It couldn't have been much worse than what happened in the first half and early second, however.
What might have happened if the Chiefs had made a better early effort to attack downfield, we cannot say. Kansas City scored touchdowns on three straight possessions, primarily by finding open receivers deep down the middle of the field. Then for some reason after this horrendous interception. Smith and the Chiefs seemed hesitant to throw the ball downfield, and it stunted the offense. Kelce was tackled well short and the Chiefs punted. Nope! Facing a third-and-13 on the opening drive of the half, Smith dumped a pass off to Kelce 14 yards from the first down marker. His only other completion of the half went for 1 yard.ĭown 24-7 to open the second half, one might have thought the Chiefs would have tried to get the ball downfield to overcome a sizable deficit more quickly. He completed one big play to Kelce for 38 yards in which Kelce did much of the work. Smith targeted wide receivers three times in his seven first-half passing attempts, and completed none. Three things we learned: 1) The Chiefs should try throwing downfield Smith threw an incompletion, took a sack and that was that. The Packers recovered the onside kick, then went three-and-out to give the Chiefs the ball with 19 seconds remaining. They may have sapped too much time off the clock, however.Īfter a failed 2-point conversion, just 1:24 remained for the Chiefs to mount a potential comeback. They went on a long touchdown drive, finding the end zone on an inside give to Charles on play No. The Chiefs had just pulled within 16 points on their previous drive, technically two possessions after the two point conversion, and had the ball at their own 17-yard line. If the Packers were ever vulnerable, it was after being forced to punt with just under six minutes remaining in the game. In the second half, the Packers scored touchdowns on two of their first four possessions, both to Randall Cobb, who had three total on the night. The problem for the Chiefs was that the Packers' offense never really slowed down. The Chiefs finally hit a long pass when Smith found Maclin deep in the middle of the field. On the Chiefs' next possession, they went 89 yards for another score, this time capped by Jamaal Charles' second touchdown of the game. After an ugly interception in the third quarter, Smith hit Jeremy Maclin on a short pass to cap an 11-play, 80-yard drive. Smith never really loosened up until late. To that point, Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith was just 2-of-7 for 39 yards, 38 of which came on a big play by tight end Travis Kelce. At halftime, the Packers led, 24-7, and had held the Chiefs to just 79 total yards of offense. Green Bay was in perfect balance in the first quarter, picking up 74 yards rushing and receiving, each, on its way to a 14-0 lead. The Packers' first two touchdown drives set the tone. Aaron Rodgers led the way, going 24-of-35 for 333 yards and five touchdown passes. The Green Bay Packers looked every bit like a Super Bowl contender in a 38-28 win on Monday at Lambeau Field. The Packers will play at Detroit on Thanksgiving, and the Vikings will host the Bears next Sunday.The Kansas City Chiefs ended an ignominious streak, and that's the best thing that can be said about their night. The tie kept the NFC North winless on the day. The tie keeps the Packers (5-5-1) a half-game behind the Lions (6-5) and Bears (6-5) who both lost today. Gerhart added 91 yards on eight carries in the second half. Peterson finished with 146 yards on 32 carries and a touchdown.
The Vikings were able to control the game behind the running of Adrian Peterson and Toby Gerhart. He protected the ball and did not have a turnover.
His passer rating of 103.9 is the highest this season in eight starts. Neither team could get close enough to score again.Ĭhristian Ponder looked good for the Vikings as he completed 21-of-30 passes for 233 yards and a touchdown.
The Vikings answered with a 35-yard field goal from Blair Walsh with 6:36 left in overtime. Both teams kicked field goals in overtime to preserve the tie-Mason Crosby kicked a 20-yard field goal after the Vikings defense held the Packers on a 1st-and-goal from the 7-yard line.