Match Report: New England Patriots V Green Bay Packers

Flynn shines but Patriots remain the stars of the show

By

CIAN FAHEY,

IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

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Patriots Kyle Arrington returned an interception for a touchdown in front of Green Bay Packers wide

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It was a night of surprises in Foxboro this past Sunday as the Green Bay Packers(8-6) were led into their matchup with the New England Patriots(12-2) by first time starter Matt Flynn.

Flynn was starting in place of the injured Aaron Rodgers on a team that is severely depleted through injury. The Packers had dealt with missing many starters throughout the season but the drop off from Rodgers to Flynn was expected to be too severe for the offense to deal with.

The Packers stuck with the Patriots until the final minutes but couldn't pull off the shock of the season when Flynn was sacked and stripped of the ball by Tully Banta Cain at the Patriots' 18 yard line as time expired. However, that didn't stop the Patriots from shocking us all repeatedly throughout the game.

From the very first second of the game the Packers showed no fear in the eyes of their celebrated opponents. Head Coach Mike McCarthy called for Mason Crosby to kick a surprise onside kick that was recovered by Nick Collins on the opening kickoff.

There was no surprise to the Packers strategy on the opening possession as they ran their trio of running backs, Brandon Jackson, John Kuhn and Dimitri Nance, on 5 of the first 7 offensive plays from scrimmage. The opening drive was a textbook performance from Packers coordinator Joe Philbin who called short high percentage throws for his young quarterback to build his confidence while keeping the defense honest by committing to the running game. The Packers moved the ball effectively but the Patriots held them to a field goal as they turned up the heat on the young quarterback. Blitzing Flynn was to be a staple of this game for the Patriots' defense.

It wasn't a major surprise to see the Patriots run the ball more in this game than they had throughout the season. The Packers defense was ranked 3rd against the pass coming into the game and 19th against the run. The Patriots exposed the defense's frailty early on when Ben-Jarvus GreenEllis burst through the defensive line and outran the secondary to score from 33 yards. Charles Woodson had dropped the chance to pick off a Tom Brady pass on the play before GreenEllis' touchdown run.

The secondary of the Packers was enigmatic throughout the game as they played brilliant coverage against the Patriots talented receivers but couldn't take advantage of the turnover opportunities that came their way. They had three clear cut chances to end Brady's record streak of not throwing an interception. The coverage on the back end of the defense allowed the Packers front seven to get pressure on Brady. Brady was sacked on the first drive of the game after GreenEllis missed his blocking assignment, it was the first of three sacks against the Patriots(2 from BJ Raji, 1 from Bishop) on the day that highlighted the constant pressure the Packers were able to put on Brady in the pocket.

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