AARON RODGERS (14 of 30 for 218 yards, 4 touchdown passes, and 1 interception) really showed in this game how valuable he is to the Packers as he used just about every trick in the book to help his team pull out a 31-17 victory over a feisty Arizona Cardinals team at Lambeau Field. Also, in this game they lost three key players to injuries in star outside linebacker CLAY MATTHEWS JR. (a recurring hamstring injury that came back to bother him in the third quarter), wide receiver JORDY NELSON, and right tackle BRYAN BULAGA. The upcoming bye week will help those three nurse their injuries and help the rest of the Packers rest after what has been a stressful season for them.
Arizona took over at their own 16 yard line after the opening kickoff. This drive didn’t yield much for the Cardinals, as it ended on a MIKE NEAL third down sack of quarterback JOHN SKELTON for a loss of 10 yards back to the Arizona 9 yard line. On the play, Neal went up against Cardinals left tackle DARYN COLLEDGE then he fought off the offensive lineman’s block and dropped the quarterback to force a 4th and 17 punt.
Green Bay received some great real estate with a RANDALL COBB 28 yard punt return to the Cardinals 20 yard line. But the Packers ended up wasting their good fortune with these plays: a 10 yard loss on a fumbled center-quarterback exchange then sack of Rodgers on first down; a JAMES STARKS run for 4 yards (and he was lucky he got those yards because he was hemmed up by Arizona defenders for most of that play); on third down a Rodgers incompletion to Cobb at the Arizona 2 yard line; and kicker MASON CROSBY missed a 44 yard field goal attempt on fourth down. On Arizona’s ensuing drive, Arizona was forced to punt after Skelton threw a sideline incompletion to LARRY FITZGERALD who was blanketed in coverage by inside linebacker BRAD JONES.
Green Bay took over at their own 16 yard line. This drive was one of the Packers’ better offensive drives of the game. Rodgers had one of the key plays of the drive with a 25 yard run near the middle of the field that was aided by good blocking and spread out pass coverage by the Cardinal defense. Then running back ALEX GREEN gained 21 yards down the left side with a stiff arm by him near the end of the run. Later in this drive though, the Packers lost Nelson to a right ankle injury that was heavily wrapped by the team trainers/doctors. Then later, the Packers were assessed a false start penalty on tight end JERMICHAEL FINLEY in scoring territory. But Rodgers came back like the true leader and star that he is, with a 13 yard touchdown strike to Cobb who was touched twice by defenders but he kept on moving until he got near the back of the end zone. With Crosby’s good extra point, it was now 7-0 Green Bay.
After that Packer score, Arizona took over at their own 20 yard line. On 3rd and 8 and from the Cardinals 42 yard line, Skelton with a Packer blitz coming from just about everywhere around him, floated a deep down the field pass to Fitzgerald (versus double coverage from safety M.D. JENNINGS and cornerback TRAMON WILLIAMS) that was incomplete. The Cardinals were forced to punt.
Early in the second quarter and from their own 17, Green Bay took over. But this drive ended due to a spectacular interception by Arizona cornerback WILLIAM GAY, who saw Cobb struggling to catch Rodgers’ pass so Gay proceeded to fall on top of Cobb and snatch the ball away from the receiver near midfield. Arizona took advantage of Gay’s turnover as they had a 41 yard ANDRE ROBERTS (4 catches for 86 yards) reception to the Green Bay 2 yard line that later led to a LAROD STEPHENS-HOWLING (17 carries for 51 yards and 1 score) 1 yard touchdown run to the right corner of the end zone in which he fought off a tackle and then beat linebacker Jones in a foot race to the end zone. With Jay Feely’s extra point it was now tied at 7-7.
Green Bay answered that score with one of their own. But first, understand what Green Bay went through on this drive to get said score. Their starting right tackle Bulaga left the game for good with a combination hip/ankle injury early in the drive. But Cobb gave the Packers some great news with a 21 yard touchdown pass versus Gay. On the play, Cobb fought off Gay’s coverage and sped past the cornerback and into the end zone with outstretched hands to catch Rodgers’ pass near the back of the end zone. It was now 14-7 Green Bay. This would be a lead that the Packers would not relinquish for the rest of the game. Later and after the 2 minute warning of the second quarter, Rodgers fired a 28 yard touchdown pass to receiver JAMES JONES to take an eventual 21-7 lead.
With 13:16 left in the third quarter, Crosby atoned for his earlier missed field goal with a 33 yard successful attempt to give his team a 24-7 lead. At the 12:14 mark of the third quarter, Green Bay took over at midfield after a Cardinal punt. But this drive ended on a Rodgers incompletion on third down.
The Cardinals took over at their own 13 yard line after a TIM MASTHAY punt. In an 8-play 87 yard drive drive that took 2 minutes and 55 seconds, Fitzgerald ended the drive with a 31 yard touchdown catch. On the play he caught Skelton’s pass and remained focused on scoring as he never let a Packer defender get a good hit on him and keep him out of the end zone, as he fell forward from around the 2 yard line and extended the ball into the end zone with his long arms. His score and Feely’s extra point put Arizona down by ten points.
Then with less than a minute left in the third, Feely booted a 20 yard field goal to get Arizona within seven points of the Packers. But that would be the closest the Cardinals would get as the Packers were on their way to putting this game away.
Packers tight end TOM CRABTREE made the biggest and longest play of his career and it couldn’t have come at a better time. With mere seconds left in the third quarter and amid a possible momentum shift and comeback attempt by Arizona, the third-year tight end out of Miami of Ohio beat linebacker PARIS LENON (the defender responsible for covering him) and then Gay for a 72 yard touchdown reception to put the game away for good at 31-17 with Crosby’s successful extra point kick.
Later and with 9:34 left in the game and from their own 18 yard line, the Packers took over. This drive withered away as on third down, Cobb caught a 6 yard pass that was three yards short of the first down stick. Masthay came in to punt.
With less than 2:40 left in the game, rookie cornerback CASEY HAYWARD knocked away a 4th and 4 Skelton pass that was intended for Roberts, who felt he deserved a pass interference call on the play but the referee(s) didn’t see it that way and it was salt away the clock time for the Green Bay offense.
