BSJ Game Report: Patriots 31, Packers 17 - Defense stymies Rodgers as Gordon, Patterson pace offense

FOXBOROUGH — Everything you need to know — turning point, second guess, 3 up/3 down and more — from the Patriots’ victory over the Packers in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:

Gamebook

HEADLINES

Patriots' defense rises at crucial time: There have been many instances of spotty play by the Patriots' defense against all types of quarterbacks, but the group saved its best for the best QB on the regular-season schedule in Aaron Rodgers. Not only did the Patriots, who have been terrible against athletic QBs to this point in the season, hold Rodgers to just 8 yards on four carries, but they held him to 259 passing yards, a 55.8 completion percentage and 89.2 passer rating. New England did it with a mix of scheme surprise, coverage and controlled pressure up front. It was, without a doubt, the Pats' best collective performance of the season, and shows they have the ability to hold down a top offense.

Patriots continue to get unexpected offensive contributions: If I told you before the season the Patriots' offense would beat the Packers with Cordarrelle Patterson running the ball out of the backfield (61 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries), and Josh Gordon (then not on the roster) as the leading receiver (130 yards on five receptions), you would have thought I was smoking the newly legal stuff. Well, that's what happened Sunday — plus a 37-yard double-screen pass from Julian Edelman to James White — as Josh McDaniels had some fun on Sunday night with a national television audience watching. That won't hurt his coaching prospects.

Patriots win sixth-straight game: Did that loss in Motown, which dropped the Patriots to 1-2, even happen? Seems like a year or so ago. Since then, the Patriots have won them all and, at 7-2, are in control of at least the No. 2 seed in the AFC. The Patriots have two real games left — home vs. the Vikings, and at the Steelers — and will be heavily favored in the others. It's beginning to look a lot like the postseason in New England.

TURNING POINT

As the game went to the fourth quarter of a 17-17 game, the Packers were driving on the Patriots with the ball at the New England 34-yard line. That's when Packers RB Aaron Jones went for a nice gain of 6 yards on first and 10 … but then he left his feet. While in the air, Patriots DT Lawrence Guy punched the ball out and the Patriots recovered. They went 76 yards in 10 plays to score on a James White touchdown.

The fumble completely changed the game.

“(The Packers’ momentum) stalled after that,” Jones said after the game. “A big part was that fumble. It was my fault."

https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/1059299298964197376

SECOND GUESS

Red-zone blues: He bailed himself out with some nifty playcalling in the fourth quarter, but if the Patriots lost this game, we would have been looking harder at another one of McDaniels' questionable red-zone series of playcalls. The Packers had just tied the game at 17 early in the third quarter, and the Patriots took the ball and marched right down to the Green Bay 1-yard line.

They wouldn't get any closer.

After runs by White and Patterson inched the ball closer, McDaniels called for Brady to sprint out to his right for the second-straight week, which cut down the field the defense had to cover. He threw incomplete. The Patriots decided to go for it (no issue there), but the fourth-down, back-shoulder pass to Gordon never really had a chance.

Run it: Packers running back Aaron Jones had 76 yards on 14 carries (5.4 per carry) and seemed to be picking up big chunks every time he got an opportunity. The Packers, as always, should have run the ball more and kept it away from Brady and Co.

THREE UP

Stephon Gilmore: Limited top Packers receiver Davante Adams to just 40 yards on nine targets, and his touchdown came when Gilmore was switched to someone else. Gilmore dominated Rodgers' favorite target and that had a trickle-down effect.

Josh Gordon: Wasn't the most efficient game with five catches on 10 targets, but the Patriots will take his 130 yards and a touchdown any day.

https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/1059297930773848064

Trey Flowers: Officially he had just a half sack and five tackles, but generated a whole bunch of pressure against Rodgers and did his normal studly work against the ground game. When he's healthy, he's the best player on defense. 

https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/1059300927574667264

TWO DOWN

Jonathan Jones: Seemed to have a good night in coverage, but another special teams penalty  — this one a holding call for 10 yards to ruin great Patriots field position after a Packers punt from their own 4-yard line — was just careless.

The referees: That ejection of Jermaine Whitehead was completely unnecessary and really has no place in the game. If you're going to call roughing the kicker because the force was excessive, then the same bar needs to be cleared for an ejection. Whitehead was a key part of their big nickel game-plan against the Patriots.

INJURIES

RB James White (knee): Returned the game but didn’t quite look 100 percent. Could bear monitoring this week once he comes down from the game-day adrenaline.

TOP PLAYS

https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/1059267334676733953

https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/1059276481950445570

https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/1059296763381608449

TWO TAKES BEDARD WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

Tom Brady wasn't all that great in the QB matchup either: The final stat line — 22 of 35 for 294 yards with one touchdown (99.0 rating) looks good. But Brady and the passing offense struggled for a good portion of this game. New England used the hurry up to dominate on the opening possession. The touchdown before halftime was thanks to 43 yards from Patterson and a 15-yard personal foul penalty. The third score was setup by Edelman's throw to White, and the final touchdown was a great call by McDaniels that setup a wide-open throw to Gordon and had him breaking a tackle. In between, Brady had a career-high seven incompletions in a row. Looked like McDaniels thought he needed to help out his QB (and the inconsistent passing offense) with some trick plays to get it going. It certainly worked.

Packers just make too many mistakes: Whenever the final book is written on the Mike McCarthy era with the Packers (perhaps after this season), they’ll talk about the Super Bowl title, but they’ll also talk about the blown opportunities for other championships thanks to a litany of mind-numbing mistakes by McCarthy’s players. There were at least three tonight — an ejection for retaliating, roughing the punter and Jones’ fumble — but it’s a continuation of the problems that have plagued them in big games continually under his guidance. You can’t make that many crucial mistakes and expect to beat the best teams, like New England. It starts with McCarthy. His teams have constantly been undisciplined in the worst moments.