Green Bay Packers quarterback, Aaron Rodgers threw four touchdown passes in their 31-17 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.

Rodgers, continues his dominance under center throwing at least two touchdown passes in six consecutive games. Rodgers tossed his first touchdown pass in the first quarter to wideout Randall Cobb.

Cobb continues to excel as one of Green Bay’s biggest offensive threats especially with the absence of Greg Jennings. Cobb caught his second touchdown pass of the game in the second quarter, putting the Packers ahead 14-7.

Packers receiver James Jones put Green Bay ahead 21-7 before the half on a 28 yard touchdown pass. Jones finished the game with four receptions for 61 yards along with his touchdown. Jones and Cobb stepped it up especially after wideout Jordy Nelson injured his ankle in the first quarter.

Tight-end Tom Crabtree’s lone catch came in the 4th quarter and resulted in a 72 yard touchdown to finish off the Cardinals. The 72 yard touchdown was Green Bay’s longest play of the season.

The Packers finally effectively ran the ball with the contribution of a few runners. Running back James Starks carried the ball 17 times for 61 yards, his best game this season. Alex Green also contributed with 11 caries for 53 yards. Rodgers, scrambled eight times for 33 yards and wideout Cobb carried the ball three times for 29 yards. They ran for a total of 176 yards, the most since 2009 against the Cleveland Browns.

The injury bug hit Green Bay again this week and hopefully everyone can return healthy after their bye week. Other than losing Nelson, Packers lost tackle Bryan Bulaga and linebacker Clay Matthews. All three exited the game and did not return.

As for the Arizona Cardinals, quarterback John Skelton threw for 306 yards one touchdown and one interception. His 306 yards was the first time Skelton threw for over 300 yards this season. His lone touchdown pass was to star wideout Larry Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald caught six passes for 74 yards along with his 31 yard touchdown catch in the 4th quarter.

Running back LaRod Stephens-Howling carried the ball 17 times for 51 yards and one touchdown in the second quarter.

After starting the season 4-0, the Cardinals are on a five game losing streak, averaging 10.6 points per game in their last five games. The Cardinals will have their bye week next week but will have another tough match-up Sunday, November 18, against the Atlanta Falcons.

Green Bay is on a four game winning streak entering their bye week. Coming off their bye, they will have a tough divisional rival match-up at Ford Field against the Detroit Lions.

Image Courtesy : Arizona Cardinals

The article Aaron Rodgers Leads Packers Past Cardinals appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

The San Diego Chargers are finally playing well, while the Buffalo Bills have completely lost their way.

Behind Philip Rivers’ three touchdown passes, two of which went to Antonio Gates, the Chargers kept their playoff hopes barely alive in their 37-10 victory over the Bills Sunday, while eliminating the Bills from playoff contention for the 12^th straight season.

The Chargers have won two straight following a six game losing skid to move to 6-7, but a few minutes after their game ended the Broncos beat Chicago in overtime to move into first place atop the AFC West at 8-5. The Raiders are still ahead of the Chargers as well, despite losing to Green Bay sitting at a 7-6 record.

“Until they say we’re done, there’s always a chance,” said safety Eric Weddle, “Even if we were done, we’d be playing our hearts out.”

The Chargers will have to win out and hope they get some help from other teams to have a shot at winning the AFC West, but it won’t be easy as the Ravens, in a divisional race of their own, are up next for the Chargers.

For Buffalo, this marked their sixth straight loss and the final nail in the coffin on a season that started out with so much promise. The Bills started 5-2, but haven’t won in over a month and a half.

“I think the last few weeks we made some progress. Today obviously we took a step backward,” Buffalo quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick said. “We didn’t do anything well.”

Both teams came into the game desperate for a win to keep their seasons alive and the Chargers put their foot on the gas pedal and never let up.

Rivers finished with 240 yards on 24 of 33 passing and running back Ryan Matthews continued his good running with 114 yards on 20 carries.

The Bills tried to make it a game when Rivers fumbled a ball that was recovered by Bryan Scott in the end zone for a touchdown that pulled the Bills close at 16-10, but San Diego kept their composure and with a successful fake punt by Weddle, the Chargers were able to punch it in on Antonio Gates’ two yard reception.

“We had a very small window to make that a game and we didn’t stop that drive when they faked the punt,” Chan Gailey said. “We didn’t stop that drive and we couldn’t get anything going offensively consistently.”

