Green Bay Packers 27 Miami Dolphins 24; Rodgers leads winning drive

The Green Bay Packers traveled to South Beach to take on the Miami Dolphins Sunday … and found themselves in a slugfest – right down to the bitter end.

But if there’s one thing for certain, the Dolphins now know you don’t give the ball to Aaron Rodgers with two minutes remaining.

All he did was take the Packers 60 yards in 11 plays and capped it with a 6-yard touchdown pass to tight end for the winning score with 3 ticks left on the clock.

All he did was take the Packers 60 yards in 11 plays and capped it with a 6-yard touchdown pass to tight end for the winning score with 3 ticks left on the clock.

But there was so much more to the drive. It featured crucial first down conversions, especially a fourth and 10 conversion to Jordy Nelson that took the wind out of the Dolphins' defense and a tailwind for the Packers offense.

In this back and forth affair that featured good and bad defense on both sides of the ball, the Dolphins went 80, 80 and 79 yards on three straight second half possessions to take a 24-17 lead on the Packers with 9:13  left in the game.

That was after the Packers' defense held Miami to just 87 yards in the first half.

Green Bay Packers cornerback Tramon Williams went out of today's game with an injury to his ankle. Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports photograph

The Packers demise on the defensive side of the ball was tied directly to injuries suffered by Tramon Williams and Sam Shields on consecutive plays. Both left the game and didn't return, leaving the corners manned by Davon House and Casey Hayward.

But despite losing those two crucial defenders, the Packers weren't about to go away. On their crucial next drive it started slowly, featuring a 1-yard run by Cobb, and incomplete pass. And then on third down and 10, Rodgers found Jordy Nelson twice, one for 24 yards and the second for 14.

Facing a third and six, Rodgers missed Nelson in the end zone and the Packers had to settle for a Mason Crosby field goal to cut the Dolphins' lead to 24-20.

With the Packers defense reeling in the second half, the Dolphins took possession with four minutes remaining in the game, got one first down and then had to punt to the Packers, who took possession with 2:04 remaining from their own 40 after a nice punt return by Micah Hyde.

With a handoff to James Starks on first down, he rumbled across the midfield stripe for a first down, followed by the two minute warning.

On what was probably the play of the game, Rodgers was tackled at the line of scrimmage and fumbled on third and nine, but the ball was alertly covered by T.J. Lang. It was a huge recovery because it gave Rodgers another shot at Miami's defense and he made them pay.

On fourth and 10, Rodgers with Dolphins in his face, hit Jordy nelson for 18 yards and a first down.

With one minute left, and no time outs, Rodgers was flushed and threw incomplete to Starks.

From the 30 yard line on second down, a low pass to Nelson went incomplete.

Then with 48 seconds left from the 30 Rodgers hit Starks to the 20.

Trickery, planned or not, then occurred as Rodgers, the wizard with the clock running down, faked the spike and hit Davante Adams on the right side. Adams thn pieced up needed yardage by taking the ball to the 5 yard line with 6 seconds left.

That's when Rodgers hit Quarless in the front right corner of the end zone for the game-winning touchdown.

The Packers came out firing on their first possession, going 80 yards for a touchdown; but on the flip side, the Packers special teams gave up a blocked punt by the Dolphins, followed by one of the biggest defensive stops by the Packers. Their goal line stand after that first quarter special teams miscue was one of the most impressive in years and played a huge role in the final score.

Some of today's highlights

Oct 12, 2014; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Miami Dolphins cornerback Cortland Finnegan (24) tries to bring down Green Bay Packers wide receiver Davante Adams (17) at Sun Life Stadium. Green Bay defeated Miami 27-24. Mandatory Credit: Brad Barr-USA TODAY Sports

• It was again a tale of two halves for the Packers defense - most likely tied to the losses of Williams and Shields. The first half Miami offense was held to just 87 yards; but that was before the Dolphins went crazy in the third and through the middle of the fourth quarter. In all, Green Bay gave up 336 yards, but were stout, for the most part, against the Dolphins vaunted rush game. The Packers gave up 112 yards on the ground - well below their 160-yards per-game average.

