Last week after my Thanksgiving game recap I said regarding the upcoming Packers/Chiefs matchup, "If the defense can hold (KC) to majority field goals in the first half and the offense can piece together at least a few scoring drives, there is a chance this game could go a little better than the blowout most will be expecting." Well, guess what? The defense held Mahomes and the Chiefs offense to six points in the first half while the offense pieced together several scoring drives and the Packers pulled off a huge win in Lambeau in front of the nation.

Sorry Taylor Swift, but the only people Romeo is going to be saving is all of Packer Nation with his 33-yard catch on 4th down leading to a Packers touchdown in the 3rd quarter. The Packers' second-year receivers, Doubs and Watson caught nearly everything Jordan Love put on them in this game. They both combined for 11 catches on 14 targets, 143 yards and 2 touchdowns. It was nice to see both Watson and Doubs lead the way in the receiving category this week since the rookie receivers have seemed to show out in weeks prior. This proves that Jordan Love has the weapons to take this team forward and can distribute the ball. Wicks and Kraft had good games as well with Kraft beginning to show up as a possible close number two to Luke Musgrave whenever he returns to action. And of course, I can't forget Quadzilla putting on a clinic in breaking tackles with 18 carries for 73 yards. Dillon fell under a lot of criticism early in the year but man has he shown out in the absence of Aaron Jones.

The defense had some rough moments as they got out-muscled a bit in the running game but I have to give credit where credit is due. To hold the world champs to only 19 points is an accomplishment for a defense that hasn't been very well-liked this season. The defense got sacks in key moments of this game and the Keisean Nixon interception was just icing on the cake to give the Packers the W. 

Let's get to the recap:

First Quarter:

The Packers began the game on offense taking over from their 25-yard line. The first play of the drive saw a quick backfield toss to Jayden Reed for a gain of nine yards and AJ Dillon got the first Packers' first down of the game on a three-yard gain. The very next play Jordan Love hit Christian Watson for a 19-yard gain to the Chiefs 44-yard line. The Packers' offense came out hot to start getting into Chiefs' territory in three plays. Four powerful AJ Dillon runs, and a nine-yard Tucker Kraft catch later, and the Packers had a first down in the red zone. Facing third and three 2 plays later, Jordan Love was able to hit Dontayvion Wicks up the middle on a 7-yard strike taking the Packers to first and goal at the Chiefs' 7-yard line where right off the bat AJ Dillon took a 6-yard run down to the one-yard line. Dillon was just an ankle tackle away from the endzone. That wouldn’t stop the Packers from hitting paydirt as the very next play Jordan Love took a play-action boot to the right side and tossed it into the endzone right into the hands of Ben Sims for the touchdown. Sims’ first career touchdown would take this game to 7-0 Packers on a very long drive that took over 8 minutes.  

The Chiefs would take over at their own 24-yard line after the kickoff with 7:08 remaining in the first quarter. They would come out running right away getting the first down in two plays to the KC 33-yard line. Patrick Mahomes hit Isaiah Pacheco for two passes creating 3rd and 2 before Clyde Edwards-Helaire ran it into Packers territory for the first down to the GB 46-yard line. Wo plays later the Chiefs tried getting Travis Kelce involved but it resulted in offensive pass interference pushing the Chiefs backward into their own territory again for 2nd and 20. Unfortunately, the Chiefs would overcome it on a Mahomes run and a 16-yard catch by Valdes-Scantling. A play later, Pacheco would take off on a 26-yard run to the Packers 5-yard. The Packers' defense would show up at this point as Lukas Van Ness would get a big sack of Patrick Mahomes pushing them back to the 13-yard line. Van Ness doing a little archer celebration perhaps a little jab at Travis Kelce, I like it. Two plays later on third down Kenny Clark and Rashan Gary would share another sack of Mahomes back to the 16-yard line as the Chiefs would have to settle for a field goal as the first quarter expired with the score 7-3 Packers.  

Wow. That was a quick first quarter.  

Second Quarter:

Hey, look! A Taylor Swift sighting, *drinks a Carry the G*. Okay, back to the game. 

