Philbin wins 1st game as Packers’ coach
GREEN BAY, Wis. — An emotional week for the Packers ended with a sorely needed victory that relied on a familiar formula: They beat a warm-weather team on a chilly afternoon at Lambeau Field by building a big lead and forcing two turnovers.
Aaron Rodgers threw for two touchdowns and set an NFL record for consecutive passes without an interception, and the Packers beat the Falcons 34-20 on Sunday to win their first game under interim coach Joe Philbin.
Aaron Jones ran for a 29-yard touchdown in the third quarter, and the Packers’ defense forced two turnovers — their first takeaways in three games — and limited quarterback Matt Ryan after a game-opening touchdown drive to hand the Falcons (4-9) their fifth loss in a row. The Falcons are guaranteed of their first losing record since 2014.
The Packers (5-7-1) regained some swagger with Philbin taking over for fired Mike McCarthy. They’ve still got work to do to avoid a losing record, but at least they snapped a three-game losing streak.
‘‘It was an emotional week; we all know that,’’ Philbin said. ‘‘I feel very happy for the organization, players and staff that work so hard to make this a unique place. I told the team I was very proud to be their coach today.’’
In return, the Packers gave the game ball to Philbin.
‘‘I thought it was a great moment for Joe, for our guys,’’ Rodgers said after the game. ‘‘We did what Joe talked about all week, about playing complementary football.’’
Rodgers was 21-for-32 for 196 yards, including a 24-yard touchdown pass to Randall Cobb that gave the Packers a 27-7 lead. That throw gave Rodgers 359 consecutive passes without an interception, breaking the record previously held by the Patriots’ Tom Brady (358 in 2010-11).
Falcons linebacker Deion Jones had a couple of chances to snap Rodgers’ interception streak but couldn’t hang on either time.
‘‘You need a little bit of good fortune when you have a streak like that,’’ Rodgers said.
The Falcons had trouble keeping up after their first series. When they did, they hurt themselves with eight defensive penalties.
‘‘It’s definitely frustrating, maddening, disbelief — all of those things — when we don’t execute on those,’’ coach Dan Quinn said.