• Davante Adams has a career game, cementing his place as the third Packers receiver. Much like Jarrett Boykin did last year, the rookie is stepping up today as he steps in for, ironically, Boykin. Adams had 6 catches for 77 yards, including that reception inside of 10 second that moved the ball to the Dolphins' six yard line.

• Rodgers continued his stellar play against a tough Dolphins defense, making so many big plays it's tough to point to one as the best. He was 24-of-42 fir 264 yards (6.3 yards per-pass), and three touchdowns.

• Jordy Nelson - what can you say more about the Packers' clutch receiver? He had nine catches (on 16 targets) for 107 yards and one touchdown. It was the consecutive passes he caught for first downs were a couple of today's highlights.

• For the first time in recent memory, the Packers dominated time of possession, maintaining control, 37:12 to Miami's 22:48. However, in the first half and most of the second half they couldn't take advantage.

• Both Casey Hayward and Sam Shields came up with big third down interceptions in the first half, but the Packers could only get three points out of them.

Game statistics

Scoring Summary

Drive info: 9 plays, 80 yds, 4:51

70FG8:15

Made 48 Yrd Field Goal

Drive info: 6 plays, 20 yds, 1:54

73SECOND QUARTERGBMIAFG8:08Mason Crosby Made 43 Yrd Field Goal

Drive info: 6 plays, 11 yds, 3:49

103THIRD QUARTERGBMIATD11:48

Pass From

for 11 Yrds , Caleb Sturgis Made Ex. Pt

Drive info: 5 plays, 80 yds, 3:12

1010TD3:44

Pass From Aaron Rodgers for 5 Yrds , Mason Crosby Made Ex. Pt

Drive info: 13 plays, 80 yds, 8:04

1710FOURTH QUARTERGBMIATD13:42

5 Yard Rush , Caleb Sturgis Made Ex. Pt

Drive info: 10 plays, 80 yds, 5:02

1717TD9:13

Pass From Ryan Tannehill for 5 Yrds, Caleb Sturgis Made Ex. Pt

Drive info: 6 plays, 79 yds, 3:21

1724FG4:09Mason Crosby Made 30 Yrd Field Goal

Drive info: 11 plays, 68 yds, 5:04

2024TD0:03

Pass From Aaron Rodgers for 4 Yrds , Mason Crosby Made Ex. Pt

Drive info: 11 plays, 60 yds, 2:01

2724

Team Stat Comparison

GB

MIA

1st Downs

27

19

Passing 1st downs

17

12

Rushing 1st downs

8

5

1st downs from penalties

2

2

3rd down efficiency

8-17

4-10

4th down efficiency

1-1

0-1

Total Plays

79

55

Total Yards

369

336

Yards per play

4.7

6.1

Total Drives

11

11

Passing

248

224

Comp-Att

24-42

20-31

Yards per pass

5.5

7.0

Interceptions thrown

0

2

Sacks-Yards Lost

3-16

1-7

Rushing

121

112

Rushing Attempts

34

23

Yards per rush

3.6

4.9

Red Zone (Made-Att)

