GREEN BAY (5-3) at NEW ENGLAND (5-3)
Associated Press
DAY/TIME/TV: Sunday, 3:25 p.m. CST, FOX.
LAST WEEK: Packers beat Panthers 27-19; Patriots beat Dolphins 24-19.
LAST MEETING: Packers beat Patriots 27-24 on Oct. 2, 2022, in Green Bay.
SERIES RECORD: Packers lead 7-6.
PATRIOTS OFFENSE: OVERALL (8), RUSH (12), PASS (11), SCORING (12)
PACKERS DEFENSE: OVERALL (10), RUSH (15), PASS (8), SCORING (12)
PATRIOTS DEFENSE: OVERALL (8), RUSH (6), PASS (13), SCORING (11)
PACKERS OFFENSE: OVERALL (17), RUSH (32), PASS (2), SCORING (20)
TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL: Green Bay +4; New England -7
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COACHES CAPSULES
Matt LaFleur: 81-43-1, .652; (3-6 postseason); 8th NFL season
Mike Vrabel: 73-51, .589; (5-4 postseason); 8th NFL season
Head to Head: LaFleur 1-1 vs. Vrabel
vs. Opponent: LaFleur 1-0 vs. Patriots; Vrabel 1-1 vs. Packers
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JORDAN LOVE, DRAKE MAYE REPRESENT NEW ERA IN PACKERS-PATRIOTS MATCHUP
The Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots don’t play each other that often.
The most recent time was in 2022, an overtime game at Lambeau Field won by Green Bay with Aaron Rodgers under center during his final season in Green Bay.
In the teams’ most recent matchup in New England in 2018, Tom Brady was on the field playing in his penultimate season with the team.
Sunday’s game between the Packers (5-3) and Patriots (5-3) won’t feature either future Hall of Famer. Rodgers is playing what he’s said is his final NFL season in Pittsburgh, and Brady will be calling his first game in Gillette Stadium as an analyst for Fox Sports.
“I think I’m required contractually to catch up with him at some point,” Patriots coach Mike Vrabel joked this week about Brady’s latest return to New England.
But there will be plenty of focus on the quarterbacks that have come behind Rodgers and Brady for their respective former franchises.
Jordan Love appears to be finding his stride in his fourth season as the full-time starter, leading the league in passing yards for a team looking to make the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.
Meanwhile, Drake Maye has recovered from a rough start to account for at least three touchdowns in each of his past five games, leading the Patriots to victories in four of them.
While the Packers enter the game last in the NFL in rushing, averaging only 60.6 yards per game, Love said he isn’t worried about generating offense.
“The run game isn’t where it needs to be, but I think we’ve still been able to kind of adjust and still make plays,” he said. “There’s a lot more out there, but we’ve done a great job just being able to win these games by putting up some points, and that’s what it comes down to.”
“They’re good, they’ve beaten good teams, and they continue to show up every year,” Maye said. “We’ve definitely got a challenge and a chance to see how we look.”
MATCHUP TO WATCH
Packers QB Jordan Love vs. Patriots secondary. The Packers quarterback is leading the NFL with 2,246 passing yards (280.8 per game) to go along with 16 touchdown passes (fourth in the NFL). It will be a challenge for a New England secondary that has only four interceptions this season. The Patriots come in allowing 217.3 passing yards per game.
WHAT’S WORKING
Green Bay’s defense limited Carolina to 5 of 18 on third-down conversions… Green Bay’s three turnovers led to only three Carolina points because of how well the Packers’ defense responded to adversity… Although Green Bay’s offensive line was missing center Sean Rhyan and guard Travis Glover due to injuries, the Packers didn’t allow Jordan Love to be sacked.
A week after rushing for a season-low 70 yards in a loss at Chicago, New England found its running game against the Dolphins, Led by Rhamondre Stevenson’s 19 carries for 82 yards, the Patriots finished with 131 yards. With a 7-yard run in the third quarter, Stevenson became the fourth player in Patriots history to eclipse 4,000 yards rushing for his career (he now has 4,036).
WHAT NEEDS WORK
The Packers faced the NFL’s lowest-ranked run defense Thursday and still couldn’t move the ball on the ground. They gained just 66 yards on 26 carries.
