Patriots’ Defense Closes Out Dramatic Victory Over Packers

Fourth quarter, 2:00, Patriots 31-27: Tully Banta-Cain was flagged for illegal hands to the face — a legitimate penalty, but he had some hands in his own face, too — and that negated a Brandon Meriweather interception that should have given the Patriots a chance to seal the game. The Packers have it on the New England 35 and need a touchdown to win. It's four-down territory from here on out, and they've got a first down here.

Fourth quarter, 4:22, Patriots 31-27: The Patriots only ate up 30 seconds and went three-and-out. The Packers have the ball at their own 43 and used one of their timeouts. Very poor possession for the New England offense.

Fourth quarter, 4:52, Patriots 31-27: The Packers wasted a 45-yard kickoff return and punted after four plays after they got up to the New England 40. Wes Welker called for the fair catch — replacing Julian Edelman as the clutch option — and the Patriots take possession at their own 11. Green Bay has three timeouts and the two-minute warning, so the Patriots are still a few first downs away from icing this game.

Fourth quarter, 7:14, Patriots 31-27: Tom Brady hit Aaron Hernandez on a quick out to the left side, and Hernandez wiggled free from the grasp of Sam Shields and high-stepped into the end zone to give the Patriots 10 straight fourth-quarter points. As below-average as the Patriots have looked Sunday, they've managed to build a four-point lead midway through the final quarter. What the defense does on this series could determine the final outcome.

Fourth quarter, 9:38, Packers 27-24: Devin McCourty recorded his first career sack, and the Patriots forced a three-and-out for a big fourth-quarter stop that was somewhat reminiscent of the Baltimore game earlier in the year. The Pats are taking over at their 37 with a chance to tie the game or take the lead.

Fourth quarter, 11:05, Packers 27-24: Shayne Graham kicked a 38-yard field goal to cut the deficit in half, but the Patriots' defense is going to need a big showing on this possession. Matt Flynn has done an excellent job of managing the game so far, and he has put the Packers in position for a shocking road win. By the way, Tom Brady appeared to miss a wide open Wes Welker in the right seam on that dump-off to BenJarvus Green-Ellis. It looked like Brady could have gotten a 31-yard touchdown out of it.

Fourth quarter, 13:44, Packers 27-21: Going back to a previous item, Kyle Arrington's pick-six marked the Patriots' 28th defensive turnover of the season, and it was the 19th time they've turned a turnover into points. It was their fifth defensive touchdown.

Fourth quarter, 13:54, Packers 27-21: Huge goal-line stand for the Patriots to keep themselves within one score. Mason Crosby's 19-yard field goal extended the lead, but the Packers know they needed more. Also, a big reason why the Patriots are losing is the run defense. The Packers are ranked 24th in rushing, but they've eclipsed 100 yards for the fifth time this season. And with a backup quarterback making his first career start, too.

End of third quarter, Packers 24-21: Color everyone shocked. The Packers have a first-and-goal at the 2 after another John Kuhn catch and run, and if they score here, the Pats' offense is going to have to make some wholesale changes in the last quarter. They haven't played well enough to show they can make up a 10-point deficit without the likes of a long kickoff return or a defensive touchdown.

Third quarter, 3:54, Packers 24-21: Dan Connolly has left the game with a head injury, and his return is questionable. He's standing on the sidelines with a big winter coat and no jersey, so it seems unlikely that he's going to get back into this game. The Patriots also went three-and-out, and Tom Brady was sacked for the third time. Green Bay takes over at its own 46 with a chance to really put the Patriots in a hole.

Third quarter, 5:08, Packers 24-21: The back-and-forth continues. Matt Flynn threw a six-yard touchdown pass to John Kuhn, who cut across the middle after Rob Ninkovich lost his footing and then dove through Jerod Mayo. The Packers have run the first 18 plays of the second half, and it's going to take Tom Brady nearly 10 minutes to get his hands on the football for the first time since the break.

Third quarter, 12:04, Patriots 21-17: Kyle Arrington intercepted the first pass of his career and scored his second touchdown of the season. Arrington caught an errant throw and returned it 36 yards while breaking four tackles along the way. I picked a good week to schedule a Kyle Arrington feature.

