The Green Bay Packers beat the Arizona Cardinals 27-23, who were without starting quarterback Kyler Murray.
Green Bay’s defense started on the field and gave up a field goal after Jacoby Brissett and the Cardinals controlled the ball for 14 plays and half the quarter. The Packers’ offense responded with a failed fourth-down conversion.
Both teams traded field goals before Trey McBride scored a touchdown to make it a 13-3 game. However, the Packers would make it a 13-6 game with a 61-yard kick.
The Packers defense was able to force a turnover and then tie the game up through Josh Jacobs to make it 13-13.
Trey McBride scored again, making it a 20-13 game. The Packers responded by hitting tight end Tucker Kraft to make it 20-20.
Arizona added three more to take another lead. However, instead of punting on fourth down in their own territory on their next drive, the Packers turned them over on downs. Green Bay used the short field to score a touchdown, taking their first lead of the game with under two minutes in the game.
The defense held Arizona on its final drive, giving the Packers an ugly 27-23 win.
Here are five numbers that tell the story of the game.
1
The Packers gave up their first points of the season in the first quarter when Arizona’s offense got a field goal. The Cardinals were closing in on the end zone, but Micah Parsons came in and ended their drive with a sack.
Green Bay’s defense had been incredible, especially in the first quarter this season, forcing opposing teams to play from behind and use a much more pass-heavy script. After spending most of the season forcing teams to catch up, they had to learn to play from behind.
Arizona forced the Packers to play from behind early, something they haven’t really done for most of the season. Therefore, it is good to see Green Bay learn to play from behind and win late.
28
The Packers got their first turnover in 28 days via a Rashan Gary strip sack. While Green Bay’s defense has been exceptional in almost every regard, they hadn’t produced turnovers.
Last season, the defense forced 31 turnovers on the year, finishing top five in both turnovers forced and turnover differential. This season, they have only taken the ball away twice before the Cardinals game.
The turnover proved to be the spark plug this offense needed to get going. The Packers scored their first touchdown of the day to make it 13-13.
1.5
Quay Walker has had a bit of a resurgence this season, especially when it comes to rushing the passer, recording 1.5 sacks in this game. Walker has experienced highs and lows with the Packers. Drafted initially to be the team’s middle linebacker of the future, he hasn’t quite lived up to that hype, seeing his role reduced with Edgerrin Cooper‘s emergence.
While the game started on a bit of a sour note for him, picking up a 15-yard penalty for roughing the passer, Walker proved just how dangerous he can be when they give him the license to rush the passer. While Walker got hurt in the fourth quarter, he was able to walk off the field. Before the injury, he was one of Green Bay’s best defenders.
Walker still needs to learn to play more instinctively and with more control. However, his resurgence will be vital for the Packers this season.
12
Micah Parsons was a true gamewrecker today, recording 12 pressures. When the Packers traded for Parsons before the season started, I assume they had this exact type of game in mind. In a game where it looked like almost nothing could go right for the team, their marquee man stepped up.
Parsons started hot, recording a sack to stop the opening drive from going any further. He was a thorn in Arizona’s side that wouldn’t go away. Even when he wasn’t directly involved in the play, he was drawing double teams that Walker and Gary capitalized on.
In a game where it looked like nothing was going right for the Packers, they leaned on their pass rush to stifle the opposing offense and get them back in the game. While the scoreboard might show the two touchdowns Jacobs scored or the one Kraft caught, Parsons won this game.
1:50
The Packers only led for 1:50 of this game. Before this week, Green Bay’s story was that, despite the loss and tie, they had never played from behind for an extended period in any game this season. Even more impressive was that they had a double-digit lead in every game.
While that’s something every fan would want from their team, the question became how the Packers would respond when faced with adversity. This game proved to be a litmus test as they not only didn’t have the lead, but were down for most of the game.
There are things to nitpick in how the Packers conducted themselves offensively, especially the lack of balance in the playcalling for one. However, it was good to see that the offense did indeed capitalize on the chances the defense had given them and did enough to pull this game out.