GREEN BAY – The Packers improved to 3-1 with a hard-fought 23-16 victory over the Giants on Sunday night at Lambeau Field.
It wasn't pretty at times, but Green Bay got the job done. The defense didn't allow a touchdown for the first 57 minutes of the game, holding Giants QB Eli Manning to 18-of-35 for 199 yards with just one score. Giants WR Odell Beckham Jr. had five catches for 56 yards and New York's only TD.
For the Packers, QB Aaron Rodgers finished 23-of-45 for 259 yards with two TDs and two INTs. WR Randall Cobb had nine catches for 108 yards, while WR Davante Adams added five receptions for 85 yards with a score. WR Jordy Nelson caught his fifth TD pass of the season amongst four catches for 38 yards, and RB Eddie Lacy had 11 carries for 81 yards before leaving in the second half with an ankle injury.
Here's a quarter-by-quarter recap of the action.
Fourth quarter:
The Packers restored their two-score lead on a 33-yard Mason Crosby field goal on the fourth snap of the fourth quarter. After reaching the New York 23, the Packers could only get to the 15 and settled for three points to make it 20-9 with 13:46 to go.
Green Bay's defense answered with another stop, after allowing a 14-yard run by RB Bobby Rainey. CB Quinten Rollins broke up a pass intended for WR Victor Cruz, and LB Joe Thomas deflected a third-down throw, forcing the Giants to punt.
A crucial play by WR Randall Cobb kept the Packers in control. On third-and-9 from the Green Bay 21, Cobb caught a short pass and then broke multiple tackles, throwing in a spin move as well for a 17-yard gain and a big first down. Passes of 12 and 17 yards to WR Jordy Nelson kept the Packers moving, and a 10-yard completion to WR Davante Adams on second-and-11 set up third-and-1 from the New York 23.
FB Aaron Ripkowski bulled up the middle for the first down, and his offensive mates pushed the pile all the way to the 10-yard line for a 13-yard pickup. The drive stalled there, though, as TE Richard Rodgers wasn't able to haul in a potential TD pass on second-and-goal at the edge of the end zone. Crosby's 25-yard field goal make it 23-9 Packers with 6:39 to go.
The Giants got moving again on a 13-yard pass to TE Jerell Adams, a 10-yard pass to TE Will Tye and a 9-yard reception by Rainey. A 14-yard pass to Adams got New York into the red zone, and two plays later, WR Odell Beckham Jr. caught an 8-yard TD pass in the back of the end zone with a tip-toe move to get the Giants within one score. The play was reviewed and the TD call upheld with no definitive view of Beckham being out of bounds.
K Josh Brown's PAT made it 23-16 Packers with 2:54 left.
The Packers nearly fumbled the ball away, as RB James Starks lost the handle after a short reception, but Green Bay recovered. On third-and-10, Rodgers found Cobb for the first down, but Cobb took a wicked hit from Giants S Landon Collins and was slow to get up. He walked off under his own power, and the Packers kneeled out the win.
Third quarter:
The Giants closed to within one score at the end of three quarters, pulling within 17-9 of the Packers on Sunday night at Lambeau Field.
The Packers' defense began the third quarter with a stop. A tackle for loss against the run and a second-down sack by LB Clay Matthews led to a Giants punt.
Green Bay went three-and-out, though, and P Jake Schum's 32-yard punt gave New York the ball back near midfield.
The Giants were threatening after passes of 18 yards to RB Bobby Rainey and 13 yards to RB Paul Perkins. Packers LB Nick Perry sacked QB Eli Manning on first down from the 11, and New York had to settle for a 30-yard field goal by K Josh Brown. That brought the Giants within 17-9 with 5:26 left in the quarter.
The Packers went three-and-out again, and an unsportsmanlike penalty on WR Jeff Janis for going and staying out of bounds on the punt gave the Giants an extra 15 yards of field position and had them starting near midfield again.
