Packer Central

Rodgers Sets Record, Jones Clinches Victory Over Eagles

Aaron Rodgers became the fastest player to 400 touchdown passes in NFL history and Aaron Jones iced the game with a tackle-breaking, 77-yard touchdown.

Bill Huber

GREEN BAY, Wis. – In 2017, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz was in the MVP mix and considered one of the up-and-coming players in the NFL. His play helped the Eagles win the Super Bowl. Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, meanwhile, missed a big chunk of the season for the second time with a broken collarbone.

In 2018, Wentz further cemented his status as one of the game’s rising stars while Rodgers again looked like a fading quarterback as the Packers missed the playoffs for a second consecutive season.

Wow, have things changed.

On Sunday, Rodgers further cemented his status as an MVP candidate. Wentz, meanwhile, watched most of the second half from the bench. The Packers controlled much of the game before capturing a too-close-for-comfort, 30-16 victory at Lambeau Field.

The win boosted Green Bay to 9-3 and kept it one game behind New Orleans in the race for the No. 1 seed. Seattle, which was tied with Green Bay entering the day, was shocked at home by the New York Giants.

With Wentz on the bench, rookie backup Jalen Hurts found Greg Ward for a 32-yard touchdown on fourth-and-18. Still, it was a 23-10 game with about 8 minutes remaining. The game flipped, though, when the Packers punted and rookie Jalen Reagor served the latest dose of embarrassment to Green Bay’s special teams when he returned the kick 73 yards for a touchdown.

Just like that, it was 23-16. When Green Bay went three-and-out again, the Eagles had a chance to tie the game. However, the Smith Bros. – Preston and Za’Darius – sacked Hurts on second down and Jaire Alexander almost intercepted a third-down pass.

The game was over moments later. Aaron Jones burst through a hole, ran through a couple tackle attempts about 10 yards downfield and was off to the races. By the time he reached the end zone with a 77-yard touchdown, he broke six tackles – two by safety Rodney McLeod.

That restored order and made a winner of Rodgers on a special day.

Entering the day with 397 career touchdown passes, Rodgers through a 1-yard touchdown pass to Davante Adams on fourth-and-goal midway through the second quarter, a 25-yard touchdown pass to tight end Robert Tonyan just before halftime and a 9-yarder to Adams midway through the third quarter.

That made Rodgers the seventh player in NFL history to throw 400 touchdown passes and by far the fastest to reach the milestone.

The touchdown capped a 99-yard touchdown drive. On first down from the 1, Rodgers went deep for a gain of 42 to Adams. A couple plays later, Rodgers went deep again for a gain of 31 to Allen Lazard. On both plays, Avonte Maddox had good coverage but the passes were impeccable. Finally, on first-and-goal from the 9, Rodgers fired a quick pass to Adams. Adams caught the ball near the line of scrimmage and beat cornerback Darius Slay for the record-setting score. Mason Crosby missed the extra point.

Darnell Savage’s third interception in two weeks clinched the victory.

Rodgers finished 25-of-34 passing for 295 yards and the three touchdowns, good for a passer rating of 128.9. Adams made it seven games in a row with six-plus catches and at least one touchdown – tying Terrell Owens’ 13-year-old NFL record – with 10 grabs for 121 yards and two scores. Jones ran 15 times for 130 yards and the clinching touchdown.

Green Bay had seven sacks, including two by Kingsley Keke and 1.5 apiece by Za’Darius Smith and Rashan Gary.

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.

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