Ball security. Wide receiver Efton Chism fumbled in the first quarter, and the Patriots have a minus-7 turnover differential this season. Only the Indianapolis Colts are worse with a minus-11 differential.
STOCK UP
Hopper became the first Packer since Charles Woodson in 2009 to have at least three passes defensed, a sack and an interception in the same game… TE Tucker Kraft has caught a touchdown pass in back-to-back games… WR Christian Watson already has career highs in catches (42) and yards receiving (708) this season.
Kyle Williams. The second-year wide receiver continues to make the most of his targets in his second season. His 13 targets and seven receptions this season are the fewest among Patriots receivers. But he is making big plays when he gets the ball. His 43-yard TD reception in the third quarter was his second scoring catch this season of 30-plus yards. All three of his touchdowns during his rookie season also covered at least 30 yards.
STOCK DOWN
K Trey Smack had an extra-point attempt bounce off the left upright. That missed PAT came four nights after he sent a 26-yard field goal wide right and had a 35-yarder deflected in a 20-17 loss at Detroit… Coleman Owen fumbled the opening kickoff, leading to a Carolina field goal.
Kicker Andy Borregales. His miss from 40 yards Sunday dropped his field goal percentage to 76.9% (10 of 13), including 3 of 5 on attempts of 40-49 yards.
KEY NUMBER
15 — Green Bay’s season total for takeaways. The Packers forced only 14 turnovers all of last season.
27.3 — Williams’ team-leading average yards per reception for the Patriots this season.
STATS AND STUFF
— The Packers are attempting to beat the Patriots in New England for the first time since a 28-10 victory in 2002. The Packers have faced the Patriots in New England just twice since, losing 31-27 in 2010 and 31-17 in 2018.
— The Packers average 60.6 yards rushing per game and 2.9 yards per carry to rank last in the NFL in both categories.
— Green Bay has had multiple takeaways in five straight games and has gone 4-1 during that stretch. The Packers have 15 takeaways to rank second in the NFL, behind Tampa Bay’s 16 entering Week 9.
— The Packers had a season-high six sacks in their 27-19 victory over the Carolina Panthers last week. Six different players each had a sack.
— In that Carolina game, Packers LB Ty’Ron Hopper became the first Packer since Charles Woodson in 2009 to have at least three passes defensed, a sack and an interception in the same game.
— Packers WR Christian Watson has 708 yards receiving to rank fourth in the NFL. Matthew Golden has 619 yards receiving to rank seventh entering Week 9.
— Patriots WR Mack Hollins returned to practice this week after going on injured reserve following a calf injury in their Week 4 win at Buffalo.
— The Patriots can improve to 4-0 at home for the first time since they won their first five home games to open the 2019 season.
— New England is coming off a season-high five sacks in last week’s win at Miami. It also hasn’t done that since the 2019 season.
— All five of wide receiver Kyle Williams’ five career touchdown catches have been for at least 30 yards. He is the third Patriots player to have had each of their first five TD receptions cover that distance.
— Both the Packers and Patriots have won four of their past five games entering Week 9. Since Week 4, Green Bay’s Jordan Love and New England’s Drake Maye both rank in the top three in passing yards and touchdown passes.
— Maye is one of two quarterbacks all-time under the age of 25 with at least three combined passing and rushing touchdowns in five consecutive games, joining Pro Football Hall of Famer Bobby Layne (five consecutive games in 1951 with Detroit).
— This week, Maye can become the sixth quarterback since 1970 with two-or-more touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown in three consecutive games, joining Josh Allen (2024 with Buffalo), Justin Fields (2022 with Chicago), Kyler Murray (2020 with Arizona), Mike Vick (2010 with Philadelphia) and Steve Grogan (1976 with New England).
— Love leads the NFL in passing yards (2,246) entering Week 9 and is one of two quarterbacks, along with Las Vegas’ Kirk Cousins, with multiple touchdown passes in seven games this season. With his next touchdown pass, he will become the fifth quarterback in Packers franchise history with at least 100 regular-season touchdown passes, joining Aaron Rodgers (475 touchdown passes) and Lynn Dickey (133) as well as Pro Football Hall of Famers Brett Favre (442) and Bart Starr (152).
