the half.

The scoring would die down significantly in the second half. However, there were many chances. After a three-and-out to begin the second half, Green Bay would move 32 yards on a drive of nine plays. The Packers would drive down to the Patriots 22, but Crosby would miss a 40-yard field goal attempt that would have pushed it to 26-14. The Packers would also drive into New England territory on its next possession, but had a penalty and sack that pushed them back and they were forced to punt.

The Patriots would score the first points of the second half early in the fourth quarter. Green Bay appeared to have forced another New England punt early in the drive, but Tramon Williams was whistled for an illegal contact penalty and the drive stayed alive. Brady would pass to Gronkowski for 19 yards up to midfield and Blount would rush for back-to-back 13-yard gains and the Patriots moved into the red zone. That was when Brady found LaFell again for the touchdown. LaFell beat Davon House on the left side of the end zone and ball was thrown on the money to cut it to 23-21.

Once again, the Packers would drive into the red zone, but would have to settle for a field goal. The Packers outgained the Patriots on the day 478-320, but the game was down to the wire because they had to settle for five field goal attempts (four made). On the third down play, Rodgers threw it to Adams on a slant. Adams had a big day, but dropped what would have been a touchdown to give the home team some breathing room. But the Packers held a 26-21 lead with less than nine minutes to play in the game after the Crosby field goal.

New England would drive down to try to take the lead. The Patriots converted one fourth down and one third down to keep the drive alive. But with New England faced with a 3rd-and-9 from the Packers 20, Brady was sacked by Mike Daniels and Mike Neal and the Patriots were forced to kick a long field goal. Stephen Gostkowski’s kick was wide right and the Packers held the 26-21 lead with less than three minutes to play.

Green Bay would do what it does best: run out the clock in the closing minutes to secure a win. When facing a 3rd-and-4 from its own 43, Rodgers had great protection and he found Cobb for the first down to seal the deal. Green Bay would move to 9-3 on the year, and if it were not for a collapse in Seattle in the NFC Championship game, there would have been a Super Bowl rematch.