Los Angeles — The Green Bay Packers almost squandered a late two-touchdown lead but held on for a 31-30 victory over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday to secure a place in the NFL playoffs.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw for three touchdowns, taking his career tally for the Packers to 442 to match the franchise record of icon Brett Favre.
But it was the Packers defense who made the difference right at the end, thwarting the Ravens’ two-point conversion attempt with 42 seconds remaining to preserve the victory.
“I think at moments like this, it’s important, as much as you win with class, you have to savour these a little bit. These are special,” Rodgers said.
Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were not so fortunate on Sunday as they missed an opportunity to clinch the NFC South title after being shutout 9-0 by the New Orleans Saints.
Green Bay led 31-17 in the fourth quarter but couldn’t put the game away.
Tyler Huntley, starting at quarterback for Baltimore in place of injured Lamar Jackson, scored two touchdowns in the final five minutes on a three-yard run and—with 42 seconds remaining—an eight-yard run.
But his two-point conversion pass attempt was incomplete and the Ravens fell into a first-place tie with Cincinnati in the AFC North.
Rodgers connected with Davante Adams on a three-yard touchdown to tie the score at 14-14 in the second quarter.
He hit Aaron Jones with a nine-yard scoring pass in the third quarter and found Marquez Valdes-Scantling in the fourth for a 28-17 lead.
The milestone day saw the Packers capture the NFC North title to become the first division winners of the season.
In Florida, Brett Maher kicked three field goals and the Saints defense dominated Brady who was shut out in a game for the first time since 2006.
Brady completed 26 of 48 for 214 yards, threw an interception and lost a fumble.
Brady’s two top receiving weapons, Mike Evans (hamstring) and Chris Godwin (knee), were sidelined in the second quarter and missed the rest of the game. Running back Leonard Fournette (hamstring) was sidelined for good in the third quarter.
‘I loved it’
New Orleans, who have won the last four NFC South titles, improved to 4-0 in regular-season meetings against Tampa Bay since Brady joined the team. That includes the most lopsided loss of Brady’s career, a 38-3 hammering in Tampa Bay last season.
“This is the defending world champions and we knew everything we had to do was on defense,” said Saints defensive end Cam Jordan. “We got after him (Brady), we hit him early and we hit him often.
“The way we attack their offense, I loved it.”
The Packers remained in the thick of the hunt for top seed in the NFC, while Arizona’s hopes in that direction dwindled with a shock 30-12 loss to the Lions in Detroit.
Arizona entered the contest tied for the best record in the league, but for the second straight week they were unable to get a win to lock up their first post-season berth since 2015.
Instead, they lost back-to-back games for the first time in 2021 to a Lions team that came into the contest with the worst record in the league.
Lions quarterback Jared Goff threw for three touchdowns, running back Craig Reynolds surpassed 100 rushing yards.
Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray completed 23 of 41 passes for 257 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
The Lions notched just their second win of the season against 11 defeats and one tie. Any pleasure they had in playing spoiler — at least temporarily — to Arizona’s playoff hopes may have been tempered by the fact that the victory, along with Jacksonville’s 30-16 loss to the Houston Texans, put the Jaguars in position to claim the top pick in the next NFL draft.
The Jags, playing their first game since coach Urban Meyer was fired before he could complete his first season in charge, could wind up with the top pick for the second year in a row.
The Dallas Cowboys moved closer to clinching a playoff berth with a 21-6 victory over NFC East division rivals the New York Giants.
The Cowboys could be assured of the division title on Tuesday if the Washington Football Team fall to the Philadelphia Eagles in one of the weekend’s three games that were postponed because of Covid-19.