The Green Bay Packers were playoff bound before the end of Sunday's 30-20 win over the Oakland Raiders, but it was still a critical victory as Green Bay remains one game ahead of the Minnesota Vikings at 10-4 with two games to play. Oakland falls to 6-8 with their fifth home loss of the season. Here's some notes, quotes and observations from the game.
Notes:
It wasn't a banner day for Aaron Rodgers, who threw for just 204 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Credit Rodgers for playing keepaway late, but also credit the Raiders secondary for locking down on his primary threats enough to force drop after drop.
Oakland outgained Green Bay 372-293, but two turnovers and ten costly penalities lessened the impact of the team's offensive fireworks.
Rookie Packers DB Damarious Randall took the wind out of the Raiders crowd for a bit, making it 14-0 in the first quarter with a 43-yard INT return for a touchdown.
Raiders QB Derek Carr had plenty of volume today but not a lot of accuracy. He complete less than 50% of his passes on the day, throwing for 276 yards on 47 pass attempts with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Quotes:
"The style points, you can flush that. I’m sick and tired of talking about the negativities. We’ve won 10 games." -- Packers HC Mike McCarthy
"The team is under great leadership under the direction of (Raiders HC) Jack Del Rio and this team will be a team to look out for, trust me." -- Charles Woodson
"What did Mike (McCarthy) say? Tomorrow will be a "fun" day" -- Packers QB Aaron Rodgers on how he feels about the team
"We are going to build a dominant defense. We've taken steps and shown signs." -- Jack Del Rio
Observations:
Green Bay remains in the driver's seat for the NFC North title, but the schedule is brutal the last two week. The Packers host the surging Cardinals and the Vikings in what could be a de facto division title game. Green Bay did a great job putting a talented Raiders team to sleep, but there is a pronounced jump in difficulty to close the season at Lambeau.
The Oakland Raiders have won six games for the first time since 2011, so excuse us for a little bit of optimism. Oakland made its share of mistakes, failing to capitalize on several key opportunities. But, this is a Raiders team which is one year removed from getting run out of the stadium in games like today's. There are no moral victories, but there's still plenty of reason to hold your head up if you're a Raiders fan.
Back to the Green Bay Packers Newsfeed