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| ARI at TB | BAL at PIT | CAR at TEN | CIN at BUF | DAL at PHI | DEN at DET | GB at KC | HOU at OAK |
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Week 9 Game Recap: Green Bay Packers 33, Kansas City Chiefs 22
What you need to know
| Green Bay Packers |
The Packers came off of a Monday night victory at Denver to play their second consecutive road game against an AFC West opponent. The Packers seemed to in control for most of the game, as Brett Favre was able to consistently move the Packers through the air. Favre led the Packers to ten unanswered offensive points after going down by six with about six minutes left in the game.
The stats do not indicate that Green Bay had a great day rushing, but Ryan Grant provided enough of a threat to keep the Chief defense honest and keep pressure off of the Packer passing attack. Packer running backs usually found good running room and reached the second level of the defense before being tackled.
Greg Jennings was the main beneficiary of the Packers passing attack. He caught both of Favre's touchdowns, and appeared to be the main deep threat.
| Kansas City Chiefs |
The Chiefs were able to stay in the game due to Packers turnovers and mistakes. They intercepted Favre twice, with the second interception leading to a Larry Johnson touchdown to end the first half. Two of the Chiefs three touchdowns were aided by Packer pass interference penalties that put them in excellent position to score.
Damon Huard was efficient in running the Chiefs offense. In the early parts of the game he was unable to move the offense, but later he was able to take advantage of aggressive Packers corners to guide the Chiefs to a fourth quarter lead.
Larry Johnson had little room to run, as the Packers defense was consistently in the backfield and was able to close the running lanes before Johnson could get going. The offensive line was not able to provide running room for Johnson and Priest Holmes, or to protect Huard from the Packers pass rush.
What you ought to know
| QB Brett Favre, Pass: 24 - 34 - 360 - 2 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 2 - -1 - 0 |
Favre showed that he still has some life in his arm at the age of 37. When his receivers were open, he was able to hit them in stride to allow them to pick up good yards after the catch. When the receivers appeared to be covered, he showed that he still has a strong arm and was able to rifle the ball to them. Favre's arm strength was on display when he hit Greg Jennings for the game winning 60 yard touchdown with a throw off of his back foot. He also showed that he is still capable of making the occasional poor decision, as evidenced by his two interceptions. The first pick was only partially his fault as the receiver broke off the route and Favre threw the ball behind him. The second pick came when he threw behind Koren Robinson and led to a Chiefs score just before halftime.
| RB Ryan Grant, Rush: 19 - 55 - 0, Rec: 4 - 37 - 0 (5 targets) |
In his first game as the starting back Ryan Grant led the team in rushing, hitting the hole quickly and decisively. He was consistently able to get to the second level of the defense before being tackled. While his stats may not show it, he was able to provide the Packers with a legitimate rushing threat to take some of the pressure off of the passing game. Grant's numbers on the day could have better, but the officials ruled that he went out of bounds on the Kansas City 15 yard line on an apparent touchdown pass from Favre.
| RB Brandon Jackson, Rush: 5 - 18 - 0 |
Brandon Jackson did not look good when the Packers called on him to give Grant a rest. He seemed to be slow to the hole and was hit behind the line of scrimmage most of his carries. The longest run on the day came on a delayed draw on the first drive of the second half to get better filed position for a punt. Jackson was on the field for the final Packers drive of the game as they were able to move into position for the game winning field goal.
| RB Vernand Morency, Rush: 1 - 6 - 0 (3 targets) |
Vernand Morency only saw limited action in relief of Ryan Grant and Brandon Jackson. He did have one memorable play at the end of the first half when he kicked the ball out of bounds on an apparent lateral from Brett Favre, a call that was later changed to an incomplete pass, that would result in a delay of game penalty.
| WR Donald Driver, Rec: 5 - 99 - 0 (6 targets) |
When Brett Favre needs a big play Donald Driver is the receiver that he looks for. Driver came up with two big plays in the second half. On the first play he was wide open on a 27 yard completion that gave Green Bay field position close to mid field on a drive that resulted in a missed field goal. The second big play was a great one handed reception that set up a Crosby field goal. He also had a first down reception that led the Packers out of a hole deep in Chiefs territory on the game winning touchdown drive.
| WR Koren Robinson, Rec: 3 - 18 - 0 (5 targets) |
Koren Robinson saw significant action in his first game back from a year long suspension. He was not targeted until late in the first half. Robinson appeared to have some rust as he missed two of the first three passes thrown to him, the first one resulting in an interception. He did display good concentration by catching two of Favre's notorious rifle passes in the fourth quarter.
| WR Greg Jennings, Rec: 3 - 85 - 2 (5 targets) |
Greg Jennings provided the deep threat in the Packers arsenal. Both of his touchdown catches came on plays where he was wide open. The first score came on a pass over the middle where he caught the ball inside the ten and put some moves on Chiefs defenders to score. The second score, which proved to be the game winner, came when he out ran the defensive backs on a post pattern. Jennings did have one bad play where he broke off a route that led to Favre's first interception on the opening Packers drive.
| WR James Jones, Rec: 3 - 32 - 0 (4 targets) |
Jones did not see much action as the number three receiver. His playing time decreased with the addition of Koren Robinson to the offensive game plan.
