Brady wins duel with Rodgers
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Tom Brady threw for 294 yards and a touchdown and James White ran for two scores to lead the Patriots to a 31-17 victory over Aaron Rodgers and the Packers on Sunday night.
It was the sixth consecutive victory for the Patriots (7-2).
Rodgers completed 24 of 43 passes for 259 yards and two touchdowns in his second career matchup with Brady. Rodgers won the first matchup at Lambeau Field in 2014.
“If you play long enough, and you have the sustained greatness that Tom has had, there’s going to be a lot of records,” Rodgers said. “He’s been the gold standard at quarterback for two decades.”
It was 17-all late in the third quarter when Aaron Jones fumbled for the Packers (3-4-1).
Patriots receiver Julian Edelman hit White on a 37-yard catch-andrun to set up White’s second score, a one-yard run. On the Patriots’ next possession, Brady connected with Josh Gordon for a 55-yard TD.
Gordon caught four passes for 115 yards, the 12th 100-yard receiving game of his career.
With tight end Rob Gronkowski out with back and ankle injuries and leading rusher Sony Michel out for the second week with a knee issue, Brady and the Patriots again turned to receiver Cordarrelle Patterson to help carry the load in the backfield.
Patterson was effective for the second consecutive week, rushing 11 times for 61 yards and touchdown. He worked in tandem with White to keep the Packers’ defense guessing. White found space to turn short completions into first downs.
“So much of our team is guys being in roles that maybe they didn’t sign up for,” Brady said. “But they’re asked to do it. A lot of guys down, and you’re short at certain spots. Obviously, we have a lot of trust in [Patterson] that when he’s got the ball in his hands, good things are gonna happen.”
Rodgers was on target in the first half. He was elusive in the pocket and extended plays with his feet, keeping the secondary off-balance to create space downfield or some big gains.
The longest was a 51-yard pass to Marquez Valdes-Scantling in the third quarter that helped set up a 15-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Graham that tied the game at 17. But the pocket got smaller in the second half as the Patriots hit him six times and sacked him once.
Brady completed 16 of his first 22 passes but had seven consecutive incompletions in the third quarter — the most of his career.