Green Bay's defense stood tall, though, as DB Micah Hyde chased down WR Odell Beckham Jr. on an end-around for a 6-yard loss. It appeared Beckham was looking downfield to throw the ball, but he didn't and Hyde ran him out. LB Julius Peppers then batted a pass on third down, and the Giants punted.
With RB Eddie Lacy sidelined by an ankle injury, the offense finally got moving as RB James Starks ran for 10 yards and QB Aaron Rodgers found WR Davante Adams for 20 yards over the middle. A 21-yard pass to WR Randall Cobb converted on third down to get the Packers near the red zone as the third quarter expired.
Second quarter:
A Giants turnover and late field goal stretched the Packers' lead to 17-6 at halftime on Sunday night at Lambeau Field.
To start the second quarter, the Packers' defense again allowed one first down but got the stop after that. A tackle for loss by S Ha Ha Clinton-Dix preceded a false start, and the Giants couldn't convert the long yardage.
The Packers went three-and-out, though, with LT David Bakhtiari getting called for a questionable holding penalty on a third-down completion to WR Davante Adams. Two snaps later, P Jake Schum's punt went out of bounds on the New York 45-yard line, just a 33-yard net.
The Giants immediately got into scoring range on a 27-yard pass from QB Eli Manning to TE Will Tye, but the Packers' defense held there. K Josh Brown's 47-yard field goal was good, pulling New York within 7-3 with 8:21 left in the half.
The Packers answered quickly. RB Eddie Lacy broke off a 31-yard run on the first play of the ensuing series, and followed with a 6-yard run. RB James Starks ran for 5 to pick up a first down, and then Rodgers hit Adams on back-to-back plays, first for 9 yards and then for 29 and a TD over CB Michael Hunter. K Mason Crosby's extra point made it 14-3 with 6:01 left in the half.
Green Bay's defense then got its first three-and-out of the game, but the Giants got the ball back when CB Janoris Jenkins got his second interception of the game, this one at the Green Bay 40-yard line.
A 13-yard pass to WR Odell Beckham Jr. moved the chains, but CB Micah Hyde broke up Manning's third-down pass to WR Sterling Shepard. Brown's 41-yard field goal made it 14-6 Packers with 1:51 left in the half.
The Giants' defense responded with a three-and-out, as DT Damon Harrison deflected Rodgers' third-down pass at the line of scrimmage. Schum's low punt was returned by Dwayne Harris to the New York 39.
Then, one play after Manning overthrew a wide open Tye deep over the middle, Packers rookie LB Kyler Fackrell sacked Manning and knocked the ball loose. Fellow rookie DT Kenny Clark recovered, giving Green Bay the ball on the New York 31 with just over a minute left in the half.
The Packers did little with it and brought on Crosby for a 44-yard field goal on the final snap.
First quarter:
The Packers entered the second quarter with a 7-0 lead on Sunday night at Lambeau Field but feel like they should have been ahead by more.
The Packers got on the board on their opening drive. A 4-yard run by FB Aaron Ripkowski and passes of 9 yards to WR Randall Cobb and 7 yards to WR Jordy Nelson all converted third downs.
A 17-yard catch-and-run by Cobb got the offense into the red zone, and then QB Aaron Rodgers scrambled for 11 yards on third-and-10 to make it first-and-goal. Two plays later, Nelson caught 2-yard TD pass, and the Packers had the early lead. The drive consumed 16 plays, 75 yards and 8:42 on the clock.
The Packers allowed one first down, on a 13-yard pass to WR Odell Beckham Jr., before getting the ball back. DT Letroy Guion batted a pass down at the line on second down before QB Eli Manning's third-down pass for WR Tavarres King was wide and out of bounds.
The offense got back to work. RB Eddie Lacy had runs of 12 and 11 yards to start the next drive, and WR Davante Adams gained 17 on a slant. A 13-yard pass to Cobb converted on third-and-2 and then, one play after offsetting penalties wiped out a 21-yard TD pass to Cobb, Rodgers' third-down pass was deflected and intercepted by CB Janoris Jenkins on the final play of the quarter.