3-5

3-4

Penalties

4-44

5-25

Turnovers

0

3

Fumbles lost

0

1

Interceptions thrown

0

2

Defensive / Special Teams TDs

0

0

Possession

37:12

22:48

Green Bay Passing

C/ATT

YDS

AVG

TD

INT

SACKS

QBR

RTG

24/42

264

6.3

3

0

3-16

--

99.7

Team

24/42

248

5.5

3

0

3-16

--

--

Miami Passing

C/ATT

YDS

AVG

TD

INT

SACKS

QBR

RTG

20/31

231

7.5

2

2

1-7

--

81.5

Team

20/31

224

7.0

2

2

1-7

--

--

Green Bay Rushing

CAR

YDS

AVG

TD

LG

14

40

2.9

0

10

7

34

4.9

0

9

8

31

3.9

0

12

4

15

3.8

0

5

1

1

1.0

0

1

Team

34

121

3.6

0

12

Miami Rushing

CAR

YDS

AVG

TD

LG

14

53

3.8

1

14

3

49

16.3

0

40

6

10

1.7

0

5

Team

23

112

4.9

1

40

Green Bay Receiving

REC

YDS

AVG

TD

LG

TGTS

9

107

11.9

1

22

16

6

77

12.8

0

24

8

5

58

11.6

1

28

7

2

11

5.5

0

10

5

2

11

5.5

1

7

5

Team

24

264

11.0

3

28

41

Miami Receiving

REC

YDS

AVG

TD

LG

TGTS

6

75

12.5

1

21

8

5

67

13.4

1

25

9

3

40

13.3

0

20

3

3

35

11.7

0

14

5

1

14

14.0

0

14

1

1

8

8.0

0

8

1

1

5

5.0

0

5

2

0

0

0.0

0

0

2

Team

20

244

12.2

2

25

31

Green Bay Fumbles

FUM

LOST

REC

1

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

1

Team

1

0

2

Miami Fumbles

FUM

LOST

REC

1

1

0

Team

1

1

0

Green Bay Defensive

TACKLES

MISC

TOT

SOLO

SACKS

TFL

PD

QB HTS

TD

7

7

0

1

1

0

0

6

6

0

0

0

0

0

4

4

0

1

0

1

0

4

4

0

1

0

0

0

3

3

0

0

0

0

0

2

2

0

0

1

0

0

2

2

0

0

0

0

0

2

2

0

0

0

0

0

2

2

0

0

0

1

0

2

2

0

0

1

0

0

2

2

0

0

0

0

0

1

1

1

1

0

1

0

1

1

0

1

1

0

0

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

1

0

Team

43

43

1

5

6

4

0

Miami Defensive

TACKLES

MISC

TOT

SOLO

SACKS

TFL

PD

QB HTS

TD

9

9

0

0

1

0

0

9

8

0

0

0

1

0

7

7

0

0

1

0

0

7

5

1.5

2

0

1

0

6

6

0

0

1

0

0

6

3

0

0

0

0

0

4

1

0

0

1

0

0

3

2

1.5

1

0

3

0

3

2

0

0

0

1

0

2

2

0

1

0

0

0

2

2

0

0

0

0

0

2

2

0

0

0

0

0

1

1

0

1

0

0

0

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

1

1

0

0

2

0

0

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

Team

68

56

3

5

6

6

0

Green Bay Interceptions

INT

YDS

TD

1

10

0

1

0

0

Team

2

10

0

Miami Interceptions

INT

YDS

TD

No Interceptions

Green Bay Kick Returns

NO

YDS

AVG

LG

TD

1

33

33.0

33

0

Team

1

33

33.0

33

0

Miami Kick Returns

NO

YDS

AVG

LG

TD

2

91

45.5

54

0

Team

2

91

45.5

54

0

Green Bay Punt Returns

NO

YDS

AVG

LG

TD

2

41

20.5

24

0

Team

2

41

20.5

24

0

Miami Punt Returns

NO

YDS

AVG

LG

TD

No Punt Returns

Green Bay Kicking

FG

PCT

LONG

XP

PTS

2/2

100.0

43

3/3

9

Team

2/2

100.0

43

3/3

9

Miami Kicking

FG

PCT

LONG

XP

PTS

1/1

100.0

48

3/3

6

Team

1/1

100.0

48

3/3

6

Green Bay Punting

NO

YDS

AVG

TB

-20

LG

4

172

43.0

1

1

53

Team

5

172

34.4

1

1

53

Miami Punting

NO

YDS

AVG

TB

-20

LG

3

127

42.3

1

0

44

Team

3

127

42.3

1

0

44