Rodgers and the Packers aim to take down Brady’s Bunch
In what is probably the marquee matchup of the year in the NFL so far, the Green Bay Packers travel to Foxborough, Massachusetts to take on the New England Patriots on Sunday night.
The Packers are 3-3-1 after that loss to the Rams last Sunday. The Patriots are 6-2 and winners of 5 straight after their 25-6 road win over the Buffalo Bills on Monday night.
All eyes will be on the quarterbacks in this game, and Aaron Rodgers will be making only his second start vs New England. Statistically, the Patriots have the 6th worst pass defense, but that stat is often misleading since they force a lot of teams into shootouts with them and the other teams try to compensate by throwing the ball a lot in order to keep pace with them. Still, I like my chances with Rodgers throwing the ball.
There is a good chance that they may need someone other than Davante Adams to have a big game since the Patriots often try to take away the top receiver and force someone else to beat them. I hope Mike McCarthy finally realizes that Aaron Jones should be the feature back and give him a healthy dose of carries.
Tom Brady has a lot in common with Rodgers and not just because they both wear #12. Like him or not (and I am sure most fans reading this are in the latter category), he is a fierce competitor, even at age 41.
Rob Gronkowski has been battling injuries lately, but when he is out there, he is a matchup nightmare. Do not try to cover this guy with a linebacker. They have several big-play threats in Josh Gordon, Chris Hogan, and Julian Edelman. Sony Michel and former Wisconsin Badger James White make up a lethal running back combination. In other words, they have playmakers up and down this roster on offense. After facing the Rams’ offense last week, it gets no easier this Sunday night.
Packer fans may be familiar with Cordarrelle Patterson from his time with the Vikings. He is an electric returner who returned a 95-yard kickoff for a score a few weeks ago at Chicago. Punter J. K. Scott was having a great year until last week, especially that last punt that set up the go-ahead field goal for the Rams last Sunday. He needs to bounce back because giving Tom Brady a short field is only asking for trouble.
It’s a shame that this matchup doesn’t happen more often, but when it does, there have been some memorable games:
I mentioned that this is the second time Aaron Rodgers has faced the Patriots. The first time was in 2014, when the Packers came out on top 26-21 at Lambeau Field. Each quarterback had 2 touchdown passes and no interceptions, but Rodgers passed for 368 yards while Brady had 245. Davante Adams had 6 receptions for 121 yards, but he was not the #1 receiver at the time. That was Jordy Nelson, who had 2 catches for 53 yards, but one of them went for a 45-yard touchdown. I mentioned before how they try to take away the team’s leading receiver and force someone else to have a big game.
Even though the Packers lost, they had a memorable game in 2010 at Gillette Stadium on Sunday night. Matt Flynn filled in for an injured Aaron Rodgers, who suffered a concussion the week before. Flynn had his hiccups, but he kept the Packers in it until the final play and ultimately came up short 31-27. The Packers would not lose again the remainder of the season and went on to win the Super Bowl. In fact, the final two matchups resulted in the loser of the game going on to win the Super Bowl as the Patriots won it after losing to the Packers in 2014. It almost makes you want to lose this game, although I won’t play with fire that way.
Did you know that the Packers were the first visiting team to win at Gillette Stadium? They did that in 2002, when they won 28-10. Brett Favre had 3 TD passes and no interceptions. William Henderson, Ahman Green, and Bubba Franks hauled in those TD passes. Tom Brady had a TD pass late in the game, but he threw 3 interceptions.
The Packers beat the Patriots 28-10 five years earlier. In 1997 on a Monday night, the Packers outdueled Drew Bledsoe and the Patriots in Foxborough. Pete Carroll was coaching the team at the time. It was a highly-anticipated game after their first meeting earlier that calendar year.
The most famous game between these two franchises happened on January 26, 1997. That game of course was Super Bowl XXXI. After 29 years, the Vince Lombardi Trophy came back to Green Bay after their 35-21 victory at the Superdome in New Orleans. Brett Favre had 2 TD passes, Reggie White had 3 sacks, and Desmond Howard was the Super Bowl MVP. That was the last game that Bill Parcells was New England’s head coach. Bill Belichick was the defensive coordinator at the time.
One of the most debated arguments the last several years in the NFL is who is the better quarterback between Rodgers and Brady? The stats favor Rodgers but the rings favor Brady. While 5 rings is definitely impressive, it doesn’t mean anything as far as who is better. Does that mean that Eli Manning is better than Dan Marino? It would be absurd for anyone to say that. The thing is that both Rodgers and Brady would point to the other QB. Rodgers admits that Brady does have him in the ring department and he can’t top that, while Brady said that Rodgers would put up much better stats as the QB of New England because he is so much more talented than him.
If you look at the stats on paper, most of them would favor Green Bay. However, New England more often than not finds a way whenever they are counted out. You can go all the way back to Super Bowl XXXVI vs the Rams. They were counted out, especially since many thought they didn’t belong there, especially after the “tuck-rule” in their playoff game vs the Oakland Raiders. They ended up defeating the Rams 20-17. In 2004, after playing several players out of position, they hosted the Indianapolis Colts, who had a dynamic offense led by Peyton Manning. This was a great opportunity for Manning to finally get the best of Brady and get that monkey off his back. The Colts were humiliated 20-3. In 2014, the Patriots were destroyed on a Monday night in Kansas City 41-14. That was supposedly the end of the Patriots as we knew them. Belichick would give his now-famous line 5 times in the press conference following the game, “We’re on to Cincinnati.” They would defeat Cincinnati the following week and end up in Super Bowl XLIX, where they would defeat the Seattle Seahawks 28-24, although Seattle basically handed them the game by making one of the all-time boneheaded calls at the 1-yard line in NFL history.
Even this year, the Patriots started out 1-2. Losses to the Jaguars and Lions (especially the Detroit loss) once again brought people out screaming from the mountaintops that the Patriots were finished. Five wins later, including a 43-40 win over the previously undefeated Chiefs, NE proved that they are still in contention. They thrive on proving the doubters wrong.
Does Green Bay stand a chance in this game? How do they bounce back after that heartbreaking loss to the Rams? Will it carry over into this game? The Packers have made a lot of headlines this week, and not only because of the loss to the Rams. They also traded away Ty Montgomery and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. GM Brian Gutekunst insists that they are not giving up on the season. They will find some way at the safety position to make it work. Mike McCarthy knows that the time for winning is now. I expect the team to come out motivated and ready to shock the world. They fell short last week, but they gave themselves a chance until that fumble on the kickoff return. If they play as a team for 60 minutes on Sunday, they have a great chance of coming away with a victory.
Brady once said that he enjoys watching Aaron Rodgers play. Let’s hope he won’t enjoy it too much on Sunday. Let’s get the offense moving and make Brady curse on the sidelines like he did during the game in Green Bay in 2014. It’s time for that signature win in 2018. The time is now. Let’s get it done on Sunday night!
Go Pack Go!
@DieHardPackrFan #DHPF #GregGoshaw @gg901
