Sometimes the things just seem to fall into the right place for the teams that keep winning. The Green Bay Packers have struggled to get through some of their most recent games, and they struggled here in week six against the San Diego Chargers. But both teams played a well played game against one another in their week six battle on the not yet frozen tundra of Lambeau Field.
Well, the tandem of Philip Rivers and Keenan Allen were absolutely on fire at the beginning of the game, as Rivers found Allen for the first three plays of the game, getting a completion on each pass. They picked up 22 yards on those three plays, but then they were unable to keep the drive alive as the Packers shut down the offense and took possession after a punt.
But the Packers first play went to James Starks and he picked up 25 yards. They would continue to drive down the field in a no huddle offense, including a key third down conversion when Aaron Rodgers picked it up with his legs to convert a third and seven for 15 yards. The touchdown on the drive was scored on a Starks catch from Rodgers.
The Chargers would follow it up on the next possession when they drove down the field but instead of getting seven points they only ended up with three points. That's what happens after back to back incomplete passes thrown towards Antonio Gates. Josh Lambo would put the points on the board with a 36 yard field goal in order to score the Chargers first points.
The Packers would score on their next drive as well. This time it was one of the longer touchdown scores of the season for the Packers, as Starks ended up with both of the first two touchdowns of the game. Starks would start off trying to run the ball to the left, but the Chargers defense had over pursued, but then the Packers running back cut back to the right and found a lot of open green grass. He was able to get into the end zone after going all of 65 yards on the carry, and probably 100 yards if you count the side to side running as well.
The Chargers next possession would end up with a bit of a rocky conclusion. They drove all the way down to the red zone again, and on a fourth and three Rivers attempted a pass down the field to the right side and Micah Hyde was in good coverage on Antonio Gates, but Gates was unable to make the catch near the goal line. Why didn't Mike McCoy go for the field goal in this situation? That remains unclear. Obviously, teams think that they need to score a lot to keep up with the Packers, but with 10 minutes left in the second quarter and a field goal makes it a one possession game, maybe that is the best option for your football team.
The Packers would move down the field again, but there was a key injury that happened on the drive. Ty Montgomery would go down with a leg injury when he converted a first down. The Packers offense simply didn't seem to function quite as well without the former Stanford Cardinal wide receiver on the field. Jeff Janis did make a big 46 yard completion for his first catch of the season and Rodgers was able to go for the deep pass when Jeremiah Attaochu had jumped offside. The drive would end with Mason Crosby nailing a 23 yard field goal.
There wasn't a whole lot of action left in the first half. Melvin Gordon fumbled the ball and the Packers were able to recover with Clay Matthews recovering the football. The Chargers defense held though and then they went down and Keenan Allen made a spectacular catch to get the ball down to the half yard line and they called timeout with two seconds left. Dontrelle Inman was able to make McCoy look better with a wonderful catch on the fourth and goal from the one yard line. They were then only down by a score of 17-10 as the game went into halftime.
Ladarius Green would be the man to tie the game up for the Chargers. After the Chargers forced a punt from the Packers on their first possession of the second half, they went right down the field with the aid of their passing game. Malcom Floyd had a big catch on the drive as he picked up 50 yards on the play.
Then, late in the third quarter, Randall Cobb made his biggest catch of the day when they got 26 yards to get down to the Chargers 39 yard line. John Kuhn had a big 19 yard reception on a third and three to get the Packers down into the red zone. James Jones would be the man with the touchdown on the drive as the Packers took a lead again as they went up 24-17.
From there the teams both alternated field goals to get to the crucial point of the game. The Chargers were down seven with just 2:37 left in the game. They had 80 yards to go in those 157 seconds. They picked up quite a bit before the two minute warning as Gates caught one for 11 yards and then Danny Woodhead caught a pass for another 12 yards to shrink the field to 57 yards. The Chargers had all three timeouts as well.
Gates then caught the next two passes to get the ball into Packers territory to their 39 yard line and the Chargers would call their first timeout with 1:19 left in the game. Woodhead, Gates, and Green all caught 12 yard passes back to back to back to get the ball down to the three line. Woodhead then rushed the ball forward to get them within two yards of the goal line and tying the game up. The Chargers would then call their second timeout to stop the clock with 28 seconds remaining.
Gates had a incomplete pass sent his way on second down and Woodhead lost a yard on third down, before the Chargers took their final timeout with 20 seconds left before the biggest play of the entire game. Woodhead ran an out route out of the backfield and had some space as he was on the goal line, Rivers threw the ball his way, but it was deflected by Damarious Randall for a turnover on downs as the Packers would take the ball at the three yard line and Rodgers would take a simple knee in the victory formation in order to get the victory at 27-20.
Statistical Leaders
Passing: Philip Rivers (43/65, 503 yards, 2 touchdowns)
Rushing: James Starks (10 carries, 112 yards, 1 touchdown)
Receiving: Keenan Allen (14 catches, 157 yards)
Next Up
The Green Bay Packers (6-0) will be enjoying their bye week before they travel out west to Mile High Stadium to face the Denver Broncos (6-0). That game will take place on November 1, 2015. Meanwhile the San Diego Chargers (2-4) will be looking to rebound inside their division next week. That is when they return to Qualcomm Stadium to face the Oakland Raiders (2-3).