NFL: Rodgers edges Brady as Packers hold off Bucs

LOS ANGELES -- Aaron Rodgers scored only his second career victory over Tom Brady as the Green Bay Packers squeezed past the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 14-12 on Sunday.

The fifth -- and possibly final -- meeting of the two NFL superstar quarterbacks failed to deliver a high-scoring shoot-out at Tampa's Raymond James Stadium and instead unfolded as a gritty defensive battle.

Brady had looked poised to engineer one of his trademark late rallies after leading the Bucs on a 13-play 89-yard drive that resulted in a touchdown for Russell Gage with just seconds remaining.

That score left the Bucs within a two-point conversion of forcing overtime. 

But a costly delay-of-game penalty took Tampa Bay further away from the goalline and Brady's floated pass to Gage was batted away as Green Bay effectively iced the game.

Rodgers threw for 255 yards with two touchdowns and one interception while Brady finished with 271 yards and one touchdown.

"It's been a lot of fun competing against Tom over the years, and it's always fun to come out on top because it hasn't happened many times," Rodgers said afterwards.

Brady meanwhile bemoaned Tampa Bay's misfiring offense.

"Defense played great, but we gotta play better on offense," he said. 

"We haven't scored many points all season. We gotta get a lot better."

There was a similarly nervy finale in Miami, as the Miami Dolphins' defense shut down Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills to grind out a 21-19 victory in a hard-fought NFL divisional battle.

Bills quarterback Allen finished with 400 passing yards and two touchdowns but was found wanting on Buffalo's final two drives as they chased a game-winning touchdown.

Miami had taken a 21-17 lead after Chase Edmonds crashed over from close range near the end of the fourth quarter.

Allen took Buffalo upfield on the next possession, but missed a wide open Isaiah McKenzie in the end zone on fourth down as a gilt-edged chance went begging.

- 'Butt punt' goes viral -

Buffalo's defense forced Miami to concede a safety after a bizarre play where punter Thomas Morstead kicked the ball directly into the backside of team-mate Trent Sherfield.

The incident -- hastily dubbed the "Butt Punt" on social media -- left Buffalo needing only a field goal to snatch victory.

However their attempts to get the ball into field goal range fell short when McKenzie gathered an Allen pass but was unable to reach out of bounds to stop the clock. 

The Bills failed to spike the ball to halt play and time expired.

"Last week you saw what our offense could do, but this week you can see our defense is capable of stepping up and being able to finish a tough game like that," Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said.

"We're starting to find our identity as a team," added Tagovailoa, who had been forced to leave the field with an apparent head injury before returning in the second half.

US media reports said the NFL Players Association will investigate how Tagovailoa was allowed to come back on the field despite appearing to have suffered a concussion.

Dophins receiver Tyreek Hill meanwhile was simply relieved the team survived Morstead's "Butt Punt".

"I've never seen a butt punt," Hill said. "Next time (Sherfield's) gonna catch it with his butt cheeks."

In other games on Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs saw their unbeaten start to the season come to an end in a 20-17 defeat on the road to the Indianapolis Colts.

Colts quarterback Matt Ryan threw two touchdowns and 222 yards -- including a clutch game-winning pass to Jelani Woods with 24 seconds remaining -- to seal victory for the Colts.

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes finished with 262 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Elsewhere, Lamar Jackson threw four touchdowns and 218 passing yards in the Baltimore Ravens' 37-26 win over the New England Patriots while the Philadelphia Eagles improved to 3-0 with a 24-8 defeat of the Washington Commanders.

The reigning Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams meanwhile relied on rushing touchdowns from Cam Akers and Cooper Kupp to propel them to a 20-12 divisional victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Glendale.

In Los Angeles, however, the Chargers were given a brutal mauling by Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars, slumping to a 38-10 home defeat at SoFi Stadium.

Lawrence finished with three touchdowns and 262 yards from 28/39 passing in a comprehensive win. 

Agence France-Presse

NFL: Green Bay quarterback Rodgers wins third MVP award

TAMPA -- Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers was named NFL's Most Valuable Player for a third time on Saturday after a stellar 2020 campaign in which he led the Packers to a league-best 13-3 regular-season record.

Seeded first in the NFC, the Rodgers and the Packers missed out on a Super Bowl berth when they fell to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC championship game.

Rodgers, 37, had perhaps the best season of his 16-year career, leading the NFL with 48 touchdown passes and a completion rate of 70.7%. He threw just five interceptions all season.

Rodgers joins a short list of three-time winners that features Jim Brown, Johnny Unitas, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and his own former Green Bay teammate, Brett Favre.