Halftime, Packers 17-14: Dan Connolly's late kickoff return sparked a Gillette Stadium crowd that felt like it was sucker punched by Green Bay's quick start. The Patriots still have some real work to do, though. They've got to counter the Packers' cautious passing attack that has lived with short passes and kept Matt Flynn confident, and the Pats' offense needs to be more efficient. The Packers play a similar bend-don't-break defense as the Patriots, and any mistakes like a sack or penalty make it tough to stay on schedule.

Second quarter, 1:08, Packers 17-14: Tom Brady hit Aaron Hernandez for a two-yard touchdown pass on third-and-goal, and the Patriots took advantage of Dan Connolly's Deion Sanders impersonation. Connolly's 71-yard kickoff return is the longest by an offensive lineman since 1994, when those stats officially started getting tracked.

Second quarter, 1:58, Packers 17-7: If you're not watching the game, just know that this is not a typo. Right guard Dan Connolly clutched a short kickoff and returned it 71 yards to the Green Bay 4-yard line. The Packers' coverage team couldn't handle the Connolly, who shot around the corner with the explosion of a turtle and shoved aside all who dared to tackle him.

Second quarter, 2:17, Packers 17-7: This probably wasn't what everyone was expecting to happen in this game. The Packers marched down the field on a 14-play, 82-yard drive than spanned 6:26 and concluded with a one-yard touchdown pass to Greg Jennings on a quick slant in front of Kyle Arrington. Green Bay took advantage of a personal foul for going high on a receiver, and the refs also threw an extremely late flag on James Sanders for pass interference in the end zone.

Second quarter, 8:43, Packers 10-7: The Patriots couldn't overcome an Alge Crumpler holding penalty on first down, and their drive stalled just shy of midfield. Although, later in the drive, Crumpler caught his fourth pass of the season. He doesn't have more than one catch in any game in 2010.

Second quarter, 11:21, Packers 10-7: Jordy Nelson, who was wide open deep in the secondary, dropped an easy pass, and the Packers went three-and-out. The Pats take over at their own 34 after Julian Edelman's punt return. By the way, Devin McCourty does not look like a man who is injured.

Second quarter, 12:38, Packers 10-7: This has been a very poor stretch for the Patriots, who went three-and-out after Tom Brady was smoked by Desmond Bishop for a 10-yard sack on first down. The Packers brought the house and stunted along the defensive line to mix up blocking responsibilities, and Bishop flew free through the line and lit up Brady like a Christmas tree. The Packers take over at their own 36 after Zoltan Mesko's punt.

Second quarter, 14:51, Packers 10-7: Well, that turned around in a hurry. Matt Flynn's first career touchdown pass came on a 66-yarder to James Jones, who caught a nice throw and broke into the clear after Brandon Meriweather collided with Devin McCourty. Meriweater took a poor route to the ball, and that helped Jones get behind the defense.

End of first quarter, Patriots 7-3: It wasn't perfect, and at times, it wasn't very pretty, but the Patriots have a 7-3 lead through one quarter. The Pats' defense did a good job to limit the Packers to a field goal after the onside kick, but they've got to do a better job of containing Matt Flynn when he runs out of the pocket. At the very least, the Pats are exposing Green Bay's porous line and forcing Flynn to scramble. And when he's out of the pocket, the book on him is that his accuracy really suffers.

First quarter, 0:52, Patriots 7-3: Zoltan Mesko nubbed a punt for just 31 yards, but (silver lining alert) at least he didn't give up a walk-off return for a touchdown like someone else did earlier Sunday. Anyway, the Packers take over at their own 31.

First quarter, 4:46, Patriots 7-3: The Patriots are taking over at their own 9 after the Packers went three-and-out, and Tom Brady can go back to work. By the way, Brady got away with an errant pass on the last drive, as former Michigan teammate Charles Woodson dropped an interception. Brady's interception-free run has been really impressive, obviously, but he's had a little luck along the way, especially in the last two weeks.

