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Packers hold off late charging Seahawks to advance to NFC Championship

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Aaron Rodgers File Photo UPI/Bill Greenblatt

Aaron Rodgers played one of his best games of the season, helping the Green Bay Packers beat the Seattle Seahawks 28-23 in the NFC Divisional playoffs and securing a rematch with the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game.

Rodgers and Davante Adams put the Packers on their backs, connecting eight times for 160 yards and two touchdowns.  The 160 receiving yards for Adams is a Green Bay Packers playoff-franchise record.

When the Packers needed a big play, Rodgers was there to deliver a series of pinpoint accurate passes, helping his team to a season best 9-of-14 on third downs (69%).  That is the best third down accuracy rate for the Packers since the 2016 season.

Rodgers sealed the victory with a pair of third-down passes, a 32-yard pass to Adams on a third-and-8 [Read more…]

Packers late defensive stand produces win over the Panthers

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Aaron Jones – File Photo

The Green Bay’s defense surrendered a lot of yardage throughout Sunday’s game, but in the end, they held NFL MVP candidate Christian McCaffrey short of the goal line as time expired and the Packers held on for a 24-16 win at snowy Lambeau Field.

Aaron Jones rushed for 93 yards and three touchdowns, the second time this season he’s rushed for three scores.  Jones is the first Packers player since Sterling Sharpe in 1994 with multiple three-touchdown games in a season.  He is also the first Green Bay running back since Jim Taylor in 1962 with multiple three-touchdown games in a season.  Taylor did it three times that year.

The Panthers got the ball back with 2:25 left on their own 11-yard line, trailing by eight points.  Quarterback Kyle Allen drove the Panthers down the field, including completing a 12-year pass to D.J. Moore on fourth-and-10 with 56 seconds left. [Read more…]

Sack celebrations a thing of the past in Green Bay

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Za’Darius Smith

Za’Darius Smith is second on the Green Bay Packers team with six quarterback sacks and each one has drawn a more elaborate sack celebration.

“I had one for this week,” Smith said Thursday.  “It was going to be nice.  Coach (Matt LaFleur), he felt situations during that time could affect the punt team or (if) they want to go for fourth down, I’m taking up too much time.”

So for now, the sack celebrations are history.

Smith came up with the sleepy-time celebration that he unveiled Monday against the Lions after he missed a meeting last week.  He was fined and decided to let everyone know he got caught napping with a little on-field celebration.

Za’Darius Smith has six sacks in six games this season.  Teammate Preston Smith leads the way wit

h seven and even without a sack celebration, both should continue to cause havoc with the opponents passing game. [Read more…]

Packers pressure Broncos to improve to 3-0

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Davante Adams

The Green Bay Packers defense did it again, forcing three more turnovers and sacking quarterback Joe Flacco six times, on the way to a 27-16 win over the Denver Broncos at Lambeau Field on Sunday.

The Packers defense hasn’t been perfect, allowing 149 rushing yards against the Broncos and a 4.91 yards per carry average in the first three games.  But so far, pressure on the quarterback has made up for the inability to stop the run, giving the Packers a 3-0 start to the season.

Preston Smith led the way with three sacks, including a strip sack of Joe Flacco with rookie Rashan Gary recovering the fumble and setting up a Packers touchdown.

Za’Darius Smith had two sacks and Gary would later add the first of his career.  Second year cornerback Jaire Alexander stripped a ball away from tight end Noah Fant and recovered it at the same time.  That set up a short touchdown drive. [Read more…]

Packers hold off Vikings to improve to 2-0

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Matt LaFleur

Aaron Rodgers tossed a pair of early touchdowns as the Green Bay Packers jumped out to a 21-0 lead, then held off the Minnesota Vikings 21-16 to jump out to a 2-0 start to the season.

Rodgers completed nine of his first ten passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns and had a perfect 158.3 rating through the first quarter.  He finished 22 of 34 for 209 yards for the game.