"The guys on that list are guys I grew up watching, idolizing," said Rodgers, who also won the award in 2011 and 2014. "To join that list of guys who've won it more than twice is pretty special.

"To have won it in my fourth year as a starter was very special, and now to win it in my 13th year as a starter, in a new offense, is pretty amazing and something I'm really proud of," Rodgers said.

The NFL announced its season-ending awards in a televised ceremony on Saturday night as part of the festivities surrounding Sunday's Super Bowl 55 in Tampa.

Tom Brady and the Buccaneers will be taking on Patrick Mahomes and his reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.

Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald scooped his third Defensive Player of the Year award in four seasons.

Donald was the best defensive player on the Rams' top-ranked defense in 2020.

He generated a league-high 76 quarterback pressures, including in playoff games, with 13 1/2 quarterback sacks.

The 29-year-old's 85.5 career sacks rank third-most in a player's first seven seasons since the NFL began tracking individual sacks in 1982.

He's just the third player ever to win three Defensive Player of the Year awards, joining J.J. Watt and Lawrence Taylor.

Washington Football Team quarterback Alex Smith was named Comeback Player of the Year, making his first appearance in a game in week five since November 18, 2018, when a grisly right leg injury ended his season and threatened his career.

Smith, who endured a severe infection and 17 surgeries, played eight games and went 5-1 as a starter to help Washington make the playoffs for the first time since 2015.

He missed the first-round game against Tampa Bay with a calf injury.

He finished with 1,582 passing yards with six touchdowns and eight interceptions.

Coach of the Year honors went to Cleveland's Kevin Stefanski, who guided the Browns to their first playoff win in 25 years in his first season at the helm.

Stefanski garnered half of the 50 votes, with Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott earning seven.

Stefanski's Browns posted their first 11-win season since 1994 -- the last time Cleveland won a playoff game.

His offensive system allowed third-year quarterback Baker Mayfield to flourish, and helped make the Browns the league's third-best offense in the red zone.

Agence France-Presse

Green Bay quarterback Rodgers done for season

Aaron Rodgers' triumphant return from a broken right collarbone lasted all of one week.

On Tuesday, the Green Bay Packers placed their star quarterback on injured reserve, officially ending his season after he returned from an eight-week absence to start Sunday's loss against the Carolina Panthers.

Rodgers was hit seven times in Sunday's 31-24 loss, including three sacks.

"Aaron Rodgers is sore, rightfully so," Packers coach Mike McCarthy told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Monday when asked about the possibility of Rodgers starting versus Minnesota on Saturday.

"He was hit too many times, took two big hits. So we're working through that."

  
Rodgers completed 26 of 45 passes for 290 yards and had three touchdown passes opposite three interceptions in his return in Carolina.

Green Bay (7-7) was eliminated from playoff contention thanks to Atlanta's 24-21 win versus Tampa Bay on Monday night.

A two-time NFL MVP and six-time Pro Bowler, the 34-year-old Rodgers passed for 1,675 yards, 16 touchdowns and six interceptions over seven games this season, his 13th in the NFL.

Rodgers ranks second all-time in franchise history in passing yards (38,502) and touchdowns thrown (313), trailing only the legendary Brett Favre in both categories (61,655 and 442, respectively).

Among active quarterbacks, Rodgers ranks eighth in career passing yards and sixth in touchdowns.

The Packers also announced on Tuesday the signing of quarterback Joe Callahan. The 24-year-old Callahan spent the first six weeks of this season on the practice squad before being elevated to the active roster on Saturday.

Callahan has not appeared in a game this season. He was originally signed by the team as an undrafted free agent out of Wesley College in 2016.

In addition, Green Bay released fullback Joe Kerridge from the active roster and quarterback Jerod Evans from the practice squad.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Panthers down Packers, spoil Rodgers' return

LOS ANGELES -- Amid the hoopla surrounding the return of Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the Carolina Panthers kept their focus on Sunday -- and produced a 31-24 win over the Packers.

"We said we were focused on us and that's what we did," said Panthers safety Mike Adams.

Rodgers was back in action for the first time since breaking his right collarbone on October 15.

He threw three touchdown passes -- but was also intercepted three times as the Panthers defense forced four turnovers in a win that kept them neck and neck with New Orleans in the race for the NFC South title.

All of Rodgers' interceptions came on under thrown balls. He completed 27 of 45 passes for 287 yards.


"I didn't throw it as well as I'm used to throwing it ,and that hurt us," the two-time NFL Most Valuable Player said.

Meanwhile, Panthers quarterback Cam Newton threw three of his four touchdown passes in the second half as Carolina built a 31-17 lead.

