The Packers certainly had an odd game down in Miami on this Sunday. They had 10 days since their last game, when they had defeated the Vikings on Thursday Night Football. The Dolphins though had 14 games, because they had their bye week in week 5 after traveling to London to beat the Raiders there. Both defenses looked remarkably improved compared to the offenses that were playing, but everyone struggled at times. So let's start at the very beginning of the game.

Miami won the coin toss in this contest and decided to defer until the second half, and started the game by kicking the ball to the Packers. The Packers moved the ball very efficiently down the field, spanning 80 yards in just 9 plays, with the drive ending in a play action pass to Jordy Nelson, who was open in the back of the end zone. This was as easy as things would come for the Packers today, as they struggled to protect Aaron Rodgers and find anyone open in the secondary on a consistent basis today.

Miami responded well with their first touch of the ball when Jarvis Landry took the ball all the way back to the Green Bay 49 yard line on the very next play. The Packers were fortunate because Crosby was the one who got the tackle. They would only get one first down when Ryan Tannehill got it on the ground on a zone read rush. That would lead to a 48 yard Caleb Sturgis field goal. The Dolphins continually beat the Packers on Special Teams throughout the game, which was a major weakness for the Packers.

This theme rang true on the next Packer possession, because the Packers only gained one first down and then on the next third down play, Aaron Rodgers was sacked by Cameron Wake. Masthay came out for the punt and it was blocked by Freeny while the Dolphins would recover at the Packers 16 yard line. This seemed like it would be a huge difference maker for the Dolphins, but they were not able to convert in the red zone, despite getting all the way to the 1 yard line. Moreno got stuffed on several runs by Letroy Guion and the only pass attempted was deflected by Davon House on a throw intended for Brian Hartline. The Dolphins did not attempt a field goal though and turned the ball back over on downs.

The Packers would get the ball a little ways out of their own end before successfully punting the ball to the Dolphins. Masthay punted it out of bounds. Casey Hayward then made his interception on the next Dolphins possession near midfield, running it back to the Dolphins 36 yard line to put the Packers in scoring position again. Jordy Nelson had a good catch to put the Packers into the red zone, but Rodgers got sacked by Olivier Vernon on third down to force them into a field goal try by Mason Crosby. Crosby would easily nail the 43 yard attempt to give the Packers a 7 point lead. Not much else would happen in the first half, except that Ryan Tannehill was intercepted a second time, this time by Sam Shields to stop another Dolphins possession.

The second half got started with a bang, because there were scores on the first few possessions of the second half. First the Dolphins came down and Tannehill hit Jarvis Landry from 11 yards out for the rookie's first NFL touchdown reception. The Packers then methodically drove down the field on a 13 play, 80 yard drive that took 8:04 off of the game clock when Rodgers found Randall Cobb for a 5 yard touchdown. The Dolphins quickly responded though, getting a touchdown from Lamar Miller on a 5 yard run. This tied the game up at 17 a piece and it moved the game into the 4th quarter. The Dolphins forced a 3 and out by the Packers on the next possession and then Ryan Tannehill found Mike Wallace for a 5 yard touchdown reception to give the Dolphins their first lead of the game, 24-17. That would be the last time the Dolphins would score in Sunday's action.

The Packers moved the ball slowly on their next drive, getting into the Miami red zone yet again. The drive was highlighted by some sharp James Starks runs and some passes from Rodgers to Nelson, and it ended when Crosby would hit his second field goal of the afternoon, this one a shorter one from just 30 yards out to put the Packers down 20-24 with just over 4 minutes left in the game. The Packers would use their final two timeouts on the Dolphins possession, but ended up forcing a punt when the Dolphins chose to run Lamar Miller on third and 9. That is something that doesn't make any sense to this writer, because it is always best to keep the ball out of the hands of the opposing quarterback, especially when that quarterback is one of the best, like Aaron Rodgers. Micah Hyde received the punt and looked like he had no room to run forward at all, but then, all of a sudden, he burst through a crowd of Dolphins and ran out to the Packers 40 yard line for a 17 yard return, making them just 60 yards away from a potential victory.

Now this next drive was a drive that felt like a complete miracle, similar to the one that the Packers had when they beat the Bears in week 17 last year. Getting the ball with 2:04 remaining, the Packers started with a James Starks draw to get into Miami territory and a fresh set of downs at the two minute warning. Not much would happen on the first two plays, and Cameron Wake and Olivier Vernon sacked Rodgers on third down, but wait, Rodgers actually fumbled the ball when he was hit, and Packers offensive guard TJ Lang was the man who recovered. Still, with no timeouts, the Packers were rushing to the line to get a play called, but surprisingly, the Dolphins elected to use a timeout. After the timeout Rodgers found Nelson for a gain of 18 yards on 4th and 10, and Nelson accidentally stepped out at the 30 yard line, despite having more room in front of him. On third down the Packers found James Starks for a 10 yard reception to get down to the Dolphins 20 yard line, and instead of spiking it, Rodgers called a play, and the Packers had a 4 yard gain by Randall Cobb on the reception. But Cobb fell down and didn't get out of bounds. The clock was still running. Rodgers makes the spike motion and gets the snap with less than 20 seconds left, but there is no spike, instead he throws a wide receiver screen to the right side of the field to rookie receiver Davante Adams. Adams would step out of bounds at the Miami 4 yard line with just 6 seconds remaining on the clock. With a new first down, the Packers lined up in a 5 wide set, and Rodgers found Andrew Quarless in the front right corner of the end zone for a game winning touchdown scored with exactly 3 seconds remaining. This gave the Packers the lead of 27-24 as time was about to expire.

Miami would take a knee on the kickoff at their own 26 yard line. On their offensive snap they would try a decent hook and lateral play, but it ended up getting onto the field where Julius Peppers would recover after time had elapsed to end the game with a Packers victory. Next week the Packers will go back home to Lambeau Field to face the Carolina Panthers, and Miami will be heading the same direction as well, as they play a little further south at Soldier Field as they will face the Chicago Bears.