Aaron Jones scored the other early touchdown on the ground.  Jones finished with 23 carries for 116 yards and also caught four passes for 34 yards.  As a team, the Packers ran the ball 33 times for 144 yards, a 4.4 yard per carry average.

They also had the kind of balance that coach Matt LaFleur talked about when he was hired.  The Packers finished with 34 passing attempts and 33 rushing attempts. [Read more…]

Packers send Gilbert to Titans

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Reggie Gilbert

On the eve of the final preseason game, the Green Bay Packers send third-year outside linebacker Reggie Gilbert to the Tennessee Titans for a 7th round draft pick.

Gilbert made the Packers roster as an undrafted free agent out of Arizona in 2016.  He went on to play in 18 games, tallying 3.5 sacks for the Packers.

The Packers added to the position with the free agent signings of Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith, as well as drafting Rashan Gary out of Michigan in the first round of the draft.  Those moves meant a loaded outside linebacker position, making Gilbert expendable.

The Packers close out the preseason against the Kansas City Chiefs tonight at Lambeau Field.  They must trim their roster to 53-players by 3 p.m. on Saturday.

 

Packers go defense on day one of NFL Draft

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Brian Gutekunst

The Green Bay Packers using both of their two first round draft picks on the defensive side of the ball should be no surprise.  Afterall, the organization, which general manager Brian Gutekunst has been a part of for that entire time and beyond, has gone the defensive rout in the first round for the 8th straight year.

The Packers made Michigan edge rusher Rashan Gary the 12th overall pick in Thursday’s opening round.  Gutekunst later traded up from 30 with Seattle to select Maryland free safety Darnell Savage at number-21.  To make the move, it cost the Packers two fourth-round selections, numbers 114 and 118 on Saturday.

The last time the Packers used a top pick on an offensive player was Mississippi State tackle Derek Sherrod in 2011.

The Packers have had their eye on Gary for years. [Read more…]

Packers introduce four free agent acquisitions

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Za’Darius Smith

The Green Bay Packers introduced their four free agent acquisitions on Thursday.  Pass rushers Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith, as well as safety Adrian Amos and offensive lineman Billy Turner signed new deals with the team this week.

The Packers doled out $182 million for the four, a figure that doesn’t include incentives and escalators.

Za’Darius Smith got $66 million in his deal, averaging $16.5 million a season.  That is second on the Packers roster, only to quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

With big money deals, come high expectations.

“All that really hasn’t sunk in yet, but I’m going to do my best,” Za’Darius Smith said.  “I’m going to do what I can do.  Coaches know what I’m capable of doing, so I’m going to continue to work hard.  Like I said, stay after practice, do the little things right.  What I’m bringing to this team is leadership, accountability.  I’m going to do the right thing and I’m going to continue to put up big numbers hopefully.”

Za’Darius Smith had 8 1/2 sacks in a contract year for the Baltimore Ravens last season. [Read more…]

Packers reshaping their defense on second day of negotiating period

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Brian Gutekunst

The Green Bay Packers made it clear on Tuesday that outside linebackers Clay Matthews and Nick Perry most likely won’t be a part of their plans moving forward.

The Packers agreed to deals with two pass rushers named Smith and added a safety as well.  The deals can be finalized when the NFL year opens on Wednesday at 3 p.m. CT.

The Packers came to terms with former Baltimore Raven pass-rusher Za’Darius Smith, who had 8.5 sacks last season.  His deal is worth a reported $66 million over four years, including a $20 million signing bonus.

The second Smith is former Redskin Preston Smith, who gets a four-year deal worth a reported $52 million with a $16 million signing bonus.  Smith recorded 24.5 sacks in his first four seasons with the Redskins but only four of those came in 2018.

The Packers were also looking for safety help and agreed to a four-year, $37 million deal with former Chicago Bear Adrian Amos.  He started all 16 games for the Bears last season and finished with two interceptions.  He has started 56 of the 60 games he’s played in with the Bears.

Packers GM Brian Gutekunst also added former Denver Bronco offensive lineman (guard/tackle) Billy Turner.  His deal is worth a reported $28 million over four years.