Rodgers lost his primary target, wide receiver Davante Adams, in the third quarter to a crushing hit from Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis that sent Adams to the sidelines and into concussion protocol.

"He's a repeat offender, so I'm sure the league will deal with him. I think it was an unnecessary hit," said Rodgers, who had thrown an interception on the play.

"Unfortunately, if I throw a better ball, it doesn't happen," he said.

After closing the gap with a 24-yard TD pass by Rodgers with 2:43 to play, Green Bay recovered an onside kick to keep the pressure on.

But Mike Adams recovered a Packers fumble with less than two minutes left.

While Rodgers said he was "disappointed" in his performance, he added that he was expecting to play next week.

"We'll see how I feel tomorrow and go from there," he said. "I'm a little sore. I'm a competitor. Until they tell me otherwise, I'm expecting to play."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Packers' Rodgers breaks collarbone, may be out for season

Green Bay Packers All-Pro quarterback Aaron Rodgers suffered a broken right collarbone during Sunday's game against the Minnesota Vikings, the team said.

The Packers said in a tweet that there was a chance Rodgers could miss the rest of the season.


Rodgers suffered the injury in the first quarter after taking a hard hit from Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr. Rodgers, rolling out to the right on a second-and-nine play from the Green Bay 39, was hit by Barr after releasing a pass that fell incomplete.

"Losing Aaron Rodgers speaks for itself. In my opinion, he's the best player in football," Packers head coach Mike McCarthy said.

Rodgers appeared to land on his throwing arm and laid on the turf for several seconds before trainers attended to him. He left the field under his own power and exchanged words with members of the Minnesota defense on his way to the sideline. There was no penalty called on the play.

After a brief examination on the sideline, Rodgers was taken away on a cart. He was replaced by third-year pro Brett Hundley.

It was the second broken collarbone of Rodgers' pro career. He missed seven games in the 2013 season after suffering a similar injury versus Chicago when he broke his left (non-throwing) collarbone.

Rodgers, 33, led the Packers to the Super Bowl title after the 2010 season. A two-time league most valuable player, he has earned All-Pro honors six times.

He was 2-for-4 passing for 18 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions in Sunday's game. He has thrown 13 touchdown passes and had three interceptions this season.

"We pray for Aaron Rodgers' speedy recovery," Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen said. "He is one of the best quarterbacks in the game. I pray for him. I love playing against him. He is a competitor."

(Editing by Gene Cherry)

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Packers, Falcons set to give Georgia Dome explosive sendoff

The Georgia Dome's final game could fittingly be an explosive one with the Atlanta Falcons and Green Bay Packers poised to blow the roof off the place when the NFL's most potent offenses clash on Sunday for a berth in the Super Bowl.

With Atlanta's Matt Ryan and Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers leading supercharged offences against leaky defences, Las Vegas bookmakers have set a record high "over-under" -- or the total combined points scored -- for a playoff contest at 60 points.

When both teams met in the regular season Atlanta won 33-32 after Ryan tossed a last-minute touchdown and many expect more fireworks in Sunday's NFC Championship.


"Both teams, from when we played before, are a better version of what they were at that time," said Atlanta coach Dan Quinn. "It's going to be a heck of game."

"There have been a number of times (against the Packers) where it has totally come right down to the finish. These kinds of games usually do."

The Georgia Dome, which will be demolished later this year, has not always been home sweet home for the Falcons who won more games on the road than at home during the regular season. But Atlanta will take any perceived advantage they can going against the surging Packers.

After a mid-season wobble the Packers have run the table as Rodgers predicted, averaging 30.8 points per game over the home stretch before impressive playoff wins over the New York Giants and top-seeded Dallas Cowboys.

Both Rodgers and Ryan will attack creaky defences that were buried near the bottom of the league rankings.

Ryan, whose 38 touchdown passes this season trailed only the 40 thrown by Rodgers, will try to exploit a depleted Packers secondary with the help of Julio Jones, who finished second in receiving yards but has been slowed by a sore foot.

Rodgers is likely to be without his favourite target Jordy Nelson, who led the league in touchdowns with 14 but missed the division playoffs with damaged ribs.

"I've never played receiver with broken ribs, either. We'll find out, hopefully," said Nelson. "It's one of those things that you'll figure out when you get out there."

Even without Nelson, Rodgers will have no shortage of weapons in speedy Randall Cobb, Ty Montgomery, Davante Adams and Jared Cook, who made a spectacular sideline catch to setup Green Bay's winning field goal against Dallas.

(Editing by Frank Pingue)

source: news.abs-cbn.com