Watch the game at home. Check.
Wear my Patriots sweatshirt. Check.
Eat a meal before, not during the game. Check.
Even with everything in place, the outcome was certainly anything but automatic. The journey was rough but the Patriots ultimately prevailed in a nail-biter. This 31-27 victory reaffirmed my
Offense
Brady looked uncomfortable for most of the night. The pass protection broke down a few times and allowed Brady to be sacked 3 times, especially on stunts. Brady was outplayed for most of the game by Matt Flynn, a 3rd-year backup QB making his first NFL start for the injured Aaron Rodgers. Brady finished 15-24 passing for only 163 yards but added 2 TDs and 0 INTs. Brady's streak of most-passes-without-an-INT almost nearly ended on two separate occasions but the Packers could not hang on.
Generally speaking the offense struggled to sustain drives to help bail out the depleted defense which was gassed. The Pats offense put up only 24 points, with 7 of those set up by a 71-yard return by 313-lbs OL Dan Connolly on a squib kick.
On a good note, the Pats running backs both played pretty well in limited opportunities. BJGE capped their first drive with a long TD run. Branch had a great downfield block knocking over a DB on that play. Woodhead also added some tough yards to keep the chains moving.
Hernandez also had a good game after battling the flu all week. He finished with a pair of TDs, one while scrambling along the goal-line, and the other on an out-pattern.
Edelman once again dropped another pass near the end-zone. He was only targeted once and that number will continue to decrease with that kind of effort each Sunday. When Welker was hurt and everyone rushed to compare Edelman to Welker, the main difference between the two players is Welker is fearless in traffic while Edelman gets alligator-arms when he hears footsteps.
Defense
The defense played horribly. They couldn't stop the run. They couldn't stop the pass. They couldn't get off of the field on 3rd down. They stunk.
The lack of healthy bodies on the defensive line really hurt the team this week and they allowed 143 rushing yards. I don't know what it is about big RBs but no one wanted a piece of FB John Kuhn, especially when he was catching out of the backfield.
The defense allowed Matt Flynn to throw for 251 yards, 3 TDs (1 INT) and amass a 100.2 passer rating in his first NFL start! The Patriots were lucky to come away with a victory thanks in part to Flynn's lack of experience with managing the clock on their final drive.
The Pats continue to struggle on 3rd downs and had trouble getting off of the field. The time of possession was heavily skewed in the Packers favor, 41 minutes to only 19 minutes.
Banta-Cain has seen limited playing time lately and he is clearly the 3rd OLB on the depth chart. He failed to set the edge several times which resulted in long runs. However, he got a timely sack on Flynn which caused a fumble to end the game.
Another player with a reduced role has been S Meriweather. He didn't help himself by taking a horrible angle on a 66-yard TD to James Jones and knocked his own teammate McCourty down in the process.
Despite how poorly the unit played, two player's performances stood out to me. Arrington returned an INT 32-yards for a TD after breaking several tackles. Wilfork had to play extended minutes due to injuries on the defensive line and continued to be a disruptive force in the middle.
Special Teams
The Pats displayed horrible situational awareness by allowing the Packers to recover an onside kick to start the game. This is the second time this has happened this year and they need to be more prepared for that.
OL Dan Connolly made the play of the game returning a squib kick 71-yards all the way to the Packer's 4-yard line late in the first half. After catching the ball, Connolly started running while shielding the ball with both arms. Then he picked up a few blocks and saw some daylight so he started racing down the left sideline while holding the ball in a headlock. He stiff-armed a defender and even tried a cut-back move. It was probably one of the funniest plays I have ever seen.
Other Thoughts
The officiating by Ed Hochuli and crew was notably bad in this game. I felt they bailed out the Packers a few times which extended a few scoring drives. Wilfork was flagged for a horrible facemask penalty but the refs missed that Wilfork was held on the play. McCourty was penalized for a bogus helmet-to-helmet hit though he actually hit the receiver's chest with his arm and shoulder before their helmets made contact. Also, the refs did not initially throw the flag as the play happened but only threw the flag after delaying the game to huddle up and watch the replays on the Jumbotron. Late in the game, Banta-Cain was flagged for illegal-hands-to-the-face which negated the game-sealing INT. Again the refs missed the OL also holding Banta-Cain's facemask.
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