It’s not often the second quarter gets to do its best impression of the first and third and start with a kickoff, but it got its chance here as the Chiefs kicked off into the endzone for the touchback and the Packers would take over at their 25 where they’d come out swinging with a 19-yard pass to Tucker Kraft taking it to the GB 44-yard line. Two plays later Jordan Love hit Wicks for a 27-yard catch into Chiefs territory at the 27-yard line. A great pass by Love who to this point remains perfect. After this we had a nine-yard Tucker Kraft catch and a 4-yard AJ Dillon run giving the Packers the first down in the red zone at the Chiefs 14-yard line. Three plays later on 3rd and 5, Jordan Love looked like he might take off on a sneak as he was pressured, but he hit the brakes and found Christian Watson streaking across the endzone wide open for the nine-yard touchdown. I’ll have to check the full replay, but it looked like Watson may have gone scramble drill on that one and bailed out his QB for six. The extra point after would take this game to 14-3 Packers on top with 10:39 remaining in the half.  

The Chiefs took over at their own 25-yard line after the touchback and faced third down early but were able to convert on a Mahomes pass to Moore for the first down to the KC 35. Two plays later Mahomes hit Kelce on a 23-yard gain to the Packers’ 39-yard line. Kelce being left wide open in the middle of the field isn’t what you want to see, hoping there was a miscommunication on that play. After that debacle, a Mahomes run, an Edwards-Helaire run, and a Pacheco first down took the Chiefs down to the Packers 22-yard line. Two plays later Travis Kelce again moves the chains on a 10-yard screen to the Packers' 12-yard line. A Pacheco run later, and Patrick Mahomes took off on a run inside the 5-yard line, but it was called back for a hold moving the Chiefs backward to the GB 18. Two plays later Preston Smith was able to get to Patrick Mahomes for the third Packers sack of the game on third down. The Chiefs would have to settle for a second Harrison Butker field goal taking the score to 14-6 Packers with 2:19 remaining in the half.  

The Packers would take over at their own 23 after the kickoff and have the two-minute warning and one timeout to work with to try to get some points before the half. We’d see James Robinson’s first carry as a Packer go for 2 yards before the two-minute warning would hit. A Doubs and Watson catch would get the first-first down of the drive and the Packers would proceed to run the clock a bit before Patrick Taylor would take a 5-yard run to the Packers' 44 and then he’d take off on another this time for a 24-yard run to the KC 32-yard line where the Chiefs would have to take a timeout to get their defense in line. Seemingly conservative play calls instead paid off with the Packers now getting into field goal range with 0:32 remaining in the half. After the good luck, unfortunately, Jayden Reed would be called for a false start for a little bad luck pushing the Packers back a bit. After this, Jordan Love fell under some good pressure by KC and essentially had to throw the ball away twice before facing 3rd and 15 where James Robinson would be hit in the backfield for a two-yard loss essentially taking the Packers out of field goal range and the Packers would be forced to punt to put the Chiefs deep in their own territory.  

A good punt by Daniel Whelan with Rudy Ford stopping the ball inside the 5 would set up the Chiefs in the shadow of their own goalpost with only 9 seconds to work with where they’d just kneel the ball to take us to halftime. The Packers up 14-6 will be looking for a defensive stop right away to begin the second half on a high note with the Chiefs receiving the ball to start the 3rd quarter.  

Third Quarter:

Starting out the second half with the ball at their own 25 the Chiefs kicked off their drive with a 22-yard pass to Travis Kelce to the 46-yard line. The next play would be a hold called on Taylor trying to stop Rashan Gary backing the Chiefs back 10 yards and then the next play they’d have an illegal shift going back 5 more setting up 1st and 25 at their own 26-yard line. After two minimal plays, the Chiefs faced 3rd and 18 where Mahomes hit Kelce on a 27-yard gain to the Packers 35-yard line and then Pacheco returning to the game after a short injury took off to the Packers 24 for 11 yards. A bad look for the Packers' defense giving that up as they had the Chiefs on the ropes and gave up a big play. They didn’t stop there as the Chiefs continued to drive taking it down to the Packers 1-yard line where Pacheco would walk into the end-zone on 1st and Goal. The Chiefs would line up for a two-point conversion trying to hand it back to Pacheco, but he would be denied by the Packers' defense keeping this a two-point game. The Packers lead 14-12 with 9:39 remaining in the 3rd quarter.  

