What was turning into a snooze fest and a comfortable win for the Green Bay Packers on Sunday quickly became an anxiety-ridden finish, complete with a near collapse. Thankfully for the people of the land of cheese, Green Bay escaped with a 31-30 victory over the Baltimore Ravens to move to 11-3 and lock up the NFC North.
Here are five numbers that tell the story of the Ravens game.
58
Aaron Jones hadn’t eclipsed 58 rushing in a game since he had 59 on the ground back on Oct. 28 against the Arizona Cardinals. He ripped free a couple of big-time, crucial runs for the Packers on Sunday to keep drives alive.
In recent weeks, Green Bay has started to lean increasingly more on second-year back A.J. Dillon. Part of it is Jones suffering an MCL sprain a few weeks back, and part of it is Dillon’s bruising style that the Packers like to shift towards as the temperature plummets. Jones stepped up big time in Baltimore.
The Ravens came in ranked first in the NFL in rush yards, giving up 85.5 per game. Jones had an efficient 4.5 yards per carry as he neared 60 yards on the ground. They weren’t the glamorous, highlight-reel-worthy plays, but Jones consistently finding avenues on the ground paid major dividends for the Packers against a stingy Baltimore front.
7.4
Aaron Rodgers and the air attack averaged 7.4 yards per pass against a depleted Ravens secondary on Sunday. All eight Green Bay players who caught a pass had at least one reception go for nine yards at minimum. Rodgers missed on a couple of wide-open throws, one in the first half to Davante Adams and one in the fourth quarter to Allen Lazard. Had he hit on those, the numbers would be even greater.
The offense was as good as expected in this one. As it turns out, they needed every single point they got throughout the game.
5 for 5
It was another quiet day for Mason Crosby, which is good considering how this year has gone. Crosby went 1/1 on his field goal attempts and 4/4 on extra points. It sounds incredibly insignificant, but in a game decided by one point, and with a kicker who has missed more kicks than anyone in the NFL this year, they all mattered on Sunday.
The Packers still had special-teams issues, especially in the punting game. However, Crosby and the kicking department put together another excellent outing that Green Bay ended up needing every bit of — even if it didn’t always seem as crucial in the moment.
136
Mark Andrews was the main reason the Ravens could hang around and nearly deliver a dagger to Green Bay.
Tyler Huntley made the spot start for an injured Lamar Jackson, and Huntley certainly did his part. Andrews was on a different galaxy.
Andrews finished with 10 receptions for 136 yards and two touchdowns. He was Baltimore’s only pass-catcher who had a reception go for over 10 yards, but he had his fair share of them.
It was as if Green Bay didn’t realize Andrews was constantly roaming free in their secondary as the Ravens’ star tight end continued to rip off big plays. Darnell Savage couldn’t keep up in coverage with Andrews, and it didn’t work when Green Bay tried to switch up the coverage and the philosophy. As a result, Andrews feasted, providing plenty of film for Green Bay to break down going forward.
Ultimately, the Packers got the biggest stop of the game on a two-point conversion with a little more than 40 seconds to go. Baltimore went right back to Andrews on that play, who was split out wide to the right. Savage read it right from the get-go and beelined towards Andrews as Eric Stokes was locked up man-to-man.
Green Bay was able to break up the pass and hang on for dear life, no thanks to a mammoth performance from Andrews. His 136 yards gave the Ravens numerous lives in this one as they refused to go away.
442
Aaron Rodgers threw his 442nd passing touchdown against Baltimore, which matches Brett Favre‘s total during his time in Green Bay. When Favre was setting one record after another during his heyday, it seemed unlikely they would be broken. Go figure that Rodgers stepped in right after Favre and is on the cusp of breaking the all-time mark for most passing touchdowns in Packers history.
It’s somewhat poetic that Rodgers missed Lazard in the fourth quarter on what would’ve been No. 443, given that Green Bay still won and that they will now host the Cleveland Browns on national television. The scene at Lambeau Field on Christmas Day will be electric and all in attendance will almost assuredly witness history.