After the touchdown on Buffalo’s first play, Fitzpatrick was picked off and it was returned by Steve Gregory for the touchdown to make the score 30-10 and seal the game.

Fitzpatrick finished the game 13 of 34 for 176 yards and two interceptions a far cry from the numbers he was putting up at the beginning of the year.

San Diego will need some help from other teams if they hope to make the playoffs trailing in the AFC West. Their schedule also doesn’t lend itself to them as they face the Ravens, Lions, and Raiders to finish the year. The Bills, now looking to play spoiler have the Dolphins, Broncos, and Patriots remaining on their schedule.

The article Bills Eliminated From Playoff Contention Falling to the Chargers 37-10 appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

For the first time in their 92 year history the Green Bay Packers are 13-0 after defeating the Oakland Raiders in a rout, 46-16. The Packers dominated on both sides of the ball, and showed early on that it was going to be a long day for the Raiders. On the Raiders first possession of the game, pressure from Clay Matthews forced Carson Palmer to throw an ill advised pass that was picked off by D.J. Smith.

That would be the first of four picks the Green Bay defense would force Palmer to throw. The Packers made sure not to squander those turnovers, converting them into 21 points on the day. Fourteen of the points came off of Ryan Grant touchdown runs and both before halftime.

Grant’s first touchdown was a 47 yard scamper on the first offensive play of the day for the Packers, his second came during a six yard run in the second quarter to put the Pack up 31-0.

While the rest of team was firing on all cylinders, the frontrunner in the MVP race, Aaron Rodgers had a quiet night by his standards.  Rodgers only threw for 2 touchdowns with 281 yards and for the first time this season had a passer rating under a 100. Rodgers “pedestrian” numbers can be attributed to the fact that he did not play a single down in the fourth quarter.

With the game well in hand Coach McCarthy wisely replaced him with backup Matt Flynn. Coach McCarthy wishes he would have replaced star wide receiver Greg Jennings who went down in the third quarter with a knee injury. The details of Jennings’ injury are being held close to the vest by the Packer organization, simple being classified by McCarty as a sprain that warranted further evaluation.

If Jennings injury causes him to miss any serious time, this is the best stretch for him to be absent. The Packers have locked up the top seed in the NFC playoffs, earning them a first round bye week, giving Jennings five weeks before it’s absolutely necessary for him to make his return.

With the divisional race and home field advantage throughout the playoffs locked up, the only concern for the Packers is do they make an attempt at a perfect season or sit their starters for the rest of the season. If the Packers elect to strive for 19-0, they run the risk of getting one of their star players injured during a “meaningless” game, which could have repercussions on their run for a second straight championship.

Image Courtesy of   https://www.facebook.com/Packers

The article Packers Roll Raiders in Blowout, 46-16 appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

In an offensive slugfest the Green Bay Packers defeated the New York Giants, 38-35. The tone for the game was set from the very beginning, as the New York Giants drove down the field to score a touchdown on the first possession of the game. On a broken play, Giants quarterback Eli Manning delivered a bomb to Travis Beckum.

Beckum made great cutbacks to make a couple Packer defenders miss on his way into the endzone. After a completed extra point kick from Lawrence Tynes, the giants were up 7-0, and for the first time in a month, the Packers were trailing in a game. The explosive offense from the Packers, led by MVP frontrunner Aaron Rodgers, put their hands on the ball yet.

Late in the first quarter, Aaron Rodgers knotted the game up, when he found Jermichael Finely wide open near the goal line for an easy touchdown score. The Giants would drive back down the field to score a field goal reestablishing their lead, and letting the Packers know they were in for a fight.

It was a fight the Packers were more than willing to participate in. In the first play of the second quarter, the Packers dealt the Giants a blow they never saw coming. Packer linebacker Clay Matthews picked off Manning’s intended pass to Ahmad Bradshaw, and returned it for a touchdown to give the Packers their first lead of the day.

The Giants defense forced Rodgers to throw a rare interception. The ball was picked off by Chase Blackburn, and returned inside the Packers redzone, culminating in a 1-yard run by Brandon Jacobs for the touchdown. With the Giants back on top 17-14, it was once again Rodgers’ time to put the team on his shoulders.

Starting at his own 20, Rodgers engineered an 80-yard drive that ended with a touchdown pass to Donald Driver, who was all alone in the back corner of the endzone. The Packers would go up 21-17, and never relinquished the lead.

