Doom and gloom. Special teams. Joe Barry. Onside kicks. It feels like Green Bay Packers fans, despite the team’s success, aren’t exactly the happiest of campers. It’s easy to look at the bad side of things, the missed opportunities, the failures. But sometimes, it’s also important to remember the good games.
Take a trip back to the fateful year of 2020. Toilet paper was flying off the shelves as nations around the world braced for the COVID-19 pandemic. After a cancelled March Madness and a strange NBA bubble experiment, the NFL season, despite mostly being staged in empty stadiums, is underway in its entirety.
Now, fast forward to Week 16. After the Packers shocked everyone by drafting quarterback Jordan Love, Aaron Rodgers has been on a heater, all but locking up the MVP with two weeks remaining. The 11-3 Green Bay Packers are hosting the 10-4 Tennessee Titans on a frigid, snowy night at Lambeau.
Hopes are high for Green Bay, but the Titans are fierce competition, led by prime Derrick Henry and the resurgence of Ryan Tannehill. Coming off games of 215 and 147 rushing yards, respectively, Henry has an opportunity for a big day against a subpar Packers run defense.
The Packers and Titans had their eyes set on hoisting the Lombardi Trophy, creating expectations of an instant classic. With around 1,000 employee/player family members and health care workers in attendance, Green Bay put on a clinic from start to finish.
Rodgers and Green Bay’s offense clicked immediately, with open receivers running all over the field thanks to Matt LaFleur’s scheming. Green Bay jumped out to a 12-0 lead thanks to touchdowns from Davante Adams and Equanimeous St. Brown (what a world).
The Adams show didn’t stop there, though. He hauled in another score before half, and the Packers held Derrick Henry to 35 yards at the half. After Tannehill’s 45-yard touchdown scramble to make it 19-14 Packers early in the third quarter, many fans assumed they were in for a barnburner.
Short answer? No.
Green Bay scored two touchdowns in the next eight minutes to make it 33-14, blowing the game wide open. The Packers had ruled out fan-favorite running back Jamaal Williams, opening the door for A.J. Dillon’s breakout game. Dillon ran for 124 yards on 21 carries, plus two touchdowns and a failed Lambeau leap.
This game may have been the peak of the Rodgers-Adams connection. They linked up for big gains of 27 and 32 in the fourth quarter, one of which was a beautiful drop in the snowy bucket to essentially seal the game.
Rodgers ended with four touchdowns and 231 yards, 142 of which went to Adams. Green Bay capped their stellar defensive performance with a pair of interceptions and held Derrick Henry to 98 yards. It was the first time a Titans opponent had held Henry under 100 rushing yards on the road in the last nine games.
With a final score of 40-14, this snowy Sunday night matchup bolstered Green Bay’s already high playoff hopes. Everything clicked for what felt like the 10th time that season. Arguably, it wasn’t even Green Bay’s best regular-season contest from the 2020 season. The Chicago Bears, Los Angeles Rams, or Minnesota Vikings games could vie for that title as well.
Regardless of what happened just weeks later, this game still feels magical to look back on. Many forget that Matt LaFleur was on Tennessee’s coaching staff only two years earlier. The return of fans, mixed with the snow and elite performance, marked a Packers regular-season game for the ages.
