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| ARI at NO | ATL at TB | BAL at MIA | BUF at CLE | CHI at MIN | CIN at SF | DEN at HOU | DET at SD |
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Week 15 Game Recap: Green Bay Packers 33, St. Louis Rams 14
What you need to know
| Green Bay Packers |
On another record setting day for QB Brett Favre, the Packer signal caller led the offense to 33 points and helped Green Bay secure its 12th victory of the year. He completed 63% of his passes for 227 yards and his scoring tosses to TE Donald Lee and WR Greg Jennings were his 25th and 26th touchdown passes of the year. Favre surpassed Dan Marino's mark for career passing yards with a fourth quarter completion to WR Donald Driver. Despite his effective day through the air, he did throw two interceptions to St. Louis S O.J. Atogwe.
Ryan Grant came into this game as one of the hottest running backs over the last five games, but he had a tough time picking up yards on the ground against the Rams. Grant finished the day averaging a paltry 3 yards per rush on 18 carries, but he did have a one yard scoring rush in the first quarter. The touchdown was Grant's fifth in his last four games. In addition to his ineffectiveness running the football, he turned the ball over to the Rams on a fumble following a first quarter pass reception.
Greg Jennings caught a 44 yard touchdown pass in the third quarter that put Green Bay up 27 --14. The score was Jennings' 12th of the year and marked the fifth game in a row in which he had a touchdown reception. He finished the game with 66 yards on four receptions.
With the Green Bay win and the Seattle loss, the Packers clinched a fist round bye in the play offs.
| St. Louis Rams |
Marc Bulger struggled in this game as he completed only 51% of his 40 pass attempts for 219 yards and two interceptions. Contributing to the quarterback's struggles throwing the ball was the Green Bay pass rush, which harassed the Rams' quarterback throughout the game. Bulger did have a first quarter, four yard scoring toss to WR Torry Holt which was his seventh passing touchdown of the year.
Steven Jackson had a season high 143 yards on the ground which included a 46 yard touchdown run that tied the game at 14. The Rams' running back finished the game averaging over 5.9 yards per rush on 24 carries and in addition to his duties running the football, Jackson hauled in all four of his pass targets for 27 yards. It's worth noting that Jackson's numbers could have been better, but his last touch of the game was four minutes into the fourth quarter.
Wide receivers Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt were targeted a combined total of 17 times, but those 17 targets resulted in only seven receptions for 83 yards. The receiving tandem was targeted numerous times in the end zone, but the only score through the air came on a four yard touchdown toss to Holt in the first quarter.
What you ought to know
| QB Brett Favre, Pass: 19 - 30 - 227 - 2 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 3 - -3 - 0 |
Favre was hot early on in this contest as he completed his first nine passing attempts to eight different Packer's receivers and helped lead Green Bay to a 17--14 lead at halftime. Over the first two quarters, the Packers' quarterback was 13 of 17 for 134 yards and he had a four yard touchdown pass to TE Donald Lee. Favre only had six completions in the second half, but one of those was a home run that went for a 44 yard touchdown pass to WR Greg Jennings. This marked the 10th game of the year in which Favre threw at least two touchdown passes. His two interceptions to O.J. Atogwe were his 12th and 13th picks of the year.
| RB Ryan Grant, Rush: 18 - 55 - 1, Rec: 2 - 5 - 0 (3 targets) |
Grant looked like he was off to a big game as he rushed for 18 yards on Green Bay's first series He capped that initial drive with a one yard touchdown run that gave the Packers a 7 -- 0 lead. The rest of the game was a struggle for Grant as he finished the contest with only 55 yards despite getting 18 carries. His long rush of the game went for a 24 yard gain that came early on in the fourth quarter. Grant's first quarter fumble on a passing play gave the ball to the Rams on the St. Louis 33 yard line.
| RB Brandon Jackson, Rush: 2 - 0 - 0 |
Jackson's only two carries came on consecutive plays in the fourth quarter as Green Bay was running out the clock.
| RB Vernand Morency, Rec: 2 - 17 - 0 (3 targets) |
Morency did not get a carry in this contest, but he did contribute in the passing game. Both of his receptions came on third downs and his first grab came on a third down play that extended a drive that led to Green Bay's first touchdown. His final target was a deep pass near the end zone, but the pass fell incomplete.
| WR Donald Driver, Rec: 5 - 80 - 0 (9 targets) |
Targeted a team high nine times, Driver led all Packers' pass catchers with five catches for 80 yards. His long reception on the day came on his first catch when he caught a Brett Favre pass that went for a 37 yard gain (most of which came after the catch). On his remaining four grabs, Driver averaged just over 10.5 yards per reception. He was targeted on a deep pass in the end zone in the third quarter but the ball was tipped away.
| WR Greg Jennings, Rec: 4 - 66 - 1 (6 targets) |
Jennings' day got of to a bad start as his first catch went for a loss of three yards. His second and third receptions were more productive as he took the Brett Favre passes for gains of 14 and 11 yards respectively. Jennings' last catch of the game went for a 44 yard touchdown grab which was his 12th scoring reception of the year. He was the intended target on both of Favre's interceptions.
| WR Koren Robinson, Rec: 2 - 16 - 0 (2 targets) |
Robinson made receptions on both of his targets. In addition to his pass catching duties, he was impressive in the kicking game averaging 43 yards on three kickoff returns.
