Two of the hottest teams in the NFL met on Sunday, and the Green Bay Packers came out victorious, with a 26-21 win over the New England Patriots. This ended the Patriots’ 7-game winning streak, after a 2-2 start to the season.
Two of the top quarterbacks in the league were featured in this game, Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady. Both had good games, but Rodgers had 368 yards passing to 245 for Brady. They both had 2 touchdowns with no interceptions. In an amazing stat, Rodgers now has 20 touchdown passes, without an interception at home this year, with 2 games remaining. He hasn’t thrown an interception at home since December 2, 2012.
The Packers led the whole way in this game, jumping out to an early 13-0 lead. Then they scored a touchdown with 14 seconds left in the 2nd quarter on a 45-yard catch and run by Jordy Nelson, to push their halftime lead to 23-14. Green Bay held off a late Patriot charge to preserve the win.
The defense for the Packers has been improving since they started moving around linebacker Clay Matthews. Normally an outside linebacker, he was moved to the inside to help against the run in their 55-14 beatdown of the Chicago Bears 3 weeks ago. He has been moving around in the defense ever since then. Their rushing defense has improved dramatically since the change. The Patriots only rushed for 84 yards in the game, while the Packers had 130.
Even after the loss, New England is still the #1 seed in the AFC playoffs, because they have the tie-breaker over the other 3 division leaders, since they beat them all head-to-head. The Packers are the #2 seed in the NFC now, tied with the Arizona Cardinals but with a worse conference record. The Cardinals have lost 2 games in a row though, losing 29-18 on Sunday to the 5-7 Atlanta Falcons.
So now the best record in the NFL is 9-3, with 5 teams having that record. In addition to the Packers, Cardinals, and Patriots, the Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos are also 9-3. Obviously nothing has been decided yet, with 4 games to go. The largest lead in any division is the AFC South, where the 8-4 Indianapolis Colts lead the 6-6 Tennessee Titans by only 2 games.
Right now, the division leaders in the NFC are the Cardinals, Packers, Eagles, and the Falcons, with the Seattle Seahawks and the Detroit Lions earning the 2 wild card spots. The Dallas Cowboys are tied with the Seahawks and Lions at 8-4, but have a worse conference record, so they are presently on the outside looking in.
In the AFC, the Patriots, Broncos, 8-3-1 Cincinnati Bengals, and the Colts are division leaders, with the 8-4 San Diego Chargers and the 7-5 Kansas City Chiefs currently holding down the wild cards. The Chiefs hold an edge in the complicated tie breaker between them and 4 other teams.
On Sunday the game between the Packers and Patriots was billed as a Super Bowl Preview, and that might end up being correct. In fact, I think they will meet again in Super Bowl XLIX. The Packers are 8-1 since a 1-2 start, and the Patriots just lost for the first time in 8 games. Barring major injuries, these 2 teams will be in the Super Bowl.
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