Good, bad, and ugly from Packers’ playoff victory over the Seahawks

We recap the good, bad, and ugly moments from the Green Bay Packers 28-23 win over the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Divisional Round.

The Green Bay Packers started Sunday’s NFC Divisional Round playoff game on fire, lighting up the Seattle Seahawks during a one-sided first half.

However, Russell Wilson and the Seahawks made things extremely interesting, and it took clutch plays late for the Packers to win their first playoff game in three years and secure a trip to the NFC Championship Game.

It wasn’t always pretty, but it wasn’t always ugly either, and now the Packers will get to travel back to the West Coast for a chance at not only getting some revenge against the San Francisco 49ers, but a chance at punching their ticket to the Super Bowl.

Here’s the good, the bad and the ugly from the Packers’ 28-23 win against the Seattle Seahawks:

The Good

  • Aaron Rodgers: The veteran Packers quarterback was much better than he had been throughout the month of December. Rodgers finished the game completing 16-of-27 passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns and looked extremely sharp on a handful of crucial passes throughout the game. On the final drive, he hit Davante Adams and Jimmy Graham for big conversions on third down. He finished his seventh career playoff game with a passer rating over 100, which trails only Tom Brady (eight) in NFL history. Rodgers shined when he needed to and was a huge factor in the Packers moving on to San Francisco.

  • Davante Adams: Adams continues to prove why he should be in the conversation for the best wide receiver in football. He hauled in eight passes for 160 yards – a Packers postseason record – and two touchdowns, and every catch he made felt like a big one. Not only was he incredibly crisp on routes, but he came up clutch late in the contest with a 32-yard catch on third down. His 20-yard touchdown gave the Packers an early lead, and he helped extend the lead back to 18 points with a 40-yard score in the third quarter. He was clearly the Packers’ best player on Sunday.
  • Third Down Offense: The Packers offense on third down had long been the biggest problem for the team. For at least one game, that changed, as Green Bay was absolutely dominant on third down. The team finished 9-of-14 on third down conversions, including the final two conversions that led to the end of the game. Aaron Rodgers was also masterful on third down, finishing 9-of-11 for 121 yards and a touchdown on the key down.

  • Preston Smith: The Packers defensive line was consistently in the Seahawks backfield on Sunday, but they weren’t always stopping Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, who was as elusive as ever. Preston Smith’s sack on Wilson on third down late in the fourth quarter was incredibly clutch and set the stage for Green Bay to kill the clock. The Smith duo has come up with huge plays for the Packers defense all season, and it continued Sunday night.

The Bad

  • Containing Russell Wilson: It was the biggest part of the Packers defensive game plan, and for the most part, they failed. Russell Wilson was incredible on Sunday, finishing 21-of-31 for 277 yards and a touchdown. He also ran seven times for 64 yards and was consistently getting free despite massive pressure from the Packers. Thankfully for Green Bay, 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo isn’t as big of a threat to escape the pocket.
  • Fourth quarter offense: The Packers offense was rolling throughout the first three quarters of Sunday’s game, but things came to a halt in the fourth quarter. Outside of the final drive that ended the game, the Packers ran just 11 plays on two drives, both of which ended in punts. If the Packers want to punch a ticket to the Super Bowl, they’ll have to capitalize on a couple of more late drives next week.

The Ugly

  • Second-half defense: Green Bay ended the first half of play on a roll, up 21-3 and ready to end things against a team that had given them some nightmarish losses in the past. Instead, the Packers defense was torched in the second half. The Seahawks scored on three of their four drives, cutting the lead all the way to 28-23 along the way. While Green Bay was able to get one final stop and melt the clock on their final drive, it wasn’t an inspiring finish for the Packers defense, which looked gassed in the second half. The 49ers punished the Packers defense in a similar fashion this season, so it’ll be up to the Packers offense to keep their defense off the field a bit more in the NFC Championship Game.