In a rare occurence, the Patriots looked beatable

For the first time in recent memory, the Patriots looked like a beatable team—a far cry from the bunch that blew away two division leaders by a combined count of 81-10 in the last two weeks. New England struggled for much of the night against Green Bay here on Sunday, presenting the Packers with an opportunity to snatch an unlikely road victory.

The opportunities were there, but the Packers did not seize them. And if you’re going to beat Tom Brady and the Patriots at Gillette Stadium down the season’s stretch run—they’re 18-1 here in December—you’ve got to be perfect. The Packers weren’t, and wound up with a 31-27 loss.

In a game with few mistakes, it was the plays the Packers didn't make that cost them in a 31-27 loss to the Patriots, Sean Deveney writes.

“Certainly wasn’t one of our better games,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “Obviously, I have got to do a better job preparing this team than what I did this week. We couldn’t handle a lot of the basic things that they did. I thought that was disappointing. But we had a few big plays and they had a few big plays, and fortunately we were able to make a few more than they were. … In the end, it all worked out, but we have got a lot of work to do. We have got to play a lot better than this or our season won’t last much longer.”

It was Green Bay’s game to lose, even with rookie quarterback Matt Flynn starting in place of Aaron Rodgers, who could not get clearance to play after suffering a concussion last week. Flynn was solid all night (24-for-37, 251 yards, three touchdowns and one interception) and directed Green Bay’s short-yardage attack like a seasoned vet. Green Bay outgained the Patriots, 369-249, and won the time-of-possession battle by a whopping count of 40:48 to 19:12.

“He played well,” receiver Donald Driver said. “It’s not him. We didn’t execute well enough and against a team like this, you have to.”

A few glitches in execution were the difference. It will be a tough game film for coach Mike McCarthy’s charges to stomach. They held a 10-point lead in the first half, and led, 27-21, in the fourth quarter. But it was the plays they didn’t make that would eventually haunt them. The Patriots haven’t recorded a turnover in an NFL-record six straight games, and Brady established a new record for consecutive passes without an interception (292). Green Bay blew several chances to end those streaks:

• On the Patriots’ first drive of the game, Brady dropped back on second-and-17 at the 50 and sailed a pass to the deep right side for Rob Gronkowski. Cornerback Charles Woodson got two hands on the ball, but dropped it. Brady converted the third down on the next play, and BenJarvus Green-Ellis scored on a 33-yard run on the play after that.

• A few minutes later, Brady went deep for Brandon Tate, but Sam Shields was with him stride-for-stride. Shields, too, had two hands on the ball but dropped it.

• In the fourth quarter, on third-and-8 at the Green Bay 20-yard line, Brady zipped a short pass over the middle to Julian Edelman. But the ball bounced off Edelman’s hands and floated toward linebacker Erik Walden, who dove but allowed the ball to fall through his arms to the turf. The Patriots kicked a field goal on the next play.

The Patriots, now 11-2 and the Super Bowl’s odds-on favorite, were hardly perfect themselves on Sunday. The Packers wore down their defense and outplayed them in most phases of the game. But perfection is required to take down this team at home at this time of year—the Patriots have now won 18 of their last 19 December home games—and the Packers didn’t quite have that.

Dan Connolly, return specialist?

It was probably the strangest kick return of the season in the NFL, and maybe one of the strangest in league history. Near the end of the first half, Packers kicker Mason Crosby knocked a squib kick to the Patriots’ 25-yard line, where it was fielded by 6-4, 313-pound lineman Dan Connolly, who wrapped both arms around the ball as if anticipating a quick takedown. But when no Packer touched Connolly, he cut to the left and kept running, returning the kick to the Packers’ 4-yard line and setting up a key Patriots touchdown.

“That was the longest kickoff return ever,” Tom Brady said. “I’ve never seen anything happen so slow in my life. They won’t be kicking to him anymore, I’ll tell you that.”

No revenge for Matthews

Linebacker Clay Matthews came into the game with a bit of a history with the Patriots. At the NFL draft two years ago, Matthews—whose father played for Bill Belichick in Cleveland—suspected that the Patriots would select him in the first round. Instead, the Patriots traded the pick to Green Bay for a second-rounder and two third-rounders in this year’s draft.

“Our decision there was just for a combination of reasons,” Belichick said. “We made that trade because we felt that was best for our football team.”

Part of Belichick’s game plan was to limit Matthews’ impact with double-teams, and it worked. Matthews had just two tackles on the night.

Tom’s terrific

Brady has thrown just four interceptions this year, and now has 31 touchdown passes. That’s a ratio of 7.75-to-1, which would break his own record of 6.25-to-1, set in 2007 when he threw 50 touchdowns and eight interceptions.