FOXBOROUGH — On a night that was billed as a showdown between two great quarterbacks, the Patriots — without Rob Gronkowski, Sony Michel or Shaq Mason — got an offensive boost from Josh Gordon, Cordarrelle Patterson, and the ever-reliable James White on the way to a 31-17 win over the Packers Sunday night at Gillette Stadium.
Tom Brady (22-for-35 for 294 yards, one touchdown) led the offense, but New England couldn’t have beaten Green Bay without the likes of Gordon (five catches, 130 yards, one touchdown) and Patterson (who made another cameo at running back and finished with 11 carries for 61 yards and a rushing touchdown).
And then, there was White, who has emerged time and again as the most dependable part of the Patriots’ offense this year. He appeared to suffer a left knee injury in the first half, but battled through and ended up scoring the go-ahead touchdown in the second half to help give New England its sixth straight win. He finished with 103 yards from scrimmage, including 72 yards receiving.
On the other side of the ball, Aaron Rodgers was able to (mostly) keep his team in the game until midway through the fourth quarter. He ended up 24-for-43 for 259 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
The Patriots jumped to a quick lead with a blazing hot start — a 10-play drive that took just over three minutes and resulted in an 8-yard touchdown run by White. (White had six touches on the 10-play drive.) The two teams then traded field goals before the Packers got their first TD of the night with a 2-yard pass from Rodgers to Davante Adams to knot the game at 10.
Then, Patterson provided an unlikely boost on the ground, churning out some quality yardage out of the backfield and capping a steady drive with a 5-yard touchdown run to make it 17-10 at the half.
Green Bay tied things at the start of the second half when Rodgers found Jimmy Graham on a 15-yard pass play, but the Patriots would take the lead for good early in the fourth. After a couple of busted drives that yielded nothing and had some of the fans booing, the New England offense went up 24-17 with 10:06 left when White plunged in from the one. (The touchdown was set up by a double pass from Julian Edelman a few plays before where he delivered a strike to White, who took it all the way down inside the Green Bay five.)
The Patriots then got all the cushion they would need on the next drive when Brady found Gordon for a 55-yard scoring strike that effectively ended things.
IN-GAME UPDATES
11:30 p.m.: That should do it -- 31-17.
11:22 p.m.: Packers come up short on fourth down. If the Pats can grind one out here with Cordarrelle Patterson between the tackles (ha ha....I can't even believe I wrote that), they can put this thing away.
11:10 p.m.: Annnnd the offense has really woken up. A 55-yard touchdown pass from Brady to Gordon makes it 31-17 with 7:20 left in regulation.
THERE HE GOES.@JOSH_GORDONXII 55-yard touchdown! #GoPats
?: #GBvsNE on NBC pic.twitter.com/Id1KGDVoQ2
— NFL (@NFL) November 5, 2018
A little @Patriots trickeration for you on this fine Sunday evening. #GBvsNE pic.twitter.com/elGZdIAgCf
— SNF on NBC (@SNFonNBC) November 5, 2018
#Packers & #Patriots tied at 17 entering 4th qtr.#AaronRodgers - 244 pass yds, 2 TD, 0 INT, 99.8 passer rtg#TomBrady - 190 pass yds, 0 TD, 0 INT, 75.4 passer rtg
Over last 5 seasons, Rodgers (107.8) & Brady (103.3) rank 2nd & 3rd respectively in 4th qtr passer rtg (500+ att).
— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) November 5, 2018
Patterson made the most of the drive for the Patriots and finished it with a touchdown!
(Via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/9wvWR9ZOVC
— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) November 5, 2018
“In #GBvsNE, Jermaine Whitehead was ejected from the game for striking the head of an opponent. The ejection was confirmed by NY.” -AL pic.twitter.com/zsx0d9chIm
— NFL Officiating (@NFLOfficiating) November 5, 2018
James White 8 yard TD #GoPATS pic.twitter.com/7ezTTo8q6m
— New Account (@ftbeard_17) November 5, 2018
Red Sox roll in on a duck boat. pic.twitter.com/2Yk4fZDJ4n
— Christopher Price (@cpriceNFL) November 5, 2018
