Packers take early lead over Seahawks, with spot in NFC title game on the line – The Washington Post

The Seahawks are little by little creating into peak Wilsonian sort. They responded to the Packers’ brief rating with a methodical travel of their very own. Russell Wilson directed them 79 yards in 12 plays, throwing a 7-lawn landing to Tyler Lockett to retain the Eco-friendly Bay group hushed listed here at the finish of the third quarter.(Packers 28, Seahawks 17, :39 remaining in the third quarter)

The experiences of Aaron Rodgers’ steep decline show up to have been exaggerated. The Packers quarterback place a dime on previous Seahawk Jimmy Graham for a 27-yard completion on a important 3rd-down perform, and then he adopted it up times later with a bullet to Davante Adams, who then scooted in for a forty-property touchdown. The Seahawks may possibly put up a struggle, but the Packers won’t allow it go unanswered.(Packers 28, Seahawks ten, seven:09 left in the 3rd quarter)

If the Seahawks are to mount a comeback, if they are to continue to keep their year alive, they will need quarterback Russell Wilson at his greatest. He was on the opening generate of the 2nd 50 percent, marching his workforce 69 yards in 10 performs and converting a crucial fourth down with a participate in-motion go to large receiver Tyler Lockette. Marshawn Lynch punched in a just one-yard rating to slash into Eco-friendly Bay’s lead.(Packers 21, Seahawks ten, nine:forty four left in the third quarter)

Seattle is in severe hassle, and no one need to be astonished. The Seahawks have not scored a 1st-half touchdown at Lambeau Area due to the fact Russell Wilson became the team’s quarterback in 2012. The staff has not gained right here since 1999.

The Seahawks are making it additional tricky on by themselves by not being in a position to stop the Packers’ offense, as they have gotten minor impression out of their defense further than a number of performs by defensive close Jadeveon Clowney and basic safety Bradley McDougald. Inexperienced Bay has leaned on 1 of Aaron Rodgers’ greater very first halves of the yr and an array of offensive weapons, highlighted by receiver Davante Adams and operating back again Aaron Jones.

The Seahawks now have to not only cease the Packers and leap-begin themselves, they also have to triumph over a double-digit deficit for the fourth time this calendar year to maintain their year alive.(Packers 21, Seahawks 3, halftime)

The Packers offense was as varied and perilous on that drive as any staff this postseason. The crew mixed perform calls, Aaron Rodgers dished to a bevy of receivers and Aaron Jones stayed slippery on extensive runs. Jones punctuated the eleven-perform, 46-garden, clock-chewing effort with a a single-garden landing operate.(Packers 21, Seahawks three, 1:thirty remaining in the second quarter)

The Seahawks, stalled virtually single-handedly by Packers outside the house linebacker Za’Darius Smith, ended up forced to try a 50-property industry aim to convey them back to in just single digits just after an 8-play, 50-lawn push. Jason Myers pushed the try broad correct, and Seattle continues to be powering by 11 factors with just a couple of minutes remaining in the very first half.(Packers 14, Seahawks three, 5:forty three left in the next quarter)

The story of the activity so considerably: The Packers have gotten the ball to their best playmaker, Davante Adams. The huge receiver has caught 5 balls for seventy eight yards — three for forty four on that travel alone — and established up the remaining rating by drawing a defensive pass interference on next and lengthy. The Seahawks battled for a intention-line stand, stopping two operates and forcing Rodgers to throw it absent soon after concentrating on Adams. However the Packers plunged forward anyway, and Aaron Jones broke the aircraft on a one-property landing.(Packers 14, Seahawks 3, nine:49 still left in the 2nd quarter)

The Seahawks have been fortunate the 1st participate in of their generate was not intercepted. Packers corner Kevin King dropped it, and Seattle took edge. Russell Wilson hit Tyler Lockett for 28 yards so that, even when the drive stalled, the Seahawks remained in field goal vary. Jason Myers nailed a 45-yard area purpose for his team’s 1st points of the video game.(Packers seven, Seahawks 3, :28 left in the initial quarter)

The Seahawks desired to march down the subject and score a person on their own, but on the initially participate in, limited close Jacob Hollister fumbled following a hit by Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander flipped him in excess of. The referees dominated no fumble, but Inexperienced Bay challenged. Then they said Hollister did fumble, but there was no crystal clear proof of a Environmentally friendly Bay recovery, so it remained Seattle ball.

Lambeau Area, electric powered currently, howled just as the online video replay confirmed a Packers player rising from the pile with the ball in his hand. Seattle would eventually punt.

Following a sack, Eco-friendly Bay edge rusher Za’Darius Smith allow absolutely everyone know about the truth he wasn’t chosen for the Professional Bowl, revealing a shirt under his jersey that examine “Snubbed.”(Packers 7, Seahawks , eight:03 still left in the very first quarter)

The Green Bay Packers are commonly aggressive on second and brief. They like attacking as substantially as any staff in the league. But soon after Aaron Jones bought stuffed on 2nd-and-3, the Packers wanted a major achieve for a 1st down. They made the decision to go for it all in its place. Davante Adams won in one protection on the exterior, snagged Aaron Rodgers’ floating pass and jogged into the conclusion zone for the initially touchdown of the activity.(Packers 7, Seahawks , 10:37 remaining in the 1st quarter)

At just one place, the Seattle Seahawks have been a contender for the No. one seed, but they dropped to the fifth seed soon after losing to the San Francisco 49ers on a past-2nd, objective-line stand in Week seventeen.

For as very good as the Seahawks have been on the road this time (eight-one, together with last week’s first-spherical acquire at Philadelphia), and as fantastic as Wilson has been everywhere you go (4,552 total yards, 38 overall touchdowns), they have experienced historic struggles at Lambeau Subject. Wilson is -3 there with some of the worst figures of his profession. The Seahawks as a group have not won there given that 1999. And now they’re tasked with knocking off a Packers team that analytics say over-performed on their way to a 13-3 file.

The Seahawks and Packers have an unforgettable playoff historical past. Just inquire Matt Hasselbeck.

Really do not get it twisted: The Packers are perilous. They really don’t search like their teams of current memory — the protection is legit, and the managing video game has served acquire some pressure off 36-year outdated quarterback Aaron Rodgers — but they nonetheless pose a risk. The Packers escaped the Washington Redskins in early December, twenty-15, and Rodgers imagined the acquire symbolized the team’s time. It showed the Packers understood how to gain no issue the game’s fashion.

The essential to this transformation is that Rodgers no more time demands to put the franchise on his back, as he did through the team’s playoff operates in 2014 or 2016. The jogging match facilities on Aaron Jones, a person of the NFL’s breakout stars this year the 2017 fifth-round decide out of UTEP tied for the league lead in dashing touchdowns (sixteen).

The defense keys this grinding rate, way too, a byproduct of retooling the device very last offseason. The Packers introduced in outdoors linebackers Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith, and they have permitted the crew to slice down on its blitz charge — the Packers rated in the top rated 10 of the league past time but are base five this year, enabling them to play far more defenders in protection. The Packers and their edge rushers will glimpse to get following Wilson, but Wilson has shown he can escape.

When:Sunday, 6:forty Japanese.

The place:Lambeau Subject in Green Bay, Wis.

Tv:Fox.

Stream:FoxSports.com

Line:Eco-friendly Bay, -4½.