On Sunday Night Football, it was the second meeting between two of the greatest quarterbacks of all time (Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers). Well, the guy from San Mateo had the last laugh as his New England Patriots came out victorious 31-17 against the Green Bay Packers. It was his first career victory against Rodgers.
Tom Brady Defeats Aaron Rodgers For the First Time In His Career
Speaking of Brady, his battle against Rodgers was the most talked about match-up this past week. There are debates on who’s the best quarterback in the NFL. Well, New England’s quarterback showed why people call him the GOAT. He outplayed A-Rod as he had 294 yards passing compared to the Packers quarterback’s 259 yards on the air and two touchdown pass. Brady had a 55-yard touchdown pass to Josh Gordon in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.
What’s amazing is that Brady’s team won despite him throwing only one touchdown pass. Brady made more history as he becomes the first player in NFL history to have 80,000 total yards (passing, rushing and receiving). He’s only four yards short of having 1,000 rushing yards for his career. It’s safe to say that we can put the “best quarterback in the league” conversation to bed.
Brady’s Offense
On the Patriots opening drive, they went up-tempo and no huddle. They went 10 plays for 59 yards that ended up in an eight-yard touchdown run by James White. It was his team-leading ninth touchdown of the season and is the only running back to lead his team in yards in the catching game. White started in place of Sony Michel, who sat out for the second straight week with a knee injury. Also, Rob Gronkowski was a late scratch because of a back and ankle injuries.
Cordarrelle Patterson chipped into the running game as well. The 228-pounder carried the ball five times in the first half for 51 yards and a score. In total, he had 11 rushes for 61 yards. He became the fifth receiver in team history to have a rushing touchdown. Last week, he had 10 carries for 38 yards.
Josh Gordon lead them in receiving with 130 yards on five receptions including the 55-yard touchdown. He is building more chemistry with Tom Brady each game as he becomes a more reliable threat. For his total stats with the Patriots, Gordon has 22 catches for 396 yards and two touchdowns. It difficult to believe that the Cleveland Browns only acquired a 5th round pick for a talented receiver.
Defense Bringing Pressure
The defense has been spectacular as they brought the heat on Aaron Rodgers. They had six quarterback hits and two sacks led by Trey Flowers, Adrian Clayborn, and Deatrich Wise Jr. Stephon Gilmore, Devin McCourty, and Jason McCourty each had a pass deflection. The defense would have one spectacular highlight that happened at the start of the final quarter with the game tied at 17. Packers running back Aaron Jones would lose a fumble and Stephon Gilmore recovered it. Jones went 153 touches until he had his first career turnover. As a result, the Patriots scored twice on their next two possessions to put the game away.
The Last Word
Since their week three loss against the Detroit Lions, the Patriots have won six in a row. At 7-2, they are at Tennessee next week to take on the Titans in a rematch of last year’s AFC Divisional playoff game where the Patriots crushed them 35-14.
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