A primetime, Sunday Night Football matchup pitted the Green Bay Packers against the Kansas City Chiefs in cold Lambeau Field. With Jordan Love getting another shot on a national stage, Green Bay’s 27-19 victory over the Chiefs marks the second-consecutive week of Green Bay upsetting a playoff-bound team.

It was a fast start for the Packers, who got out to a 14-6 lead going into halftime – two consecutive 75-yard touchdown drives kicked off the scoring for Green Bay, as Ben Sims and Christian Watson found the end zone. There were only six total offensive drives in the first half, with both the Chiefs and Packers scoring on two-of-three drives each.

A second-half stand from the defense let the offense do just enough to put the game out of reach. Love was 25/36 for 267 yards and three touchdowns, and a huge part of his game was that he didn’t offer up really any turnover-worthy plays.

A few questionable penalty calls (or missed calls) made this game very interesting in the second half, especially on the final drive for Kansas City, which included an uncalled pass interference penalty and a questionable unnecessary roughness call on Patrick Mahomes.

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Offense

A well-thought-out offensive game plan from Matt LaFleur helped get Love and the offense going early, as a heavy dosage of runs helped open up the play-action passing attack. With Love having become only the second quarterback of the 2023 season to throw for at least three touchdowns, that speaks to the prep that the coaching staff did during the week to put Love in the right spots.

Having gotten down to the goal line on the first drive, Love faked a hand-off and found rookie tight end Ben Sims for a short score, his first-career touchdown. Their second scoring drive found Love stepping up in the pocket, not panicking with his feet, remained calm, and found Christian Watson open up on his crossing route.

The second half saw Green Bay put up 13 more points, as Watson found the end zone for the second time before Anders Carlson put the game away on the final two offensive drives for the Packers. 267 yards and three touchdowns from Love, 73 rushing yards from Dillon, and both Watson and Romeo Doubs went for 70+ receiving yards each.

Defense

It was always going to be a tough task to slow down the Chiefs offense, especially with how Patrick Mahomes slings the ball. But credit goes to Joe Barry, which feels weird to say, as he helped stymie the Chiefs offensive attack slightly.

Now that isn’t to say that Mahomes was completely shut down, as he very easily got his, as did Isiah Pacheco. But the offensive attack for Kansas City felt less effective and almost like it had to fight more for what it usually would get a lot easier.

Holding the Chiefs to only six first-half points was heavily reliant on three red-zone sacks by Green Bay, helping shut down scoring drives before they found the end zone. Two touchdowns in the second half weren’t enough for the Chiefs to take the game, as Pacheco and Noah Gray scores were all that Kansas City got.

A failed two-point conversion after Pacheco’s score helped keep Green Bay ahead by two, a lead they would never relinquish.

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Mike Johrendt has been an avid fan of the Packers ever since he can remember. He is now a writer at PackersTalk and you can follow him on Twitter at @MJohrendt23

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