The Good, Bad And Ugly From The Green Bay Packers’ Win Over The New England Patriots

Wisconsin sports fans were in the middle of a nightmarish weekend.

First, the University of Wisconsin football team was routed by Illinois Saturday, 34-10. Then the Badgers fired head coach Paul Chryst on Sunday evening.

The Milwaukee Brewers dropped three of four to visiting Miami and now need a miracle to reach the playoffs.

But the Green Bay Packers saved the weekend.

It wasn’t pretty. Not even close.

But the Packers got a 31-yard field goal from veteran Mason Crosby as time expired and edged visiting New England, 27-24, in overtime.

Green Bay improved to 3-1 and is tied with Minnesota for first place in the NFC North. New England fell to 1-3.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly from the Patriots’ win over the Packers.

THE GOOD

RASHAN GARY: Green Bay’s fourth year outside linebacker has developed into one of the elite defensive players in football. And don’t be shocked if Gary winds up in the hunt for NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors.

Gary finished the night with two sacks, two quarterback hits and one tackle for loss. He now has five sacks in the Packers’ first four games.

On Gary’s first sack, he knocked New England starter Brian Hoyer from the game with a concussion. On Gary’s second sack, he stripped Patriots’ backup quarterback Bailey Zappe and recovered the loose ball.

“I’m just trying to impact the game as many ways as I can and be a help for this team,” Gary said last week.

It’s working.

RUSHING OFFENSE: Green Bay’s rushing offense continues to be its bread and butter and one of the NFL’s best.

The Packers entered the day ninth in the league in rushing offense (127.0) and 10^th in the league in yards per carry (4.7). Green Bay took those numbers up a notch, rushing for 199 yards on 35 carries against New England (5.7 per carry).

Aaron Jones ran for 110 yards on just 16 carries — an average of 6.9 yards per attempt. AJ Dillon also carried 17 times for 73 yards (4.3).

And on a day when Green Bay’s passing offense was subpar, the run game made the offense go.

ROBERT TONYAN: Welcome back Robert Tonyan!

OK, Tonyan — who suffered an ACL team in Week 8 last season — has actually played the first three games. But his impact was minimal, and he was averaging just 7.6 yards on his 11 receptions.

But Tonyan made his most impactful play of the season Sunday, when he caught a 20-yard touchdown to give Green Bay a 14-10 lead in the third quarter.

Tonyan lined up in the right slot and got a free release. He worked behind a linebacker, then Tonyan sat down in front of the safeties and hauled in a strike from Rodgers.

“He’s worked his tail off just to get back and play in the opening game,” Packers tight ends coach John Dunn said of Tonyan. “I think with him, this is a sport where you have to play to get better at and gain confidence and so for him, who obviously missed the offseason and a bit of training camp, every time he’s out there he just keeps getting more and more and more confidence in his play, in his body.

“So for him, I think he’s starting to settle in in terms of just getting back, because it takes reps, right? It takes reps to get back in the flow, get on the same page, get your stamina back to being in football shape. So, every day he’s out there, he keeps getting more and more comfortable.”

No. 500: Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw the 500^th touchdown of his career with 6:14 left in the game. Rodgers fired a 13-yard strike to rookie Romeo Doubs that tied the game, 24-24.

Rodgers is now in fifth place in NFL history. Tom Brady leads all quarterbacks with 713 touchdowns, followed by Drew Brees (608), Peyton Manning (579) and Brett Favre (552).

THIS AND THAT: Wideout Allen Lazard had a big game, catching six passes for 116 yards. … Left tackle David Bakhtiari, who suffered a torn ACL in 2020 and played just one game last season, made his 2022 debut last week and split time with Yosh Nijman. This week, Bakhtiari handled almost all of the work, sitting out just one series. … Romeo Doubs has caught touchdowns in back-to-back weeks, making him Green Bay’s first rookie receiver to do that since Greg Jennings in 2006. … Wideout Christian Watson had a 15-yard rushing touchdown. According to ESPN, that was the first rushing touchdown by a Green Bay wide receiver since 2016.

THE BAD

BUTTER FINGERS: In Week 3, rookie wide receiver Romeo Doubs fumbled on his first reception. Fortunately for Doubs, he recovered and the Packers eventually drove for a touchdown.

On Sunday, Doubs again fumbled on his first reception, only this time New England’s Jack Jones recovered.

Then late in regulation, Doubs had his man beat and had a chance to haul in a game-winning 40-yard touchdown. Instead, Doubs lost the ball as he went to the ground and the game went to overtime.

“Some good plays, some great plays, some bad, ugly plays,” Doubs said last week. “It’s just being able to progress and fix whatever it is not just myself but everyone needs to work on.”

Doubs is a gifted young player with an extremely bright future. But his hands and ball security must improve if he’s going to become a true No. 1 receiver.

RUN DEFENSE: Wash, rinse, repeat.

Green Bay’s run defense has been a problem throughout Matt LaFleur’s first four seasons. And Sunday was no different.

The Patriots were down to No. 3 quarterback Bailey Zappe, a rookie fourth round draft pick who had never taken an NFL snap. It became obvious quickly that New England was going to lean heavily on its run game.

Still, the Packers had no answers.

New England ran the ball 33 times for 167 yards, a whopping 5.1 average. Speedy Damien Harris had 18 carries for 86 yards and a touchdown, while Rhamondre Stevenson had 14 carries for 66 yards.

“Both of them can do everything,” Packers safety Adrian Amos said before the game. “They’ve got good vision and they’ve both been playing really well. We’ve got to stop the run early.”

They didn’t. And they didn’t stop it late.

And it led to worlds of problems throughout.

OPENING DRIVES: Green Bay’s first four foes have all scored on their opening possession.

Minnesota and Chicago scored touchdowns on their opening drives in Weeks 1 and 2. In the last two weeks, Tampa Bay and New England drove for field goals on their first possessions.

Green Bay defensive coordinator Joe Barry needs to figure out a way to get his unit to start games faster.

THIS AND THAT: Bailey Zappe, New England’s No. 3 quarterback, wasn’t unnerved by playing in Lambeau Field. Zappe completed 10-of-15 passes for 99 yards, threw a touchdown and had a quarterback rating of 107.4. … Packers safety Adrian Amos left the game in the first quarter and was evaluated for a safety. He didn’t return. … Green Bay lost the turnover battle, 2-0.

THE UGLY

PICK SIX: The Packers led, 7-3, with just 13 seconds left in the first half. Green Bay had a third-and-9 from its own 32 and Rodgers threw for Allen Lazard on the right sideline.

Just one problem: Patriots cornerback Jack Jones seemed to know the route better than Lazard.

Jones jumped the route, intercepted Rodgers, then raced 40 yards untouched for a score to give New England a 10-7 lead at the break.

That marked just the fourth time Rodgers has thrown a pick-six. The last one came at Tampa Bay in Week 6 of 2020.

That was part of a brutal first half for Rodgers, who completed just 4-of-11 passes for 44 yards and had a quarterback rating of 11.2.

“That sh—happens,” Rodgers said after throwing his last pick-six. “It’s part of the, I haven’t had a lot of those over the years.”

No he hasn’t — but Sunday’s was a killer.