However, the Giants did make it interesting late in the fourth quarter. With 3:34 left on the clock, Manning lead the Giants down the field to score a touchdown and a two-point conversion to tie the game up at 35. The only mistake made on the drive is that the Giants left 58 seconds on the clock.

Rodgers took full advantage of his time and completed one pass to Finley and one to Jordy Nelson, who made a spectacular catch, to put the Packers in field goal territory. After a quick pass to Greg Jennings to gain better field goal position, Mason Crosby kicked a 30 yard game-winning field goal.

With the win, the Packers moved to 12-0 and clinched the NFC North Division title for the first time since 2007. The Giants fall to 6-6 and are locked in a tight NFC East division race with the Dallas Cowboys.

Image Courtesy of  https://www.facebook.com/Packers

The article Packers Find a Way to Win Late Over Giants appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

The Green Bay Packers managed to stay unbeaten as they defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a close one, 35-26. For the first time this year, the Packers did not look like the offensive juggernaut that teams around the NFL have become accustomed to. The Packers were pushed to the edge by the Buccaneers, but prevailed thanks to an Aaron Rodgers touchdown pass to Jordy Nelson late in the 4^th quarter.

The Packer offense didn’t necessarily struggle, but it lacked the familiar flow seen in previous games. After the game Rodgers was noticeably dejected with his performance he stated, “I didn’t throw the ball very well. I’m not trying to be ridiculously humble right now, I’m just frustrated. The ball wasn’t coming out the way I wanted it to today.”

Rogers lack of comfort with the ball showed itself when he was picked off by corner Elbert Mack. The Buccaneers offense took advantage of the rare gift, Rodgers has only thrown four picks this year, and Josh Freeman delivered a quick strike to Dezmon Briscoe for a touchdown to pull them within two points. Freeman carved up the Packer defense up on the drive completing five passes in a row.

A sight the defense could not have been accustomed to, because for most of the day Lagarette Blount ran wild on the field. Including an impressive 54 yard run where Blount bulldozed through the arms of seven Packer players.

However when the Packer defense needed to come through at the end of the game, they forced the Buccaneers to turn the ball over on downs and effectively sealed the victory. The Packers defense needs to make all the necessary adjustments if they want win next week, because their opponent is Matthew Stafford and the Detroit Lions who just threw for five touchdowns.

Image Courtesy of  https://www.facebook.com/Packers

The article Green Bay Packers Stay Perfect appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

The Green Bay Packers stay perfect on the season as they defeated the Minnesota Vikings 33-27, spoiling rookie Christian Ponder’s hope for his first win as the starting quarterback.

Aaron Rodgers once again played like the leading candidate for NFL MVP should by throwing 300+ yards, making three touchdowns and no interceptions. There were some early offensive issues for the Packers as they were only able to muster two Mason Crosby field goals in the second quarter. This allowed the Vikings to jump out to a 17-13 lead behind the play of Ponder and star running back Adrian Peterson.

The Packer offense then came to life, scoring 20 points in the second half and quelling any notion that there may be issues in the offensive unit. Rodgers was never worried about being down at the half, stating, “There’s not a lot of panic in this team. We’ve been down a couple times at halftime, just a lot of focus.”

The Packers came out firing, scoring touchdown on their first two offensive possessions of the half.  A blown defensive coverage allowed Greg Jennings to jog into the end zone for a 79 yard reception from Rodgers. The second drive ended in a 2 yard touchdown reception to Jermichael Finley, and put the Packers up 27-17.

For as well as the Packers played, the Vikings would not go down with a fight, making a 4^th quarter comeback that eventually fell short. Peterson was a huge part of the Viking offense rushing for almost 200 yards on the day. Even with his big day Peterson was obviously upset stating, “It’s frustrating to come out against the defending champs and be that close and not to come up with the win.”

Peterson’s huge rushing numbers did help ease the scoring burden on rookie quarterback Ponder. Ponder played much better than expected against the defending champions, throwing for 200+ yards and two touchdowns.

However there were glaring flashes of his inexperience, throwing two interceptions in the second half that both resulted in Packer field goals, which ended up being the difference in the game. The Vikings may have lost the game but the future looks bright for them on the legs of Peterson and on the arm of Ponder.

Image Courtesy of   http://www.facebook.com/Packers

The article Green Bay Packers Spoil Christian Ponder’s Debut appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.