Exploding Beyond .500: Why Green Bay Packers beat Seattle Seahawks
By Kenn Korb
Picking apart the secondary
For years, the Seattle secondary has been one of the league’s most recognizably skilled units (Legion of Boom), and it has been the main crux of a scoring defense which has been the NFL’s best for four season’s running. Even though they were going to be missing Earl Thomas for only the second time in his career, everything pointed to this being a chess match between Rodgers and the guys on the back end for the Seahawks to see who could best force their will on the opposition.
Rodgers came out ahead by a margin that had never been dropped on the group as we’ve known them. He completed 18 of 23 passes on them, picking up 246 yards and 3 TDs on his way to a 150.8 passer rating — the best showing against the Legion of Boom. Even with the caveat of no Earl Thomas being accounted for, that’s impressive.
Rodgers picked through them with an assortment of passes. He went outside the numbers often, with quick over-the-top throws to Davante Adams (4 catches for 104 yards, including a 66 yard TD on the first drive) being the most cogent example. He surgically sliced through them in short yardage too, with Nelson (6 catches, 41 yards, 2 TDs) being his reliable close-space target. He got deep plays in a way Seattle usually just doesn’t allow most weeks, with 6 passing plays which went for at least 15 yards (172 yards and a TD on those receptions; spread between Adams, Randall Cobb, Jared Cook, and Ty Montgomery).
Perhaps the most impressive part of this? Rodgers did it all in just over three quarters. Defensive stops were necessary help for that, but without Rodgers having the offense humming in the first 45 minutes he wouldn’t have got that long rest at the end.