GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Maybe it was the law of averages, it might have been Washington quarterback Taylor Heinicke. Regardless, the much maligned red zone defense of the Green Bay Packers got 4 stops on 4 trips inside the 20 lifting the Packers to their sixth straight victory, 24-10 over the Football Team on a 1950’s throwback Sunday before 78,219 fans at Lambeau Field.
After surrendering 15 touchdowns in 15 red zone trips through the first six weeks, the Packers came up with four stops on four consecutive second half possessions. The first was the craziest. On third and goal from the three, Heinicke made a run for it but stumbled just as he approached the goal line and rolled into the end zone. Originally ruled a touchdown, a replay review led referee Ronald Torbert to declare Heinicke had “given himself up” as a running quarterback, short of the stripe. On 4th and goal from the half yard line, Heinicke tried a quarterback sneak off right guard. He got stood up and pushed back, bobbled the ball and tried a second time to extend it over the line without success. On their next possession, running back Antonio Gibson fumbled and Darnell Savage fell on the ball only to have it squirt under him allowing center Chase Roullier to cover it. On 4th and 2 from the three, Heinicke tried tight end Rickey Seals-Jones at the back of the end zone but Adrian Amos was there to break it up. Stop number three came with Chandon Sullivan intercepting an underthrown ball in the end zone on third and 8 from the 12. The final stop came about with sacks from Rashan Gary on first and goal from the nine and Kingsley Keke on third and goal from the 14 which led to a meaningless 45 yard field goal with just over two minutes to play.
Despite giving up a season high 430 yards and being on the field for almost 33 minutes, the defense allowed just the ten points thanks to the red zone work.
Offensively, the Packers appeared almost scared to run the ball against Washington’s front 4 of number one draft picks as the backs carried it just 12 times for 27 yards with A.J. Dillon fumbling it twice, losing one. But against the NFL’s worst pass defense, Aaron Rodgers went to work. Washington’s front came up with three sacks in the first half but the protection held up from there, allowing Rodgers to complete 27 of 35 passes, for 274 yards and three touchdowns for a 127.6 passer rating.
Green Bay scored on the game’s opening series with Rodgers converting a third and 11 with a 15 yard run. Disdaining a field goal try looking at 4th and 3 from the 17, Rodgers was flushed out of the pocket and he sprinted to his right. Just before stumbling down, Rodgers threw across his body at full speed and found Davante Adams in the middle of the field at the 10. Adams turned and raced in from there.
Washington’s answer was an 83 yard, 8 play drive capped by Heinicke’s 40 yard bomb to Terry McLaurin. He beat rookie Eric Stokes on the route and when the top draft pick couldn’t get his head turned around to find the ball, McLaurin plucked it for the game tying touchdown.
The second quarter was highlighted by a pair of blocked field goals. Chris Blewitt, promoted from the practice squad this week after the surprising release of 6 year veteran Dustin Hopkins, lined up for his first NFL field goal attempt from the 43. Rookie T.J. Slaton plowed across the line and got his hand on the kick which still careened toward the goal line. Matter of fact, it bounced in the end zone, high enough to bounce off the crossbar and through. The Packers drove to the Washington 14 but Rodgers got sacked for the third time and Mason Crosby was looking at a 34 yard kick. Tim Settle had inside pressure and blocked it backward where the Football Team recovered at the 28.
Stokes was able to redeem himself when on 4th and 3 from the Green Bay 27, he stayed with McLaurin on a sideline route and made a physical play to break up the pass and give the offense a chance to take the lead before halftime.
Allen Lazard goes from blocking to catching receiver.
Enter Allen Lazard. Lazard finished the day with five catches for 60 yards and a touchdown and he made all of those plays on Green Bay’s 72 yard, 9 play drive. A quick out to the right for 11 got the drive started. A 7 yarder to the left side. On third and 2, Rodgers found Allen crossing the defense for 13. A receiver screen opened up for 19 more. On third and five from the 10, Lazard had man coverage and Rodgers delivered a perfect, back shoulder strike to make it a 14-7 game at the half.
