Green Bay Packers: Top 5 spectacular plays of the season so far

Fourteen weeks into the NFL season, it’s been quite a wild ride for fans of the Green Bay Packers. The drama levels have cooled down slightly in recent weeks, but one thing that hasn’t stopped is the winning.

After the Arizona Cardinals’ loss on Monday night, the Packers now have control of the NFC’s top seed and lone playoff bye week and all they need to do is keep on winning to stay there.

Regardless of how the season ends, it’s been an extremely fun time to be a Packers fan. Let’s look back at five of the very best plays through the first 13 games.

#5 – Davante Adams’ sideline catch vs. Washington

Not the most important play in terms of significance — it was a 26-yard gain on first down in a game that was already pretty much decided.

But as far as the degree of difficulty is concerned, this was just an outrageous snag from the best wide receiver in football.

The coverage from former Pro Bowl CB Kendall Fuller was about as good as you’ll see on Adams. It’s as if the game is in slow motion for #17, but even in the slo-mo replay this catch looks tricky!

#4 – The Bears’ owner strikes back quickly

The most recent addition to our list came on Sunday when after falling behind to a surprising 10-point deficit, Aaron Rodgers abruptly delivered a big strike to Davante Adams in between a tiny window of Bears’ defenders.

Adams somehow does not fear a huge incoming hit from the safety running downhill, instead casually sidestepping his way into the end zone. As for Rodgers, this is just the kind of damage he is capable of distributing from a clean pocket.

Maybe it wasn’t his most impressive throw of the game — that third-down strike to Allen Lazard earlier on was superb, but this was a more significant play considering the lack of time left on the clock.

#3 – Rodgers delivers to MVS late on in Minnesota

There haven’t been quite as many deep strikes to Marquez Valdes-Scantling compared to last season, in large part due to a hamstring injury that sidelined the deep threat for a month.

This play was a strike on the money at a hugely important time, just before the two-minute warning. Per NFL Next Gen Stats, Valdes-Scantling reached a top speed of 22.1mph on this play, which is the fastest any player has ran in any NFL game this season per their tracking data.

Ultimately, the Minnesota Vikings drove down in the opposite direction and kicked a game-winning field goal, begging the question of “did the Packers score too early?”

#2 – Rodgers hits Deguara on the run

Staying in Minnesota, how about this for a way to get your first NFL touchdown! Rodgers was missing throws for much of the first half of this game, but this laser on the run to Josiah Deguara was pinpoint accurate.

Rodgers doesn’t quite make the insane scramble drill plays he was renowned for in the early 2010s, but this was a nice dose of nostalgia.

There aren’t many ways to defend this throw. It was a great heads-up move from Deguara to get open in the end zone, and Rodgers ensured his catch-point work was minimal.

#1 – Rasul Douglas’ end-zone interception seals Packers victory

We have a plethora of Rasul Douglas interceptions to choose from but we’ll go with the most significant of the bunch.

The Packers’ defense had their backs against the wall after 59 grueling minutes of action against the league’s only remaining undefeated team, until the unlikeliest of heroes — the man who was on the opposing team’s practice squad just three weeks beforehand — came up with a gargantuan play.

It’s not the most spectacular play in terms of execution, although it was a pretty composed catch considering the stakes — I probably would’ve batted that ball down to the ground in terror.