NASHVILLE - Sunday afternoon the Packers had an opportunity to knock off the Tennessee Titans from their perch as the NFL's lone unbeaten team, but it was their struggles on offense in the red zone and the inability to come up with one more defensive stop when they needed it most that cost the Packers in a 19-16 overtime loss at Tennessee.
The loss dropped the Packers to 4-4 on the season, one game behind the division-leading Chicago Bears (5-3), who came back from a 23-13 halftime deficit to beat Detroit 27-23 on Sunday. The Minnesota Vikings (4-4), who beat Houston on Sunday, are tied with Green Bay as the Packers now look ahead to a trip to Minnesota next weekend.
"We didn't perform well enough at the end to win the game," Head Coach Mike McCarthy said. "I thought it was a hard-fought football game. They made some plays in the two-minute drill for the first attempt. The second attempt we didn't stop the run."
The first attempt was Titans kicker Rob Bironas' 47-yard field goal try as time expired in regulation that went off of the right upright, giving the Packers new life as the game headed into overtime.
Tennessee won the coin toss in overtime and took over at their 22-yard line. Facing a 3rd-and-6, quarterback Kerry Collins connected on a short pass with rookie running back Chris Johnson in the right flat, and Johnson took the catch 16 yards for a first down out to Tennessee's 42.
Johnson picked up 14 yards off right guard on the next play to move the ball into Green Bay territory, and running back LenDale White converted a 3rd-and-4 on the Packers 38 with a seven-yard pickup. After two more runs from Johnson generated eight yards, Bironas didn't miss on his second chance, connecting on a 41-yarder to give the Titans the win.
"The one thing you take away from that is we had our opportunities to win the game," cornerback Charles Woodson said. "Those last 10 minutes we had an opportunity and we didn't take advantage of it."
The defense limited Collins to a 62.9 passer rating as he completed just 18-of-37 passes for 180 yards, but Johnson, who entered Sunday's game as the AFC's leading rusher, posted 161 yards of total offense (89 rushing, 72 receiving).
"The young guy is pretty good," Woodson said. "He made some people miss on a couple of runs and got extra yards. A lot of times guys aren't as quick or fast as they look on film, and he was every bit as quick and fast and very elusive. He can start and stop as quickly as anybody I have seen."
The Packers' opportunity to break the 16-16 tie came late in the fourth quarter. Taking over at their own 18 with 4:24 remaining, quarterback Aaron Rodgers connected with wide receiver Donald Driver twice for 31 yards, the second pass a 20-yarder down to Tennessee's 45.
After incomplete passes on first and second down, Rodgers' short pass over the middle to running back Brandon Jackson went for just two yards, forcing the Packers to punt from the Tennessee 43 rather than go for it on 4th-and-8 with two minutes remaining.
"The mark was the 40-yard line," McCarthy said. "I think we were at the 42-, 43-yard line. I was disappointed in the third-down production frankly based on the defense they had called and the play we had called.
"So my initial thought was to go for it, but I didn't really like the time left on the clock at that point in the game, so the decision was to punt. We had them backed up to the 8. I still think it was the right decision."
Green Bay had tied the game at 16 one possession earlier on a 38-yard field goal from Mason Crosby that capped a seven-play, 51-yard drive highlighted by a 29-yard Driver reception. Driver finished the day with a season-high seven grabs for 136 yards, including a 5-yard touchdown catch.
Crosby's game-tying kick was his third field goal of the day, an all too familiar ending to Green Bay's drives against a physical Titans defense. The Packers entered the game ranked fifth in the NFC in red-zone efficiency with a 57.6 touchdown percentage, but got in the end zone only once on four trips inside the 20 on Sunday.
"The things we talked about earlier in the week we didn't do," Rodgers said. "We needed to score seven when we got in the red zone. We didn't do that. We needed to protect the ball, and I had two turnovers, so obviously that wasn't accomplished.
"It was disappointing the way I played. I felt like our defense played well enough to win, but I just didn't make enough plays and turned the ball over twice."
{sportsad300}Rodgers finished the afternoon with a 76.7 passer rating, his second lowest in a game this season, completing 22-of-41 passes for 314 yards and a touchdown.
Rodgers' two turnovers came on back-to-back possessions in the third quarter, the first coming when he tried to hit wide receiver Greg Jennings for a 35-yard score but was picked off in the end zone by safety Chris Hope. On the next series Rodgers fumbled after being sacked by Titans DE Jacob Ford, a takeaway Tennessee turned into three points.
"I felt like we had a great game plan and we were very aggressive," Rodgers said. "I didn't throw the ball as well as I wanted to. My resolve is strong and I'll be ready to come back next week and play a big game against the Vikings."
Sitting at .500 at the season's midway point with divisional games the next two weeks at Minnesota and vs. Chicago, the Packers realize the sense of urgency that is needed if they hope to reach the goals set at the beginning of the season.
"The reality of it is we are 4-4," Woodson said. "We felt like we had some games early on that we could have won and didn't win. Today we had opportunities and didn't win, so what you take from that is that close ain't good enough and we've got to get better.
"This long stretch until the end of the season, being able to make the playoffs, we've got to come up with some wins late in the game."
