Rodgers, Adams shine in snow as Packers freeze Titans
Green Bay can lock up top seed with win or Seattle loss in Week 17
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams created a picturesque atmosphere as they connected for three touchdown passes on a snow-covered Lambeau Field.
The Green Bay teammates would love the opportunity to produce plenty of similar scenes next month by staying home throughout the NFC playoffs.
Rodgers threw four touchdown passes as the Packers trounced the Tennessee Titans 40-14 for their fifth consecutive victory Sunday night.
“It’s tough to play in the cold,” said Rodgers, who completed 21 of 25 for 231 yards despite an interception. “It’s tough to play at Lambeau. I think we proved that tonight.”
Playing in the cold at Green Bay is tough for road teams, anyway. The Packers showed they can thrive on the tundra of Lambeau Field.
The Packers (12-3) already have clinched the NFC North title and can earn the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs if they win at Chicago (8-7) or if Seattle (11-4) loses against San Francisco (6-9) next week in Glendale, Arizona.
This game showcased why the Packers want to make sure the playoffs go through Lambeau; they have lost on the road in three of the last six NFC championship games. With snow falling throughout the first half and continuing to cover much of the field, Green Bay moved the ball at will all night.
“People definitely don’t want to play in the cold,” Adams said. “It’s tough, man. It’s tough. It makes
you a little bit less physical. It takes your speed away. If you don’t get to practice in this and get used to
the temperature, the snow and all of that stuff, as you’ve seen, it can obviously take a toll. I think that team (Tennessee) is a really, really solid team that played with a lot less speed than they typically do.”
Green Bay ran wild behind 124 yards and two touchdowns from A.J. Dillon and 94 yards from Aaron Jones. Dillon, a secondround pick from Boston College, had run for just 115 yards all season during a rookie year in which he spent more than a month on the COVID-19 reserve list.
Tennessee (10-5) squandered an opportunity to clinch its first AFC South championship since 2008. The Titans still can clinch the division title by winning at Houston (4-11).
Adams’ three touchdown catches gave him 17 this season, one off the Packers’ single-season record that Sterling Sharpe set in 1994. Adams, who caught 11 passes for 142 yards Sunday, leads the NFL in touchdown receptions despite missing two games with a hamstring injury.