The Green Bay Packers did not lead until two minutes were remaining in the game on Sunday, but they did just enough in the second half — and got a few big plays from their recently-embattled defense — to emerge victorious in their matchup with the Arizona Cardinals.
Josh Jacobs scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:50 left on the clock, his second score of the day, and the Packers got a trio of sacks from Micah Parsons, one on the final drive to help keep the Cardinals from taking the lead back late.
In the first half, the Packers looked like a group of people who had just sat through significant travel issues the day before. They did, of course, as they sat on the tarmac in Green Bay for several hours on Saturday due to mechanical issues with their airplane. Their quality play arrived late as well on Sunday, but one player who delivered in the first half was kicker Lucas Havrisik.
Havrisik hit a 61-yard field goal as time expired in the first half, setting a new franchise record and giving the Packers a critical three points. That proved to be a meaningful difference, as the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter meant that Arizona needed a touchdown instead of a field goal of their own to win the game.
For the first time all season, the Packers’ defense allowed points in the first quarter of a game, doing so on the game’s opening drive. Jacoby Brissett drove the Cardinals down the field with some quick passing and a quarterback sneak on 3rd-and-1, while running back Bam Knight picked up 23 rushing yards on four carries. However, Micah Parsons delivered a red zone stop to hold the Cardinals to a field goal. After recording a pair of pressures early in the drive, he made a tackle for no gain on a 1st down run, then picked up a sack on 3rd down to force the Cardinals to a field goal.
Arizona’s opening drive took 15 plays and half of the first quarter, as the Packers’ offense took the field for the first time with under 7:30 on the clock. The Packers’ offense moved into the edge of field goal range, with Matt LaFleur keeping his offense on the field twice on fourth down. The first was a 4th-and-2 at midfield and Jordan Love converted with a quick out to Matthew Golden, but a few plays later, Love missed Romeo Doubs with a deep ball on 4th-and-5 from the 38 for a turnover on downs.
The Packers looked like they would get their first defensive turnover since week three on the Cardinals’ second drive, but had to settle for a punt instead. Keisean Nixon punched the football out of the hands of Marvin Harrison, Jr., but the play was ruled incomplete after review, and the Packers took over at their own 20 following a touchback on the ensuing punt.
Josh Jacobs, who was active after being a game-time decision, picked up a few nice runs on the next series as the Packers drove down the field. They got an assist from Cardinals cornerback Will Johnson, who was flagged for holding and a facemask on successive plays, but had to settle for a 31-yard Lucas Havrisik field goal to tie the game.
Parsons should have recorded his second sack of the game on the next series, but he was flagged for an illegal hip-drop tackle when bringing down Brissett. That gave Arizona enough time and yardage to get into field goal range once again, and Chad Ryland hit from 40 yards out to give the Cardinals a lead back with five minutes to go in the first half.
The Packers went three-and-out, with Rasheed Walker getting beaten badly on 3rd-and-6 to force a punt, giving the Cardinals a chance to extend their lead before halftime. After a Quay Walker sack set up a 3rd-and-23 deep in Cardinals territory, Brissett hooked up with Zay Jones for a 43-yard gain up the right sideline. Arizona managed to work some clock off and, with the help of an offsides penalty on Parsons on 3rd down, they found the end zone for the game’s first touchdown with seconds left. Brissett hit a wide-open Trey McBride for a 15-yard score, sending the game to halftime with the Cardinals leading 13-3.
Or so it seemed — the Cardinals kicked off through the end zone with seven seconds left, and the Packers chose not to take a knee. Instead, Love hit Doubs for a 22-yard gain over the middle and the Packers got a timeout with one second left. Matt LaFleur sent Havrisik out for a 61-yard field goal attempt, and he drilled it, setting a new Packers franchise record and closing the gap to seven points at the break.
Still, at the half, the Packers had run just 23 plays to the Cardinals’ 35 and had held the football for just 12:41. But that clutch score gave them a chance to tie up the game if they could score a touchdown to start out the third quarter.
