The Green Bay Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football by a final score of 38-28. The game was not truly that close, as the Packers’ defense R-E-L-A-X-E-D a little before the final whistle, letting Kansas City score twice in the fourth quarter. Here are my takeaways from the game.
The Good: Every Single Skill Position on Offense
The Packers’ offense played an exceptional game, scoring five touchdowns. All came from the arm of Aaron Rodgers, who completed 24 of his 35 passes for 333 yards and five touchdowns. Both James Jones and Randall Cobb caught seven passes, Jones for 139 yards and Cobb for another 91. Three of Cobb’s receptions were for touchdowns, and Jones scored as well. The final touchdown came from rookie Ty Montgomery, who also returned 2 kicks for 64 yards and continues to impress early in his NFL career.
Jones also caught the longest reception of the game for the Packers, a 52-yard catch-and-run on a free play. Rodgers induced at least four penalties in the game on the defense, twice inducing Kansas City to jump offsides, and twice catching them with 12 men on the field. He was masterful.
While it took a backseat to the passing game, the Packers’ backfield and running game also played well. On a total of 32 carries the Packers gained 123 yards, led by Eddie Lacy (10 carries for 46 yards). Lacy also caught 3 passes for another 41 yards. James Starks, who had a somewhat tough day on the ground, had a 19-yard reception.
The Bad: the Pass Rush and Sam Shields
Not bad, but bad, if you know what I mean. There is not much to criticize the Packers for in this game, other than the late-game let-up and the continued poor play of the teams’ offensive tackles. But after such a nice performance, I prefer to be positive.
So today, the Bad is also the Good. The Packers sacked Alex Smith 7 times (Clay Matthews 2, Mike Daniels 1.5, Jayrone Elliot 1, Joe Thomas 1, Nick Perry 1, Mike Neal .5), and had another 8 quarterback hits. They also pressured Smith continually, and one such pressure caused Smith to make a bad throw that was intercepted by Sam Shields. Shields also had a nice stuff on a run play, six tackles, and another pass defensed, a welcome sign for Packer fans hoping he will play up to his contract price.