Keisean Nixon would get a good return on the following kickoff taking it 34 yards to the Packers' 33-yard line to start the drive. Off the bat, AJ Dillon took a short pass to the left 14-yards. Dillon with a big juke that got him free making the first guy miss creating a big play for Quadzilla. Chiefs safety Bryan Cook was injured on the play having to be carted off the field. The injury did not look good, hopefully, it won’t be long term, hate to see a good player go down at this point in the season. After this, the Packers couldn’t get a first down in three plays but they went for it on 4th and 1 where Jordan Love hit Romeo Doubs for a gain of 33 yards right in the middle of three defenders for the first down at the KC 11-yard line. On second down Jordan Love sailed a beauty right into the hands of Christian Watson for the 12-yard touchdown. Watson with the catch over the Chiefs defender for his second touchdown of the game to put the Packers up 21-12 after the extra point with 5:23 remaining in the 3rd quarter.  

The Chiefs would get a nice kickoff return to follow up and start their drive from their own 34-yard line. Three plays later a Mahomes pass to Richie James would take the Chiefs into Packers territory at the GB 42-yard line. A good mix of run and pass would lead the Chiefs into the red zone off an 8-yard Pacheco run to the Packers’ 14. The next play would be a rugby scrum pretty much with Pacheco leading the way as the offense would push the running back down to the Packers’ 1-yard line. A run blown up by Kenny Clark in the backfield afterward would end the third quarter with the Packers up 21-12.  

Fourth Quarter:

The fourth quarter would begin 2nd and Goal at the Packers’ 2-yard line for the Chiefs where Patrick Mahomes would attempt a shovel pass that would be batted away by TJ Slaton nearly in the air for an INT. No luck anyone was in the area to catch that one for the Packers, that would’ve been huge. Unfortunately, the tough luck would continue as on 3rd down Mahomes would hit Noah Gray for a 2-yard touchdown pass, taking the score to 21-19 Packers with 14:51 remaining in the game.  

After the kickoff, the Packers would take over at their own 25-yard line. Two plays in Chris Jones would hurry Jordan Love, but Love would escape for a 10-yard sneak and a first down to the Packers’ 35. Two passes to Christian Watson and the Packers would be at their own 47 but a delay of game would push the Packers backward. Unfortunately, this allowed the Chiefs to bring pressure and force the Packers to punt the ball. The Chiefs would take over at their own 19-yard line with 11:36 remaining in the game.  

The Chiefs would go nowhere but 2 yards ahead on first down as they would wind up going three and out. A great drive for the Packers' defense in a crucial situation as the Packers would take over at their own 23 with 10:41 remaining. 

The Packers would be in a hole early after a holding call on Rasheed Walker would push them back to 2nd and 16. But they would overcome that call with a 27-yard pass to Romeo Doubs to the Packers' 44-yard line. After this, the Packers would run a reverse to Christian Watson for a 13-yard gain to the KC 43-yard line. A big AJ Dillon run for 10 yards and a pass to Malik Heath for 15 took the Packers' offense to the Chiefs' 18-yard line. Unfortunately, these would be the highlights as on third down Jordan Love would be sacked Mike Danna and the Packers would have to settle for a 40-yard Anders Carlson field goal which would put them up 24-19 with 6:03 remaining in the game. After the offense got things going at mid-field it was tough to see them not get six on this drive but three is what they’ll take to force the Chiefs to score a touchdown if they want to win this one. 

The Chiefs would take over at their own 25 after the touchback after the kickoff. A possibly questionable pass-interference call on Corey Ballentine would push the Chiefs into Packers territory at the 49-yard line but the Packers would get their revenge on the next play as Keisean Nixon would intercept Patrick Mahomes at the Packers 35-yard line for the first turnover of the game with 5:14 remaining in the game. Right before this drive, I was texting with a friend that we needed a turnover on this one. So, I like to think, together we wished it into existence.   

Taking over at their own 35, the Packers started out with a first down in two plays with a Doubs catch and a Dillon run. The Packers continued downfield through the air and on the ground running the clock down to the two-minute warning where they’d run 3rd and 6 from the KC 20-yard line. On that 3rd down Jordan Love unfortunately had to take a sack to keep the clock running and Anders Carlson would come out for a 48-yard field goal attempt. Carlson would drill it right down the middle to make it an 8-point game, the Packers up 27-19 with 1:09 remaining in the game. 

