Packers: Revisiting the 16 regular season games in 2020
By David Ruiz
Week 10 vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
Perhaps it was easy to look past a one-win Jacksonville Jaguars team in Week 10, but Green Bay entered into a fight that Sunday. Jacksonville may not have had the experience to complete a road upset but the talent surely wasn’t lacking.
After getting thrashed by Cook in their last home game, Jacksonville’s rookie running back, James Robinson, had quite the day rushing for 109 yards to keep his team within striking distance. Another uncharacteristic Rodgers interception, a Keelan Cole punt-return touchdown, and leading late into the third quarter, it wasn’t until the Heart Attack Quarter (what I call a close fourth quarter) where Green Bay showed what they’re made of.
And what better pair do you go to than Rodgers and Adams when you need the go-ahead score? None. A leaping Adams for the touchdown in the Heart Attack Quarter put Jacksonville away once and for all.
Green Bay 7-2
Week 11 at Indianapolis Colts
Oh boy, looking back this one is definitely a tough pill to swallow for Packers fans. After getting out to a 28-14 start against the Indianapolis Colts, getting a clean sweep looked good … for the first half. Green Bay was one million percent the better team attacking a top-10 defense that Indianapolis had.
But a game of adjustments is the name of the game and Indy executed their second-half plan to perfection. The key to keeping any good offense off the field is a strong running game. Led by rookie running back Jonathan Taylor, Indy dominated the third quarter scoring 11 unanswered points to cut the deficit to just three entering the Heart Attack Quarter.
Not to mention … the fact Green Bay didn’t pick up a single first down in the third quarter is mind-blowing given how well the first half had gone. However with time ticking down, backed up at their six-yard line, a Rodgers 50-yard heave to MVS set up Mason Crosby to tie the game at 31-all.
However, knowing how polarizing overtime has been in Rodgers’ career, they actually won the coin toss with a chance to thwart a furious Colts comeback. Whether it was a bad play or outstanding awareness by the Colts defense, the ability to force an MVS fumble in overtime led to said furious comeback, and Rodrigo Blankenship would kick the game-winner.
Green Bay 7-3
Week 12 vs. Chicago Bears
Bears Week always seems to ignite the Packers when it appears on the schedule. Especially with Green Bay returning to dominance in the series as of late after briefly slipping in 2018. Another thing that seems to happen in this series is the explosion of firepower by one Aaron Charles Rodgers.
A Bears killer like Favre before him, Rodgers has had great success against Chicago since becoming the starter. And that trend would continue in 2021. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but ANOTHER four-touchdown performance for Rodgers had this one in the bag by halftime.
When Rodgers is this surgical, there’s not a team alive that will survive his offensive onslaught. And it was an easy night for Rodgers who just topped 200 yards by the game’s end.
Green Bay 8-3
Week 13 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
Whether this was the game that ended Carson Wentz’s tenure with the Philadelphia Eagles remains to be seen, but this wasn’t the same team that came into Lambeau Field a season ago that left with an upset win.
Instead, this was another complete performance by Green Bay that saw another wounded team and put them away early before allowing Philadelphia to find their footing.
A quarterback change to Jalen Hurts did see the Packers give up a touchdown on fourth down, but the game was never in jeopardy. One thing Green Bay excelled at in 2020 was putting bad teams away. With this win, LaFleur would improve to an impressive 12-2 record at Lambeau Field.
Green Bay 9-3