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Opening drive continued positive trend for Packers

Green Bay has scored 11 times on initial possession this season

TE Robert Tonyan
TE Robert Tonyan

GREEN BAY – The Packers have made a habit of scoring on their first drive in 2020, and that continued Saturday night.

In the 24-16 victory over the Panthers, the opening possession started a strong first half and is the Chevy Drive of the Week, covering 81 yards in just seven plays.

An incomplete pass from their own 19-yard line to start things was the only play that didn't go right for the Packers. From there, QB Aaron Rodgers hit RB Aaron Jones for 9 yards on a swing pass, and then Jones followed by busting through a big hole on the right side for a 46-yard run, his third-longest of the season.

Rodgers then hit RB Jamaal Williams for a 12-yard completion before Williams ran for 6 yards to get the ball inside the 10. A pass to TE Robert Tonyan made it first-and-goal on the 1, and Tonyan finished it with a 1-yard TD catch, his 10th score of the season.

Tonyan leads all NFL tight ends in TD receptions this season and is the first Packers tight end to reach double digits since Keith Jackson in 1996. The franchise record for a tight end is 11 TD catches by Paul Coffman in 1983.

The opening TD began a run of three straight touchdowns on offense as the Packers took a 21-3 halftime lead and then hung on for the win.

It marked the 11th time in 14 games Green Bay has scored on its first drive, the most in one season since 2000, when the stat began being tracked, topping the 10 times from 2016. The Packers' 60 total points on opening drives also are the most since 2000, beating the 59 from 2011.

Lambeau Field hosted a Week 15 matchup between the Green Bay Packers and Carolina Panthers on Saturday, Dec. 19, 2020.

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