The Chiefs would take over at their own 30-yard line. Mahomes would run for a first down where Jonathan Owens would knock him out of bounds. The officials, however, were looking out of the back end of a horse it appeared, and said Owens hit Mahomes out of bounds and through a flag giving the Chiefs an extra 15 yards. On the very next play, it would appear Rasheed Rice would fumble returned by Corey Ballentine, however, it would later be ruled down by contact. On the play, Pacheco would throw a punch from which he’d be disqualified. On the next play, a pass intended for Marquez Valdes-Scantling would fall incomplete. The Chiefs' sidelines would scream for a flag for pass interference, which they probably should’ve gotten but in my humble opinion, that was a make-up call for that horrible personal foul claiming Mahomes was out of bounds. The Chiefs would get a little further downfield to the Packers' 33-yard line where they’d get to 4th and 10 with 5 seconds remaining on the clock. Patrick Mahomes would attempt a Hail Mary in the end zone but it would fall incomplete. Game over. The broadcast would have a never-ending stream of tears claiming that there should have been DPI called in the endzone but come on people, how many times are flags thrown for Hail Marys? Players are jockeying for position, the refs let them go, and it’s over. 

The Packers improved to 6-6 with a 27-19 win over the Kansas City Chiefs. 

Offensive Player of the Game:

It's Jordan Love again. It has to be Jordan Love. There's just no denying it. 25/36, 267 yards, and 3 touchdowns in this one, he made some great throws in crucial situations, Love is just glowing in these last few games as the Packers are white hot. Sure he had a few bad passes, and a delay of game penalty that kind of killed a drive, but all in all, he's been sensational. I'm sure another knock on him will be taking that sack toward the end of the game before the field goal, but honestly, for a first-year starter in that crucial situation, he knew he couldn't throw it away and stop the clock, he didn't want to risk a fumble either, so I actually call taking that sack a good move by Jordan Love. He didn't see an easy completion, so he gave it up so the clock would continue to run. 

Defensive Player of the Game:

I'm going to give this one to Keisean Nixon with that huge interception in the fourth quarter with just over 5 minutes remaining in the game. I understand he had some rough tackle attempts that led to big plays for Kansas City, but that INT in the fourth quarter led to the Field Goal that made it an 8-point game which all but sealed the victory for the Packers. 

What Went Right:

The Packers got the lead early in this game and never looked back. That's how you play championship football. For this young team to lead this game the entire way against the defending Super Bowl champions, that's huge and it's going to be a tremendous building block, not to mention a confidence booster moving forward.

AJ Dillon running like a bowling ball through defenders. Quadzilla was like a bull in a china shop tonight getting those hard yards and making Chiefs defenders pay in the process. I'm not saying the injuries to Chiefs players were good, but wearing down your opponent is huge in this sport and Dillon did just that.

Jordan Love finding his groove early. Love is showing us all why the Packers love him and wanted to turn the reins of this franchise over to him and it's been beautiful.

What Went Wrong:

Soft against the run. Pacheco bullied some of our defenders tonight on his way to a 110-yard, 1-touchdown game. I'm a broken record but we need to be stout against the run up front. We have the players to do this, it's time to execute.

Giving up long-yard conversions. That 3rd and 18 play was simply pathetic. I'm old enough to still be scarred by the famous 4th and 26 play of the 2004 playoffs. I don't want to see us give up those long plays to anyone. Buckle down and get the defense off the field on those plays. 

Looking Forward:

Next week the Packers will travel to the Meadowlands to take on the New York Giants on Monday Night Football. That's right, after five straight games starting at noon or a little before, we get two straight games in prime time. Last year we faced the Giants in London and it was more or less the game that started a downward spiral of five straight losses. Whether that can be blamed on poor play or Aaron Rodgers' broken thumb, remains up for debate. But this time, it will be a bit different. Giants' rookie quarterback Tommy Devito has been an interesting story replacing the injured Daniel Jones. He pulled off two straight wins vs the Commanders and Patriots where he looked pretty good. Four touchdowns and zero interceptions for an undrafted rookie QB in two games? Not too shabby. But, it's the Commanders and Patriots. Two teams that have seemingly given up on 2023. Nonetheless, the Packers will have to be vigilant. If they want to make a playoff run, this is a game they need to take seriously and come out of with the win. The Giants' defense is 21st against the pass, 28th against the run. If we stay disciplined and execute the way we have in the last few games, we should be able to come out with a win in the Big Apple. Until then, Go Pack Go.