Live Updates: Green Bay Packers vs. Cleveland Browns

Merry Christmas from Lambeau Field, where the Green Bay Packers will try to keep their hold on the NFC lead against the Cleveland Browns. Follow along all day for updates.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Merry Christmas from Lambeau Field, where the Green Bay Packers are hosting the Cleveland Browns on Saturday. Follow along all day for updates.

Final Score

Packers 24, Browns 22: Here is the early game story on a victory preserved by Rasul Douglas.

Fourth Quarter

Packers 24, Browns 22 (2:14 remaining)

The Packers will need their defense to save the day. On third-and-5, Aaron Rodgers had a deep shot Davante Adams that might have clinched the game but the All-Pro receiver dropped it at the Browns’ 38.

Packers 24, Browns 22 (4:31 remaining)

The Browns have pulled within two points, meaning the Packers’ slumbering offense needs to wake up after consecutive three-and-outs. Now. Nick Chubb had 31 yards on three yearly touches and D’Ernest Johnson’s 30-yard run set up a 5-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Schwartz. The Browns are up to 202 rushing yards.

Third Quarter

Packers 24, Browns 15 (1:07 remaining)

Green Bay’s defense came up with a big red-zone stop. Nick Chubb, in order, had runs of 3, 5, 8, 13 and 15 yards to get the ball into the red zone. However, on third-and-5, Preston Smith’s big pressure set up Rashan Gary for the sack. A 37-yard field goal cut the margin to nine points.

Packers 24, Browns 12 (9:12 remaining)

Mason Crosby booted a 32-yard field goal to extend the lead. It will be interesting to see if Matt LaFleur’s second lost challenge of the game will come back to bite him; he was wrong on a potential 9-yard gain on a first-down pass to Juwann Winfree. On the first play of the third quarter, Jones ran for 27 yards by breaking three tackles. On the next play, Jones broke one tackle on a gain of 6. On the next play, Davante Adams broke one tackle on a catch-and-run gain of 17. One play later, Jones gained 11 on a quick screen.

Halftime

Packers 21, Browns 12

This game requires almost no analysis whatsoever. Aaron Rodgers has three touchdown passes and Baker Mayfield has three interceptions. Green Bay turned all three of the interceptions into touchdowns. Rodgers is 18-of-23 for 154 yards, good for a 134.1 passer rating. Davante Adams has caught 8-of-9 passes for 88 yards and two touchdowns.

Second Quarter

Packers 21, Browns 12 (12 seconds remaining)

Aaron Rodgers’ second touchdown pass of the day to Davante Adams, a 1-yarder, put Green Bay up by nine. It will get the ball to start the second half, too. Adams got a natural pick and made a leaping catch against safety M.J. Stewart. Adams had catches of 10, 9, 12 and 10 yards on the drive before the touchdown.

Packers 14, Browns 12 (1:51 remaining)

The Browns had a chance to take a halftime lead despite losing the turnover battle 2-0. Nope. Baker Mayfield sprinted out left and threw the ball toward Donovan Peoples-Jones. Cornerback Rasul Douglas read it like a book for his fourth interception of the season. The Packers, now up 3-0 on turnovers, will take over at the Browns’ 49. Green Bay has three interceptions in the first half, a first since 2011 vs. the Raiders.

Packers 14, Browns 12 (4:42 remaining)

Green Bay’s defense faces a key series after the offense went three-and-out. On third-and-6, Aaron Rodgers was blasted by defensive end Ifeadi Odenigbo, who looped from the outside and past unsuspecting center Lucas Patrick to force an early throw. Two plays earlier, Rodgers' injured foot was stepped on by right guard Royce Newman, who had been pushed into the face of Rodgers by defensive lineman Malik Jackson.

Packers 14, Browns 12 (7:03 remaining)

Cleveland’s right back in the game thanks to a drive that featured four explosive plays before tight end Harrison Bryant got wide open on a first-and-goal boot from the 1. The Browns, chasing points after missing the opening extra point, went for two but Eric Stokes broke up a pass in the end zone.

Packers 14, Browns 6 (10:47 remaining)

It’s more history for Aaron Rodgers, who for the 66th time of his career threw a touchdown pass to Davante Adams. That’s the most in franchise history; the Rodgers-to-Jordy Nelson total of 65 had been the standard. On third-and-goal from the 9, the Browns blitzed and had a free man bearing down on Rodgers. However, the Browns didn’t have anyone in the middle of the field to help on Adams, who was wide open on a slant against Richard LeCounte III. On the first play after an interception by Chandon Sullivan and the final play of the first quarter, Rodgers lobbed a deep ball to Allen Lazard. Lazard was held by cornerback Greedy Williams but made a sensational one-handed catch for a gain of 34 to the Browns’ 44. Rodgers came up gimpy after the play due to the rush of Myles Garrett. Lazard added a 13-yard run on an end-around that was led by key blocks from tight end Josiah Deguara and running back Aaron Jones.