| WR James Jones, Rec: 2 - 29 - 0 (4 targets) |
Jones' first target went for a 21 yard reception. His only other grab went for an eight yard reception on a third down and eight play. Jones did have a short yardage target down near the goal line that fell incomplete.
| WR Ruvell Martin, Rec: 1 - 10 - 0 (2 targets) |
Both of Martin's targets came on Green Bay's initial drive, but both passes fell incomplete.
| TE Donald Lee, Rec: 1 - 4 - 1 (3 targets) |
Lee's only catch of the game went for a four yard touchdown. The scoring catch was his fifth in the last six games. Despite going without a catch for the remainder of the game, he did draw a pass interference penalty that extended a Green Bay drive after a third down pass fell incomplete.
| PK Mason Crosby 4 - 4 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 15 points |
Crosby made good on all four of his field goal attempts which came from distances of 44, 50, 25, and 46. He also made all three of his extra point attempts.
| GB Rush Defense |
The Green Bay rush defense gave up 143 yards on the ground to RB Steven Jackson, which included a 46 yard scoring run in the second quarter. The Rams finished the game averaging over 5.5 yards per attempt on 31 carries.
| GB Pass Defense |
The Packers pass defense allowed Marc Bulger to complete 20 passes for 219 yards and one touchdown. The Green Bay pass rush finished with four sacks and S Atari Bigby had two interceptions that he returned for a total of 26 yards.
| QB Marc Bulger, Pass: 20 - 39 - 219 - 1 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 1 - -1 - 0 |
Bulger was effective in the first half as he led the Rams' offense to 14 points over the first two quarters and had St. Louis within three points at the intermission. He finished the half nine of 15 for 100 yards and had a four yard touchdown throw to Torry Holt in the first quarter. Over the final two quarters, Bulger competed only 46% of his passes (11 for 24) for 119 yards and he was sacked three times. Both of his interceptions to S Atari Bigby came on deflected passes.
| RB Steven Jackson, Rush: 24 - 143 - 1, Rec: 4 - 27 - 0 (4 targets) |
Steven Jackson ran hard in this game, as he continuously drove for additional yards after being hit by Green Bay defenders. Prior to halftime he had 103 yards and a touchdown on the ground and had two receptions for 16 yards. On his touchdown run, Jackson showed excellent vision as he started to the left and cut back to the open hole on his way to the 46 yard score. In the second half, he only had 40 yards rushing, but his last carry of the game came with 10:54 left in the fourth quarter.
| RB Antonio Pittman, Rush: 6 - 31 - 0 (5 targets) |
Pittman averaged over 5.1 yards per carry filling in for Steven Jackson when he needed a breather. In addition to his rushing duties, he also was targeted five times in the passing game, but all five attempts fell incomplete.
| RB Brian Leonard, Rec: 1 - 4 - 0 (1 targets) |
Leonard's only catch of the game came in the third quarter.
| WR Drew Bennett, Rec: 5 - 65 - 0 (7 targets) |
Bennett averaged 13 yards on his five catches and three of his grabs went for first downs. Two of those first down receptions came with the Rams operating in third and long situations. The first came on a third and four play when Bennett grabbed a Marc Bulger pass that went for a 13 yard gain. His second long third down conversion came later on in the third quarter when his 16 yard catch and run moved the chains on a third and 14 play. Bulger's first interception of the game deflected off Bennett's hands into the waiting arms of S Atari Bigby.
| WR Isaac Bruce, Rec: 4 - 72 - 0 (10 targets) |
Bruce was targeted the most of any Rams' ball catchers with ten passes thrown in his direction. Despite the high number of balls going his way, he finished the day with only four receptions. Bruce's only reception of the first half went for 37 yards and ended up being his longest gain of the game. His three second half grabs went for a total 35 yards with the longest of those catches being a 20 yard reception in the fourth quarter.
| WR Torry Holt, Rec: 3 - 21 - 1 (7 targets) |
Holt's first catch went for a ten yard gain that took the ball down to the Green Bay 33 yard line. Later on in the drive, he caught a four yard touchdown pass that tied the game at seven. The score was Holt's seventh touchdown of the year. His final catch was a nice grab on a low ball that went for a seven yard gain on a third and six play. Holt was targeted on a deep pass into the end zone at the start of the fourth quarter, but the pass fell incomplete.
| WR Dane Looker, Rec: 1 - 8 - 0 (3 targets) |
Looker's only catch of the game was an eight yard reception that came on a third and seven play.
| TE Randy McMichael, Rec: 2 - 22 - 0 (4 targets) |
McMichael's first target came with 3:55 left in the third quarter and went for four yards. His only other catch came in the fourth quarter and covered 18 yards.
| PK Jeff Wilkins 0 - 1 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 2 points |
Wilkins was short on his only field goal attempt from 48 yards out near the start of the fourth quarter. He did convert on both of his extra point attempts.
| STL Rush Defense |
The Rams' rush defense did an effective job against the Green Bay running game, holding the Packers to 52 yards on 20 carries. St. Louis did surrender a one yard touchdown to RB Ryan Grant on the Packers' first drive of the game.
| STL Pass Defense |
Despite brining pressure all game against Green Bay's offensive line, the Rams failed to register a sack. Brett Favre finished the game with 19 completions that went for 227 yards and two touchdowns. Safety O.J. Atogwe did have two interceptions in this contest that ended Green Bay drives.
