Packers Survive Against Shorthanded Ravens

The Green Bay Packers held off the Baltimore Ravens 31-30 to win their third consecutive NFC North championship.

Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers did exactly what they should have done against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.

Exit in victorious fashion and with a third consecutive NFC North championship.

Rodgers tied Brett Favre’s franchise record for career touchdown passes and the Packers held off the feisty Ravens 31-30 when Darnell Savage and Eric Stokes broke up the go-ahead two-point pass. While it might have lacked style points, the Packers improved to 11-3 by posting their fifth win of the season against a team with a winning record.

“Well, it’s never easy in this league,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “And like we told our team, we’ll always celebrate victories but also there’s a lot to take from that game in terms of what we need to improve upon. Really in all three phases, there’s definitely room for improvement. We’re certainly happy about winning the North again, but also understand that there are there very tough games in front of us and we’re going to have to continue to work each and every day to continue to improve. We’ll take it one day at a time, one game at a time in order for us to get to where we want to go.”

While this was a battle between division leaders and prime Super Bowl contenders, this was an on-paper mismatch of significant proportions. The Ravens not only were without 2019 MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson but they lined up without their two starting corners, two starting safeties and a veteran backup cornerback; plus, their starting slot exited with a concussion in the first half.

It took a bit, but Rodgers finally got rolling vs. the depleted secondary.

And, once the Packers found some answers against rampaging tight end Mark Andrews, who scored two early touchdowns, the defense put the brakes on Tyler Huntley and the Baltimore offense for a big chunk of the game.

But all of that was only temporary, and a runaway turned into a nail-biter.

When the Packers failed to deliver the knockout punch midway through the fourth quarter following a fourth-down stop, the Ravens pulled within a touchdown on Huntley’s 3-yard scramble. With a 31-24 score and 4:47 on the clock, the Packers needed a couple first downs to clinch the game. Instead, Justin Madubuike beat right guard Royce Newman and sacked Rodgers on third down. A bad punt gave the Ravens the ball at Green Bay’s 49 with 2:24 remaining.

Huntley ran for 15 when Preston Smith took his rush inside and lost contain. Back-to-back completions to Andrews for gains of 6 (on third-and-5) and 12 moved the ball to the 11. One play later, Huntley scrambled up the middle for an 8-yard touchdown. That made it 31-30 with 42 seconds to go.

Ravens coach John Harbaugh went for the win instead of overtime. The Ravens ran a sprintout for Andrews but Savage and Stokes each got their hands on the ball. That set the stage for an onside kick. Green Bay’s special teams, which was outplayed for the second consecutive week, saved the day on running back AJ Dillon’s recovery of the onside kick.

“We're obviously playing for a lot,” Rodgers said. “We still got a chance to be the 1 seed, so that's the focus. This is a good football team we just played who's fighting for their playoff lives, and play another good team next week who's in the mix and a team after that in the mix and then the team after that who just knocked off a 10-win football team. Nothing's easy at this point of the season and it's good to get these wins.”

Kicker Mason Crosby wins opening coin tosses as often as most people win the lottery. But Crosby won this one, which gave the Packers the ball to start the second half. Green Bay took advantage to take a 21-14 lead coming out of the break. Rodgers converted a third-and-6 on a bobbling catch by Davante Adams and a third-and-1 in which it appeared tight end Josiah Deguara was stopped short of the chains.

On third-and-10 from the doorstep of the red zone, the Packers benefitted from a ticky-tack interference call on cornerback Kevon Seymour for his fleeting tug of Allen Lazard’s jersey on Lazard’s drop. Given a gift first-and-goal at the 9, Rodgers threw a touchdown pass to Aaron Jones. Lazard picked linebacker Josh Bynes, allowing Jones to turn his route upfield for an easy score.

The Ravens pulled within 21-17 on the ensuing possession. A false start on guard Ben Cleveland turned a fourth-and-1 opportunity into a 38-yard field goal. An 11-yard touchdown pass to Marquez Valdes-Scantling not only put the Packers up 28-17 but was Rodgers' 442nd career touchdown pass, tying Brett Favre's franchise record.

What it means: The Packers remain No. 1 NFC and clinched their third consecutive division title under Matt LaFleur. They started the day tied with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Arizona Cardinals atop the NFC with 10-3 records. Arizona was stunned at Detroit it one of the biggest upsets of the NFL season. It wasn’t just that the Lions won but the ease with which they won, a 30-12 romp on the strength of three touchdown passes by Jared Goff. The Buccaneers are hosting the slumping Saints (6-7) on Sunday night.

Game ball: Eric Stokes gave up a lot of completions but most of them were nickel-dimers thanks to consistently excellent tackling. And then he made the …

Key play: With the game on the line, Eric Stokes helped break up the two-point pass to tight end Mark Andrews.

Key moment: With Green Bay up 28-17, they had a first-and-goal at the Ravens’ 6 and a chance to slam the door. But the Ravens rose to the occasion and the Packers failed to finish the job. A completion to Davante Adams lost 6 yards and created a third-and-goal at the 11. Aaron Rodgers had Allen Lazard wide open for the clinching and record-breaking touchdown but threw the ball too far. A field goal made it 31-17 with 9:26 remaining and kept the Ravens alive.

Key stat: Aaron Rodgers finished 23-of-31 passing for 268 yards and three touchdowns, good for a 132.2 passer rating. In his last four games, despite barely practicing, he’s thrown 13 touchdowns vs. zero interceptions. The Packers weren’t perfect but they had zero turnovers.

What’s next: The Packers will host the Cleveland Browns on Christmas. The Browns (7-6) were supposed to host the Las Vegas Raiders on Saturday but that game was pushed to Monday because of COVID taking a big bite out of Cleveland’s roster.