Afterwards, Lazard talked about the big series coming after spending the last few weeks doing more dirty work.
On the second play of the third quarter, Rashan Gary came up with a huge play, sacking Heinicke and knocked the ball out with Dean Lowery recovering at the 27. Three plays later, Rodgers hit Robert Tonyan with a 20 yard touchdown against a trailing linebacker Jamin Davis, opening up a 21-7 lead.
That’s when the red zone touchdown streak came to a resounding end.
Crosby finished the Packer scoring with a 39 yard field goal early in the 4th quarter, set up by another highlight reel catch from Adams. On the final play of the third, Rodgers threw up a sideline ball that literally glanced off the helmet of Benjamin St-Juste before Adams pulled it in keeping his feet in bounds for a 26 yard gain, his longest on a 6 catch, 76 yard day.
The offense had two chances to run out the final 6 minutes but Dillon coughed up a fumble on the first series and they went a quick three and out, letting the defense concede 65 final yards to the gun.
Matt LaFleur covered all three phases to lead off his post-game press conference.
Washington outgained Green Bay 430-304.
Heinicke passed for 274 yards but was sacked four times and turned it over twice. He also hurt the Pack with his legs, piled up 95 yards rushing on 10 scrambles, including a wide open spaces 38 yard dash up the middle in the first half. McLaurin wound up with 7 receptions for 122 yards and the 40 yard score going against Stokes and Rasul Douglas with both Jaire Alexander and Kevin King dealing with shoulder injuries. Douglass also left the game briefly with a shoulder injury.
For Green Bay, Jones led the feeble ground attack (15 for 57 as a team) with 19 yards on 6 carries. Dillon managed only 6 yards on three attempts and Kylin Hill had three carries for 2 yards.
Adams and Lazard impressed, as did Tonyan with four catches for 63 yards and a touchdown scored by all three.
Defensively, De’Vondre Campbell had another big game with 13 tackles and two forced fumbles. Gary had two sacks among his 7 tackles along with 4 quarterback hits. Keke was credited with a sack and a half for 17 yards in losses.
There didn’t appear to be any significant new injuries although Preston Smith had his run of 102 consecutive games played since entering the league with Washington coincidentally, come to and end with an oblique strain. LaFleur said he had a chat with Smith about giving up the streak with another game coming fast on Thursday and “he put the team first.”
An injury no one knew about was disclosed by Rodgers during his post-game media session. He said he felt his back tightening up Saturday and when he woke up Sunday morning, it locked up. He got to the stadium early and the training staff and team chiropractor helped get him ready for the game. Rodgers wanted to blame what he called the “antiquated” NFL rule requiring players to stay in hotel rooms the night before a home game, instead of his own bed. He didn’t want to blame the hotel but joked it is the most important night of sleep each week and staying home might be a better option.
LaFleur didn’t even know about his quarterback’s back soreness but when asked about the suggestion of sleeping at home, he joked “I’ll have a chat with Coach Rodgers about that, for sure.”
Aside from Smith, the Packer inactives were King, Dennis Kelly, Vernon Scott and Jack Heflin.
Whitney Mercilus made his Packer debut and played a whopping 30 snaps on defense after joining the team last Thursday.
At halftime, the Packers paid another tribute to Willie Davis, the Pro Football Hall of Famer who passed away last year. Team president Mark Murphy welcomed a handful of Davis’ family members on the field. The name of Bobby Dillon went up on the Lambeau facade’ with family members on hand too. Dillon was posthumously enshrined in Canton this year, becoming the 26th Packer to reach the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Bart Starr’s widow, Cherry Starr, was also introduced and shown on the scoreboard video screen. She was in Green Bay for the dedication of Bart Starr bridge, formerly the Walnut Street bridge over the Fox River, just south of Ray Nitschke bridge.
Up next? A date with 7-0 Arizona Thursday night in Glendale after the Cardinals overcame a slow start to roll past Houston 31-5 with quarterback Kyler Murray throwing four touchdown passes.