First quarter, 6:19, Patriots 7-3: BenJarvus Green-Ellis did his best Danny Woodhead impression, juking safety Nick Collins out of his Nikes on his way to a 33-yard touchdown run to give the Patriots the lead. This hurts the Packers a little more one play after they surrendered a 17-yard pass to Deion Branch on third-and-17. The Patriots converted twice on third down on their opening possession, and they put the pressure right back on Matt Flynn and the Packers.

First quarter, 8:41, Packers 3-0: Patriots defensive lineman Brandon Deaderick has left the game with a shoulder injury, and his return is listed as questionable.

First quarter, 8:41, Packers 3-0: Brandon Tate returned the kickoff 20 yards to the New England 27, and Tom Brady finally gets his first chance with the pigskin.

First quarter, 8:45, Packers 3-0: Mason Crosby kicked a 41-yard field goal to give the Packers an early lead after they recovered an onside kick to open the game. This is the first time the Patriots have trailed since Thanksgiving.

First quarter, 14:58, 0-0: Oh, those tricky Packers. Mason Crosby opened the game with an onside kick, and Nick Collins recovered it to give the Packers possession at their own 47-yard line.

8:25 p.m.: The Packers called heads and won the toss, and they elected to kick off to start the game.

8:22 p.m.: Here was Roger Goodell's response to Jets special teams coordinator Mike Westhoff's comments toward the Patriots: "It's something that we're looking into, our staff has been looking into, and I expect to get a report in the next day or so."

7:35 p.m.: NFL commissioner Roger Goodell took some interesting questions from Patriots season-ticket holders earlier, and here are some highlights.

1. Goodell was asked if the league would ever use instant replay to review pass interference, and Goodell does not see that in the future.

2. There have been discussions of fining players based on a salary percentage, rather than a raw number. This would protect lesser-paid players from forking over massive chunks of their paychecks, and it could hurt the higher-paid players more than simply losing $15,000, for instance.

3. They could also just start fining players a game check for overly malicious helmet-to-helmet hits.

4. Patriots owner Robert Kraft at one point interjected that safety Brandon Meriweather told him he "did the wrong thing" with his helmet-to-helmet hit on Ravens tight end Todd Heap, which resulted in a $50,000 fine.

5. Goodell would not rule out the possibility of adding a team overseas.

6. Goodell said he has "worked exhaustively" with Brett Favre's sexual harassment case, and Goodell is not finished with his discussions with all parties.

7. Goodell stressed the importance of a rookie salary scale, noting rookies have been given $2.5 billion worth of contracts, half of that money being guaranteed, in the last two seasons.

7:15 p.m.: OK, so the Jets beat the Steelers, which means the Patriots can't win the AFC East title Sunday night. However, if they do win the division crown, whether it's in Week 16 or 17, they are guaranteed to claim homefield advantage in the playoffs. The Patriots' magic number to do that is officially two.

7:08 p.m.: Patriots rookie cornerback Devin McCourty is active for Sunday's game against the Packers. New England's inactive list includes running back Fred Taylor, wide receiver Taylor Price, running back Thomas Clayton, offensive lineman Rich Ohrnberger, tackle Mark LeVoir and defensive linemen Ron Brace, Mike Wright and Myron Pryor. More details to follow.

7:00 p.m.: Just got back from the media session with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who said he expects to make a ruling on Jets special teams coordinator Mike Westhoff's comments about the Patriots. I'll file more on that later on.

4:47 p.m.: We're live from Gillette Stadium, where there's a green tarp covering the field in preparation for a little wintry precipitation. The Jets-Steelers game is on almost every television in the press box, as well as the video boards inside the stadium. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will meet with the media shortly, and NESN.com will have you covered from every angle.

8 a.m.: Another week, another prime-time game for the playoff-bound Patriots, who host the Packers on Sunday night at Gillette Stadium. This one could have some extra meaning, too. If the Jets don’t beat the Steelers late Sunday afternoon, the Patriots can clinch the AFC East title with a victory against Green Bay.

That’s the first thing to monitor throughout the day. The other two involve a pair of injuries—to Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Patriots cornerback Devin McCourty.

Keep in tune with NESN.com’s live blog, and we’ll make sure you’re apprised of all the information you’ll ever need.