The Packers wound up beating the Giants 38-13 on Sunday, but there wasn’t any way to polish up the way the afternoon started for Green Bay’s offense.
They punted the first five times they had the ball, Aaron Rodgers was having a hard time completing passes and he took some early sacks as the Giants went up 6-0. In a postgame interview with Erin Andrews of FOX Sports, Rodgers said that he was bad in the first half and credited the final play of the second quarter with turning things on for good.
For the third time since the start of December 2015, Rodgers connected on a Hail Mary pass and Randall Cobb’s 42-yard touchdown put the Packers up 14-6 going into the locker room. The team has clearly developed a knack for the timing of Rodgers’ high-arcing throws that coach Mike McCarthy credited with being the key to the successful heaves.
McCarthy said it’s something the team practices, but Rodgers said that the last time he threw one in practice was in Week Four or Five. That hasn’t stopped the team from feeling confident in those situations.
“That’s fun,” Rodgers said. “We’re starting to believe any time that ball’s up there we’ve got a chance.”
The play didn’t put the game away and the Giants cut the lead to one point after stuffing the Packers on a fourth down early in the third quarter, but the Packers offense wasn’t stopped from that point forward. Rodgers said a faster start would be nice in Dallas next weekend, but at least they know they can finish with a flourish.