They did nothing of the sort, instead going three-and-out with a short Jacobs run, a short pass to Dontyavion Wicks, and an incomplete pass to Tucker Kraft on third down. They got another chance a few plays later, however, when the defense forced just its third takeaway of the season. Rashan Gary got to Brissett and forced a fumble, and Evan Williams recovered at the Cardinals’ 44-yard line.
This time, the offense delivered the game-tying score. Love found Doubs for a pair of gains for 25 yards, then hit Matthew Golden on a crosser for a gain of 17. The next play saw Josh Jacobs sprint 8 yards and across the left goal line pylon for the team’s first touchdown of the day and his seventh of the season.
Trying to protect a tie game, the Packers defense allowed yet another conversion on third and long. Facing 3rd-and-14 from their own 41, Brissett hit Harrison over Nate Hobbs for a 35-yard gain to set Arizona up in position to take the lead back. They did that a few plays later, with Trey McBride getting wide open once again for a 12-yard touchdown.
Jordan Love’s legs and Tucker Kraft proved to be major weapons on the ensuing series, as they combined to get the game back to even at 20-20. Love scrambled a few times on the drive for positive yardage and hit Kraft for a big gain of 22 yards in the middle of the field. Love then took a bootleg to the right and hit Kraft for a 7-yard touchdown to tie the game on the first play of the fourth quarter.
The Packers’ special teams struck a self-inflicted wound on the ensuing kickoff, allowing a long return by Greg Dortch to the 40-yard line. But a facemask on Isaiah McDuffie gave the Cardinals the ball at the Packers’ 45-yard line to start their next drive, putting them near field goal range instantly. They quickly drove inside the ten, but Parsons came up with his second sack for the box score on 3rd and goal to force another Ryland field goal. That gave the Cardinals the lead, but by just three points at 23-20 with nine minutes on the clock.
Once again, needing a critical score, Green Bay failed to pick up a first down and punted away after one short gain to Doubs and a pair of incomplete passes. But the Packers’ defense stepped up, getting a stuff on a quarterback sneak attempt by Brissett as Arizona kept the offense on the field for a 4th-and-1 near midfield.
Early on the drive, Love managed to convert on 3rd down for just the third time in the game, finding Kraft under duress for a huge 8-yard gain on 3rd-and-7. Three plays later, LaFleur called a toss to Jacobs on 3rd-and-1, and he was stuffed for a loss of one yard. Instead of kicking a field goal to tie the game, however, LaFleur kept his offense on the field on 4th-and-2. Love lofted a perfect throw to an open Kraft for 15 yards and a conversion at the 15-yard line to keep the drama going.
Two runs by Jacobs picked up 14 yards, getting the ball to the one-yard line and forcing the Cardinals to start using timeouts inside the two-minute warning. His third carry punched into the end zone from a yard out, giving the Packers their first lead of the game at 27-23.
That set up the Packers’ defense to try to get one more stop anywhere on the field to close out the game with 1:50 left and two timeouts for Arizona. Brissett once again found Zay Jones for a big gain, reaching the Packers’ 45 as Jones beat Nate Hobbs in coverage. They gained another first down on a pass to Michael Carter, but then Parsons picked up his third sack for a loss of nine yards to force a 2nd-and-long. Brissett scrambled for a gain of 8 yards, then on 3rd down Karl Brooks hit Brissett to force a deep incompletion and set up a decisive 4th-and-10 from the 27.
Brissett’s heave to the back of the end zone was a jump ball, but the Packers swatted it out of the back of the end zone. Jones hauled it in, but he was several yards out of bounds, and Green Bay escaped with a 27-23 victory.
The Packers will hold on to the lead in the NFC North division for at least one more week, as they head into next week’s Sunday Night Football matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers at 4-1-1. Arizona lost its fifth straight game, all by four points or fewer, moving to 2-5 on the season.
