After two lackluster weeks to start the season, the NFL hit its stride Sunday, thanks in large part to two of the best to ever play the game.
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers each brought their respective teams from behind by orchestrating brilliant late-game drives to earn a pair of very important wins.
First, it was Brady who capped one of the best games in his incredible career with yet another game-winning, comeback drive against a stout Houston Texans defense.
The drive wasn’t without adversity, though. New England started with the ball at its own 25 and was pushed back to the 15 after a holding penalty. Brady was then sacked a few plays later near midfield, fumbling the ball in the process. Luckily for Brady and the Patriots, David Andrews was there to recover.
That allowed Brady to continue a drive in which he completed 5 of his 7 passes for 93 yards, culminating with a beautiful 25-yard touchdown pass to Brandin Cooks, Brady’s fifth TD pass of the afternoon.
The only person who even had a chance at catching that was Cooks (who deserves a ton of credit himself for making the grab and coming down inbounds), and the throw was made even better by the fact that it came with the 6-foot-6 Jadeveon Clowney’s enormous paw right in Brady’s face.
Photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images
Brady’s final line: 25-of-35, 378 yards and five freaking touchdowns … and the win.
In Green Bay, meanwhile, the Packers’ attempts to bounce back from a Week 2 drubbing in Atlanta looked meager at best early in the game. Andy Dalton and the Cincinnati offense — which hadn’t scored a touchdown all season — moved the ball at will against the Packers defense.
Playing behind a banged-up line that featured rookie-turned-turnstile Kyle Murphy attempting (and failing) to protect Rodgers’ blindside, the former MVP struggled in the first half. The low point for Rodgers was just the second pick-six of his career, and Green Bay trailed 21-7 at halftime.
Rodgers, though, put the Pack on his back in the second half, as Green Bay marched down the field on the first drive out of halftime. The Packers defense tightened up, and Rodgers ultimately had his chance to tie the game with Green Bay trailing 24-17 and just 3:46 to play.
The Packers quarterback was completely in control, as Green Bay rolled down the field behind Rodgers’ surgical precision in the pocket. He completed 8 of 11 passes, including a game-tying bullet to Jordy Nelson just inside the pylon, a pass that only a handful of players ever to play in the NFL could complete.
Then, in overtime, Rodgers earned himself yet another free play by getting Cincinnati to jump offside and connected with Geronimo Allison on a beautiful 72-yard completion down the left sideline.
That throw might have been even better than the first one, too. Rodgers was able to slip the ball in between the cornerback and safety while also getting Allison enough room to run after the catch and set up the game-winning field goal.
Screen shot via NFL Game Pass
“Rodgers is about one of two people on planet Earth who can make this throw before the safety can get there,” CBS color commentator Tony Romo said on the broadcast.
The other person? Probably Brady.
You can’t overstate how important these wins were for both teams. The Patriots were on the verge of being tied for last place in the AFC East with the Jets of all teams, while the Packers were staring their own 1-2 record in the face.
But Brady and Rodgers — who combined to complete 53 of 87 passes for 681 yards and eight touchdowns Sunday — weren’t going to let that happen. On a day where what happened before the games got as much if not more attention than what happened during the games, two of the best all time showed why they’re the two best players at their position right now.
What we learned in Week 3 of the NFL >>
Brady thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images
Rodgers thumbnail photo via Jeff Hanisch/USA TODAY Sports Images
