Why They Won: Green Bay vs. New England

Green Bay Packers wide receiver

Secondary (Receiving) Options

In my fantasy profile article before the game, I made notice of the fact that New England had the players in the secondary to match up against the usual strength of the Green Bay offense: Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb.

I noted that for Green Bay to win they would need other options to step up (and that they would); Wow, did they do so.

With the Revis/Browner+safety combo following Cobb and Nelson, Davante Adams stepped up huge.

He tied Cobb for the team lead in targets (11), while corralling 6 catches for 121 yards in a breakout performance. It would have been even bigger had he not dropped a sure-fire TD on a slant late in the game.

Nov 30, 2014; Green Bay, WI, USA; Green Bay Packers tight end

(89) catches a touchdown pass while covered by New England Patriots safety

(23) in the first quarter at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Outside of Adams we saw contributions also come from the tight end position, where Richard Rodgers broke free for a 32-yard TD catch.

Between him and Andrew Quarless, there were 4 catches for 52 yards and that TD. On its own, that’s not amazing, but combined with the other passing game aspects those were key plays.

Nelson (6 targets, 2 catches, 53 yards, and a breakaway 45-yard TD) and Cobb (11 targets, 7 catches, 85 yards, crucial third-down catch to seal game) did each have decent impacts on the game, but this game proved Green Bay is more than those two players in the passing game.