GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Everyone knows the world is in love with Taylor Swift but on a magical Sunday night at Lambeau Field, it was Jordan Love who stole the show from the musical icon in leading the Green Bay Packers to a 27-19 victory over the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. The first year starting quarterback more than made amends for his first NFL start against the mighty Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs from two years ago at Arrowhead Stadium by firing three touchdown passes in the Pack’s third straight win that gets them back even at 6-6 and as of this moment, into the 7th and final Wild Card slot in the NFC playoff picture. Green Bay has now knocked off two strong division leaders in back to back games with a Thanksgiving Day victory in Detroit and now the Chiefs with tight end Travis Kelce’s girlfriend in attendance.
A Chiefs fan supports the glamorous couple.
It was a picture perfect December night with snow falling right up until kickoff and the suddenly surging Green Bay offense went right to work. They drove 75 yards in 13 plays to open the game, covering a season best 7:47. Love found rookie tight end Ben Sims all alone after a play action fake from the one for his first touchdown, the first of Sims’ career. The Packers became the first team in the Super Bowl era to have three rookie tight ends catch a touchdown pass in the same season as Sims joined Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave in the end zone.
Mahomes answered immediately, converting a third and 11 by hitting a sliding former Packer, Marquez Valdes-Scantling for 16 yards. Isiah Pacheco then ripped off a 26 yard run to the five. That’s when the Packer pass rush got busy. Lukas Van Ness sacked Mahomes for a loss of 8 on first and goal from the five. He said it was a bucket list sack to bring down the NFL’s most decorated quarterback. On third down, Rashan Gary, celebrating his 27th birthday, along with Kenny Clark, dropped Mahomes again to bring on Harrison Butker for a 34 yard field goal.
Completions of 19 yards to Kraft and 27 more to Dontayvion Wicks fueled Green Bay’s second possession which ended with Love standing firm in a collapsing pocket to find Christian Watson crossing the back of the end zone for a 9 yard scoring strike to make it a 14-3 game.
Kansas City again moved down the field but another red zone sack, this one by Preston Smith and Devonte Wyatt forced Butker back on the field for his second 34 yard boot with only 2:19 left in the half. The Packers moved to the Kansas City 37 but decided against a long field goal try, Daniel Whelan’s punt was covered at the three by Rudy Ford and the half ended with Green Bay up 14-6.
The Chiefs converted a third and 18 to open the third quarter as Mahomes moved up in the pocket and lofted a ball downfield to Kelce for 27 yards. Pacheco crashed in from the one to pull Kansas City within 14-12. A two point try with Pacheco running wide left was smothered the defense.
Keisean Nixon returned the ensuing kickoff 34 yards but Green Bay was faced with a 4th and 1 from the Kansas City 44. The offense stayed on the field and Love beat a blitz with a high lob that Romeo Doubs pulled down in traffic for 33 yards. Another all out pressure had Love throw a high pass into the end zone where Watson reached over the top of Joshua Williams for a highlight reel 12 yard scoring catch and a 21-12 lead.
Two plays into the 4th quarter, Mahomes capped a 66 yard march with a two yard TD pass to tight end Noah Gray that got the Chiefs back within two points.
After back to back punts, Green Bay overcame a holding penalty on Rasheed Walker with Doubs getting free for a 27 yard catch. A third down sack at the KC 18 brought on Anders Carlson for a 40 yard field goal to make it 24-19 with 6:03 to play.
That’s when Nixon made the defensive play of the day. He recognized a tap of the thigh by Mahomes in the shotgun, read the corner route of Sky Moore and picked off Mahomes at the Packer 35 yard line. A.J. Dillon picked up a chunk of his team high 73 yards on the series and Watson gained 10 on an end around and he purposely went down in bounds but landed awkwardly and had to be helped to the sideline with a hamstring pull. Love took another sack on third and 6 from the 20 but Carlson was true with a 48 yard field with 1:09 to play giving the Packers the 27-19 lead.
The final series got chaotic when Mahomes scrambled for 10 yards and got belted out of bounds in front of the Kansas City bench by Jonathan Owens who was flagged for a personal foul even though replays clearly showed he hit the quarterback in play. On the next snap, Rashee Rice caught a pass but the ball came loose after he was ruled down. Corey Ballentine picked up the loose ball and carried it into the end zone. Behind the play, Pacheco and Nixon got tangled up and the running back took a swing, got called for a personal foul and was ejected from the game. Backed up to midfield, Mahomes fired deep to Valdes-Scantling who was blanketed by Carrington Valentine. There was plenty of contact but no flag was thrown. After reaching the 33 with :19 left, Mahomes missed another shot to the end zone, was forced to throw a ball away and the final hail mary was batted down by the secondary at the gun.
Referee Brad Allen was interviewed by the Pro Football Writers Association pool reporter Calvin Watkins after the game. On the Owens penalty, Allen said, “the covering official believed that the defender made late and unnecessary contact on the quarterback.” As for the pass interference no call, Allen said, “in this case, the covering officials were in good position and ruled that there was no material restriction that rose to the level of defensive pass interference.”
An so ended a thrilling victory for Head Coach Matt LaFleur who is now 16-0 all-time in the month of December.
Love was magnificent, continuing his surging play. He finished 25 of 36 for 267 yards, three scores, no interceptions and a passer rating of 118.6. It was his 4th three touchdown-zero pick game, matching San Francisco’s Brock Purdy for the league lead. Mahomes meanwhile, was 21 of 33 for 210 yards, a score and an interception for a rating of 79.1. Even in the 13-7 loss at Kansas City in his first start, Love had better numbers than Mahomes that day and he did it again. Watson finished with 7 catches for 71 yards and the two scores. Doubs caught 4 balls for 72. Rice led KC with 8 catches and 64 yards, Kelce had four for a team high 81 yards. Pacheco ran hard for 110 yards on just 18 carries (6.1 average). The difference was the defense keeping Kansas City out of the end zone on their only two first half possessions and Nixon’s takeaway, the only turnover of the night. Defensively, Quay Walker led the Pack with 13 tackles, Ballentine finished with a career high 10.
The Packers were without two All-Pro players again as Aaron Jones, recovering from a sprained MCL and Jaire Alexander, still not able to go because of a shoulder injury suffered a month ago against Los Angeles, were among the inactive players. The others were Brenton Cox Jr., Caleb Jones, Josiah Deguara and Samori Toure.
Harry Pearson and James Robinson were both elevated from the practice squad for the game. Pearson saw considerable action at both fullback and tight end and Robinson even got one carry for two yards.
Darnell Savage was also back from injured reserve, starting alongside Owens at safety.
Love and Nixon were presented game balls by LaFleur in a raucous post-game locker room celebration. The league’s youngest team has turned around a season that was looking bleak at 2-5 and they now hold the final playoff spot with five games remaining against teams equal or below them in the standings beginning with the New York Giants next Monday night at Met Life Stadium. The Big Apple can wait. A big double dip against a pair of division leaders has this team believing. Can’t wait to see how far that belief will take them now.
