GREEN BAY, Wis. — Hours after the Green Bay Packers watched the Chicago Bears fail to give them any help when they botched the end of the early Thanksgiving game against the Detroit Lions, the Packers figured they better at least help themselves Thursday at Lambeau Field.
Green Bay handled business against the Miami Dolphins, 30-17, in the finale of the three-game Thanksgiving Day slate and remained within shouting distance of the NFC North-leading Lions (11-1). The Packers will still need help to catch Detroit, but they can start the process by winning at Ford Field in next Thursday night’s NFC North showdown.
They’re also in much better form than they were in the Week 9 loss to the Lions at Lambeau Field, coming off decisive wins over the San Francisco 49ers and Dolphins — which are also the only two games this season that quarterback Jordan Love did not throw an interception. Without wide receiver Romeo Doubs (concussion) against the Dolphins, Love threw a pair of touchdown passes to Jayden Reed, and Green Bay added a rushing touchdown by Josh Jacobs — his third straight game with a touchdown and his fifth rushing TD in those three games.
Here’s what to know for both teams:
Pivotal play: It happened early, but the tone was set for the rest of the night when Packers backup quarterback Robert Rochell recovered a muffed punt by Miami’s Malik Washington inside his own 10-yard line. Instead the Dolphins getting the ball after a three-and-out by the Packers on the first drive of the game, Love got the ball back and threw the first of his two touchdown passes to Reed, and the Packers never looked back.
Most surprising performance: Maybe the Packers have a pass rush they can count on after all. At least they could for a time during the second quarter when it was still a 14-3 lead. That’s when Lukas Van Ness got home and sacked Tua Tagovailoa on second down, and then Kingsley Enagbare sacked him on third to force a punt. For Van Ness, it was his second straight game with a sack after recording only one and just two quarterback hits in the first 10 games of the season. Even defensive tackle Kenny Clark, who did not have a sack in the first 11 games of the season, finally got one in the fourth quarter.
Promising trend: Two weeks ago, the Packers were one of the worst red-zone offenses in the NFL. They ranked 27th with a touchdown rate of 48.7% when inside the opponents’ 20-yard line. They then rattled off nine straight touchdowns on drives inside the red zone before finally settling for a field goal on their opening possession of the third quarter against Miami. After going 5-for-5 on red-zone touchdowns against the San Francisco 49ers, they reached the end zone on their first four possessions inside the 20 against the Dolphins. It was the second-longest streak in the NFL this season, according to ESPN Research. The Packers had to settle for another field goal in the red zone with 5:02 left in the fourth quarter, but by then, the game was in hand. — Rob Demovsky
Next game: at Lions (8:15 p.m. ET, Dec. 5)
The Dolphins brought more than 3,000 pounds of cold-weather gear to Wisconsin for their prime-time game against the Packers, and it still took them nearly three quarters to warm up.
Miami allowed more than 7 yards per play in the loss — in yet another disappointing performance in cold temperatures. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak and complicated their already-improbable playoff push after a 2-6 start to the season.
Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa completed 37-of-46 passes for 364 yards and two touchdowns but an offense that had been surgical on third down over the past month converted just 4-of-14 attempts and turned the ball over on downs twice.
Miami fell behind 27-3 in the third quarter but appeared to be on the verge of a comeback after scoring a touchdown and driving to the Packers’ 1-yard line immediately after. Trailing 27-11, the Dolphins failed to convert on fourth-and-goal, effectively icing the game.
The Dolphins are now two games back of the Denver Broncos for the final seed in the AFC playoff field, and have the 14th-hardest remaining schedule, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index — which gives them a sub-20% chance at making the playoffs.
QB Breakdown: Tagovailoa didn’t particularly move the needle in either direction Thursday. He averaged 6.4 air yards per attempt heading into the final drive, but he was sacked five times by a relentless Packers defense. He was highly efficient when pressured, completing 7-of-8 passes for 62 yards. However, he missed Tyreek Hill on multiple throws that are ordinarily completions and overthrew De’Von Achane on fourth down late in the second quarter — which opened the door for the Packers to drive down the field and kick a field goal as time expired in the half. With an inefficient run game, rendered useless by a negative game script, Tagovailoa and the Dolphins’ offense struggled to finish drives in the blowout loss.
Promising/troubling trend: It has to be the Dolphins’ performance in cold weather — which is less of a “narrative” as players and coaches have described it, and more of an ironclad fact. Tagovailoa’s record in temperatures under 50 degrees fell to 1-7, and the Dolphins lost their seventh straight outdoor game when temperatures at kickoff were below freezing. They’ll play two more road games in potentially-freezing weather, against the Cleveland Browns and New York Jets in the final two weeks of the regular season.
Biggest hole in the game plan: Stopping the run. Miami had held five straight opponents under 100 rushing yards entering Thursday night’s game; the Packers eclipsed 100 yards in the first half. Four players recorded at least 20 rushing yards for Green Bay, which moved the ball at will thanks to the success of its run game. The Packers averaged 7.3 yards per play Thursday in a non-competitive Thanksgiving nightcap. — Marcel Louis-Jacques
Next game: vs. Jets (1 p.m. ET, Dec. 8)