First Quarter

Packers 7, Browns 6 (35 seconds remaining)

The Browns were in scoring position, thanks to a 27-yard run by Bradley Chubb. However, the defense stiffened. On first down from the 15, Kenny Clark blew past backup center Blake Hance to set up Rashan Gary’s sack. On third-and-19, Baker Mayfield air-mailed a pass to Jarvis Landry and was intercepted by Chandon Sullivan, his third pick of the year.

Packers 7, Browns 6 (5:13 remaining)

Aaron Rodgers set the franchise record with his 443rd career touchdown pass. The touchdown, set up by Darnell Savage’s interception, was highlighted by a 31-yard deep shot to Davante Adams against single coverage. The score came on third-and-5, a quick pass in the flat to Lazard who won the race to the pylon for the historic score. Mason Crosby made the go-ahead extra point.

And there's the record-breaker. Aaron Rodgers to Allen Lazard. That's the 443rd touchdown pass of Rodgers' career, a #Packers record. https://t.co/0f4zuWu4Jk

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) December 25, 2021

Browns 6, Packers 0 (8:37 remaining)

On Cleveland’s first snap, Baker Mayfield dialed up play-action and threw deep into double coverage. Intended for Donovan Peoples-Jones, safety Darnell Savage made a leaping interception at the 47. It’s Savage’s second interception of the season; he’s tied for third in the NFL with three dropped interceptions.

Browns 6, Packers 0 (8:45 remaining)

The Packers converted a fourth-and-1 with a toss to Aaron Jones but didn’t get any reward for the gamble. Jones went nowhere on first down, Aaron Rodgers hit Davante Adams for 4 on second down and linebacker Anthony Walker’s late pressure forced a third-down throwaway. The Browns will start their series at the 8 after a good punt, strong coverage and a penalty.

Browns 6, Packers 0 (12:21 remaining)

Cleveland enjoyed a nice, easy sleigh ride to an opening touchdown. On the second play of the game, Baker Mayfield dropped off a screen to running back Nick Chubb. The play-call was excellent, with the Packers sending a blitz. Chubb broke Eric Stokes’ tackle and safety Darnell Savage was called for a low block, tacking on additional yards. In total, the gain was for 54. Two plays later, Chubb powered through the masses for a 1-yard touchdown. Kicker Chris Naggar, who was a COVID replacement for Chase McLaughlin, was wide right on the extra point.

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Packers vs. Browns History

The Packers lead the series 13-7, a mark that includes a 23-12 victory at Lambeau Field in the 1965 NFL Championship Game.

They’ve won three straight, most recently in 2017, when the Brett Hundley-led Packers won 27-21 in overtime at Cleveland to keep the Browns on their path to an 0-16 season. Aaron Rodgers has won both career starts against Cleveland, with three touchdowns and no interceptions in 2009 and again in 2013. The Packers have played only twice on Christmas, splitting a pair of matchups against Chicago.

In that muddy championship game, Paul Hornung’s 13-yard touchdown run in the third quarter gave Green Bay a 20-12 lead. Hornung (105) and Jim Taylor (96) combined for 201 rushing yards. Cleveland’s Jim Brown was limited to only 50.

Packers Striking Gold Again

As reporters were being ushered to the exit of the Clarke Hinkle Practice Field on Thursday, the offense convened on the north side of the field. Channeling their best Goldmember from the Austin Powers in Goldmember movie, “I love gold!” everyone yelled in unison before starting their weekly red-zone period.

The Packers struck gold again and again last season in the red zone – or what they call the gold zone. Their 80 percent touchdown rate might have been the best in NFL history. After a sputtering first half to the season in which Green Bay was barely hitting at a 50 percent touchdown rate, it’s been a different story of late. The Packers have scored touchdowns on 70.6 percent of their red-zone possessions the past four games, the fifth-best mark in the league.

“Every single thing you look at, because we’re always our hardest critics, we’re always trying to figure out ways to be better,” offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett said. “And maybe even overdo it, trying to compensate for something. And I think for us, we’ve tried to mix those runs in. I think that’s the No. 1 thing, because it’s about running the football when you’re down there, first and foremost, and then focusing on the play-action stuff. Anytime you can get Aaron (Rodgers) out of the pocket or in a really solid pocket with a lot of protection, good things are usually going to happen. So, I think it’s just kind of going back to what we were doing in the past, not trying to get too crazy, but still mixing it up with everything. I think the guys have done an awesome job at executing.”

During his first nine games of the season, Rodgers completed 56.7 percent of his passes with 15 touchdowns, two interceptions and an 89.7 rating. During his nine games, Davante Adams caught 7-of-13 passes with three touchdowns.