| TE Donald Lee, Rec: 4 - 78 - 0 (5 targets) |
During the early part of the game when the Packers were trying to establish their game plan, Lee was the primary target. Lee was the target of three of the first five passes thrown by Favre, and was wide open on all of his targets in the first half. As the game went on, and Green Bay fell behind, Lee saw his role change as Favre began to involve his receivers into the offense.
| TE Ryan Krause, Rec: 2 - 11 - 0 (3 targets) |
Krause only saw action in relief of Donald Lee as Favre targeted the tight ends early in the game.
| PK Mason Crosby 4 - 5 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 15 points |
Crosby was good on three of four field goal attempts, with his only miss on a 52 yard attempt that went wide left.
| GB Rush Defense |
The Packers were able to get good penetration into the Chiefs backfield and were able to stuff the backs for little to no yards on the majority of the running plays. The Chiefs were not able to get any type of consistent rushing attack going against the Packers front seven.
| GB Pass Defense |
When discussing the Packers pass defense a difference needs to be made between the front four and the defensive backs. The front four was able to apply pressure to Damon Huard for most of the game, but the aggressive defensive backs committed two costly pass interference penalties that led to two of the three Chiefs touchdowns. The aggressiveness did pay off in the form of the game clinching interception return for a touchdown by Charles Woodson.
| QB Damon Huard, Pass: 19 - 32 - 213 - 2 TD / 2 INT |
Damon Huard had an average game, which should be considered good considering the lack of a consistent rushing attack that was not able to keep pressure off the passing game. Huard had a hard time getting comfortable in the pocket and appeared to try and move at the first sign of trouble. When he did find time to throw, he heavily relied on Tony Gonzalez to gain the yards needed to either get a first down or to be placed in favorable second and third down situations. As an example of the type of day that Huard had, his two interceptions directly led to 14 points, including the game clinching interception that was returned for a touchdown.
| RB Larry Johnson, Rush: 19 - 53 - 1, Rec: 3 - 42 - 1 (3 targets) |
The workhorse of the Chiefs offense is Larry Johnson. Johnson was the main focus of the offense before leaving with an ankle injury with eight minutes left in the game. Rushing yards were hard to come by as the Chiefs linemen were not able to open up any decent running lanes. He found little room to run as he was met in the backfield by Packers defenders before he could get a head of steam on most rushing plays. His final stats look good thanks to his two touchdowns, the first of which was set up by a Packers pass interference penalty in the end zone late in the first half.
| RB Priest Holmes, Rush: 3 - 8 - 0, Rec: 1 - 8 - 0 (4 targets) |
During the first three quarters of the game Holmes only saw action in relief of Larry Johnson. That changed when Johnson left the game in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury. Holmes looked good catching balls out of the backfield, but did not look good rushing the ball. He was hindered by both poor run blocking by his offensive line and rust due to his lack of playing time in coming back from his neck injury.
| WR Samie Parker, Rec: 2 - 22 - 0 (7 targets) |
Parker saw the most targets of any Chiefs wide out, but was only able to convert them into two receptions. But he did play an important role in two of the three touchdowns. On the first score he drew a pass interference penalty on a pass in the end zone that was caught out of bounds, giving the Chiefs first and goal on the one yard line. He also drew a pass interference penalty on the play immediately preceding the touchdown pass to Tony Gonzalez.
| WR Jeff Webb, Rec: 2 - 26 - 0 (5 targets) |
Webb was involved in the play that would prove to be the turning point of the game. With the Chiefs down by a point Huard completed a 36 yard pass along the left sideline to Webb. The initial ruling on the field was a complete pass, the call on the field was challenged and overturned. That play seemed to take the momentum away from the Chiefs. Webb gained all of his yardage in garbage time on the final two completions.
| WR Dwayne Bowe (1 targets) |
Bowe was only targeted one time, on the second possession. He was hit hard on the play and dropped the ball. The only other ball thrown his way was on a two point conversion attempt.
| TE Tony Gonzalez, Rec: 10 - 109 - 1 (14 targets) |
Gonzalez is the number one receiving option for the Chiefs offense. He was the first option of most pass plays and was able to draw the attention of the Packer linebackers to open up the field for deep passes to Samie Parker and Jeff Webb. Gonzalez showed why he should still be considered one of the top tight ends in the game by catching almost everything thrown to him, even when he was well covered. His touchdown reception was on a great leaping catch while well covered by a defender.
| TE Kris Wilson, Rec: 1 - 6 - 0 (2 targets) |
Wilson only saw limited action as relief to Tony Gonzalez.
| PK Dave Rayner 0 - 0 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 2 points |
Rayner did not attempt any field goals, but did make one mistake in the kicking game. After the Chiefs scored to go ahead 14--13 Rayner kicked the following kickoff out of bounds, giving the Packers excellent field position.
| KC Rush Defense |
The Chiefs run defense was adequate, occasionally getting good pressure on Packers backs. The Packers were able to get their backs to the second level against the linebackers, but were not able to break off any long runs. The defense seemed to be most vulnerable to runs that were designed to go off tackle.
| KC Pass Defense |
The Chiefs were unable to get any consistent pressure on Brett Favre. The two interceptions by the defensive backs were the result of either poor passes or receiver routes. Packers receivers were able to get open as a result of Favre having time to throw.
