Pats beat Packers 31-27
Podcast Episode
Photo 
Green Bay Packers quarterback Matt Flynn (10) fumbles the ball after being sacked by New England Patriots linebacker Tully Banta-Cain on the final play of the game during the fourth quarter of New England's 31-27 win in a NFL football game at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. Sunday.
FOXBOROUGH, MASS. — The New England Patriots’ string of routs is over. Their victory streak remains alive with help from a stunning kickoff return by 313-pound guard Dan Connolly.
Connolly rumbled 71 yards with what is believed to be the longest kickoff return by an offensive lineman in NFL history and Tom Brady threw two touchdown passes as New England edged the Green Bay Packers 31-27 for their sixth straight win Sunday night.
“I’ve never seen anything happen so slow in my life,” Brady said with a laugh. “They won’t be kicking to him anymore, I’ll tell you that.”
The Patriots, who outscored their previous two opponents 81-10, had their hands full even with Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers missing the game with a concussion. Matt Flynn threw his first three pro touchdown passes in his place.
The game went down to the final play when Flynn, with the ball at the Patriots 15-yard line, lost it when he was sacked by Tully Banta-Cain and Vince Wilfork recovered for New England (12-2).
Green Bay (8-6) suffered a serious blow to its playoff chances. It trails Chicago (9-4) in the NFC North with the Bears playing at Minnesota tonight.
The return by Connolly, who later left with a head injury, set up Brady’s 2-yard scoring pass to Aaron Hernandez, cutting Green Bay’s lead at halftime to 17-14.
According to STATS LLC, the run by Connolly topped the 48-yard touchdown return by Atlanta’s Mal Snider in 1969. Complete official records have been kept since 1976.
Mason Crosby kicked the ball short to avoid Brandon Tate, who has two kickoff returns for touchdowns this year.
“When you kick the ball, you’d like to kick it to an offensive lineman. That should be a positive,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “We did a very poor job there tackling.”
The Patriots had beaten the New York Jets 45-3 and Bears 36-7 in their previous two games.
“Do I want to blow people out every game? Yeah,” Wilfork said, “but it doesn’t happen like that every time.”
Trailing 27-21, the Patriots scored on Shayne Graham’s 38-yard field goal with 11:05 left in the game and went ahead 31-27 on Brady’s second touchdown pass to Hernandez, a 10-yarder with 7:14 to go.
Brady broke Don Meredith’s record with his seventh straight game with at least two scoring passes and no interceptions. He has now gone nine games without an interception.
But he threw for only 163 yards, his third fewest of the season.
“It certainly wasn’t one of our better games,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “We’ve got to play a lot better than this or our season won’t last much longer.”
Poor tackling by the Packers helped the Patriots score late in the second quarter and early in the third.
On the kickoff after Green Bay took a 17-7 lead with Flynn’s second touchdown pass, a 1-yarder to Greg Jennings, Connolly fielded the ball at the Patriots 25 on a squib kick by Crosby. Connolly cradled the ball in both arms before going down at the 4, setting up Hernandez’s catch.
The Patriots then went ahead 21-17 just under 3 minutes into the third quarter when Kyle Arrington returned an interception 36 yards for a touchdown, shaking off one would-be tackler after another.
On the next series, the Packers took advantage of one of several costly Patriots penalties to take a 24-21 lead on Flynn’s 6-yard touchdown pass to John Kuhn with 5:08 to go. A 10-yard facemask penalty against nose tackle Wilfork had given Green Bay a first down at the 11.
The Patriots’ mistakes began on the very first play of the game when Nick Collins recovered an onside kick by Crosby. The drive ended with Crosby’s 31-yard field goal.
But New England answered with a 33-yard scoring run by BenJarvus Green-Ellis on a seven-play, 73-yard drive.
The Packers regained the lead on Flynn’s 66-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the second quarter then capitalized on two penalties to go ahead 17-7 with 2:17 left in the half.
An offside penalty against Wilfork on a third-down incomplete pass kept the drive going. A penalty against cornerback Devin McCourty for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Andrew Quarless gave the Packers a first down at the 30, and a defensive pass interference call against James Sanders in the end zone produced another first down at the 1-yard line.
Dec 21, 2010 at 12:11 p.m.
Suggest removal
Mike Sherman was 53-27 with 4 playoff appearances in his first 5 years.
So far in his first 5 years, McCarthy is 45-31 with 2 (outside chance of 3) playoff appearances.
Let's hope McCarthy can get two wins closer to Sherman's record this year.
Dec 20, 2010 at 3:51 p.m.
Suggest removal
I agree that losing close games generally comes down to coaching, but I'd rather have close games than blowout losses. McCarthy has been a head coach for 5 years, so he has a lot to learn. But I'm not ready to write him off yet. I like their team, I like his temperament, and I see them headed in a good direction. Much better than seeing Sherman standing on the sidelines like a deer in the headlights.
Dec 20, 2010 at 10:46 a.m.
Suggest removal
The Packers lost another close game they needed to win to help their playoff chances. The Packers, under McCarthy, play to the level of the competition whether good (New England) or bad (Lions) and then lose at the end. The fact that McCarthy is now 5-17 in close games is testimony to his coaching ability. The team lacks focus that results in sloppy play...like missed tackles, dropped passes and interceptions, missed blocks, and extremely poor clock management at the end of the game. While some of those things are clearly on the players, the widespread lack of focus is on the coach and his inability to have that team prepared to execute at a high level. I know the Pack has had injury issues but good coaching finds a way past that. Nobody took NE serious at the start of the season because they had the youngest defense in the league, no TEs and no running game. Now look where they are. NE has the best coach and organization in football...and it shows.
Dec 20, 2010 at 10:28 a.m.
Suggest removal
EMan, I agree with you. I think McCarthy's the best coach we've had since Holmgren. Sure he's made mistakes, but he's got the team playing great on both sides of the ball.
It hasn't translated to wins this year, but it will pay off. I don't want to write off this year yet, but think of all the guys coming back from injury next year with all the experience the backups got this year.
Dec 20, 2010 at 10:05 a.m.
Suggest removal
Sorry Eman, you are wrong. I agree that McCarthy has done a pretty good job with the rash of injuries, but his poor play calling and lack of use of that red handkerchief that stays in his pocket, cost games this year. I agree with dtb, should have went for the TD as you know the Patriots are going to score more points. If MM had challenged the 4th down dropped pass towards the end of the Atlanta game, the Pack would have won the challenege and the game. If he had challenged the TD pass that was ruled incomplete in the Detroit game, he probaly would have won that challenge and hence the game. Two victories given away. Not good.
Dec 20, 2010 at 9:54 a.m.
Suggest removal
You should be proud that the Pack hung toe to toe with one of the best teams in the league. With a QB making his first start also makes that an even bigger statement of the heart in this team. My hats off to the Packers!
Dec 20, 2010 at 8:31 a.m.
Suggest removal
McCarthy blew it by taking a field goal in the fourth quarter instead of trying for a touchdown. That was the 4 point difference. If you have a 1st and goal at the 2 and then third down inside the 1 and can't come away with 7 points, you don't deserve to win.
Before you post a comment, consider this:
Note: GazetteXtra.com does not condone or review every comment. Read more in our User Policy AgreementPost Comment
Commenting requires registration.