During the last four games, Rodgers has completed 58.6 percent of his passes with nine touchdowns, zero interceptions and a 106.9 rating. Adams has caught 6-of-7 passes with four touchdowns. He is tied for the NFL lead in red-zone receptions and touchdowns during that span. With that, it's little wonder why the Packers are No. 1 in the NFL in scoring the past four games.

“You see the touchdown that Tae had this past week, we didn’t know they were going to double him in that situation and he still was able to win,” Hackett said. “It was awesome. And Aaron was able to deliver the ball to him.”

Cleveland's defense ranks 26th with a red-zone touchdown rate of 67.4 percent.

Packers-Browns Betting Information

The Packers are 7 1/2-point favorites over the Browns at PointsBet. At midday Saturday, 66 percent of the bets were on the Packers but 72 percent of the money was on Cleveland. The total has moved from 43.5 to open to 46.5 before kickoff. About 52 percent of the money is on the over.

The Packers are 11-3 against the spread, tied with Dallas for tops in the league.

Packers-Browns Inactives

Green Bay listed only three inactives, and one was a surprise. Defensive tackle Kingsley Keke had started eight times this season, including last week at Baltimore, when he played 64 percent of the defensive snaps. He was not on the injury report this week.

Green Bay’s other inactives were left tackle David Bakhtiari and right tackle Billy Turner with knee injuries.

Cleveland’s inactives are led by starting safety John Johnson. The others: quarterbacks Nick Mullens and Kyle Lauletta, linebacker Willie Harvey Jr. and receiver Ja’Marcus Bradley.

Returning from COVID

Packers defensive tackle Kenny Clark has been activated from the COVID list and will be in the lineup.

With the newly minted Pro Bowler returning to his 2019 form after an injury-plagued 2020, Green Bay’s defense has been strong for most of the season. He’s got four sacks and 12 quarterback hits. Among interior defensive linemen, he’s third in the NFL with 54 pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. He had 32 pressures last season.

“Kenny plays at the highest of levels,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “You can definitely see his importance last week when he wasn’t in there and the impact that it had on our defense. He is a special player, he’s a special person. I love how he works. He comes to work every day ready to go. He’s a great leader. Just a guy that you can’t have enough guys like that in your locker room.”

The Browns got five players back from the COVID list, led by quarterback Baker Mayfield and receiver Jarvis Landry. However, defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, cornerbacks Greg Newsome and Troy Hill, running back Kareem Hunt, center J.C. Tretter and left tackle Jedrick Wills remain on the COVID list. Plus, kicker Chase McLaughlin and defensive tackle Jordan Elliott were added to the list.

COVID Additions

In the couple hours before kickoff, the Packers placed cornerbacks Kevin King and Shemar Jean-Charles on the COVID-19 list. King was added less than 70 minutes before kickoff. To fill a roster spot, the Packers elevated practice squad safety Innis Gaines. It will be Gaines’ NFL debut, who went from DoorDash to making a run at a roster spot this summer.

It’s been another disappointing season for King, who has played in only eight games due to a litany of injuries. He’s played about 31 percent of the defense snaps. Upon his return last week from a shoulder injury, he played 13 defensive snaps as the dime defensive back. Presumably, Henry Black will be back in that role.

Jean-Charles, a fifth-round rookie, has played sparingly on defense with 23 snaps but has logged 189 snaps on special teams. That’s 53.2 percent of those snaps.

Practice squad outside linebacker La’Darius Hamilton, who has played 60 defensive snaps in five games, also was placed on the COVID list. He was not elevated for today’s game, though.

Pregame Reading

Five: Top Pass Rushers vs. Nijman

T.J. Watt? First in sacks.
Robert Quinn? Second.
Nick Bosa? Fourth.
Trey Hendrickson? Fifth.#Packers LT Yosh Nijman has faced all those guys (and Von Miller. On Saturday, he'll face Myles Garrett, who's third.https://t.co/TuNeCF6nKN

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) December 24, 2021

Three: Reasons to Worry

The #Packers are 7 1/2-point favorites for their Christmas game against the Browns. Of course, there are reasons to worry that tomorrow could be one big lump of coal.https://t.co/H4qO75SGPo

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) December 25, 2021

One: Coach of the Year Candidate

Did you know Matt LaFleur’s teams are 17-5 in games decided by one score? That .773 winning percentage is the best in the NFL. For some context, the #Packers have played the 19th-most one-score games but have the third-most wins and the fewest losses. https://t.co/Uff9vNqt2k

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) December 25, 2021

Browns at Packers in 1965 NFL Championship Game

The Green Bay Packers beat the Cleveland Browns 23-12 for the NFL Championship, a game played at muddy Lambeau Field on Jan. 2, 1966. Paul Hornung's 13-yard touchdown run in the third quarter was the decisive score.