Micah Parsons recorded his best game as a Packer as Green Bay went to Glendale, Arizona, and took down the Cardinals in an ugly showdown in the desert Oct. 19.
Parsons finished the game with four tackles for loss, three sacks and five total quarterback hits as the Packers scored 14 points in the fourth quarter to steal the victory away from Arizona.
“I think that I have been in a good flow all year,” Parsons said. “As a unit, we understand how to play off of each other, and I think the coverage was matching the rush today. It is complimentary football. I think guys know how fast we are going to get to the quarterback, and guys can sit on routes and just trust the pass rush.”
This was not only Parsons’ biggest game with the Packers but also the first three-sack performance of his career.
With Parsons being the likely star to make plays for the Packers, it was an unlikely star who made Packers history in this game.
Kicker Brandon McManus was forced to miss his second game with a hamstring injury, so Green Bay relied on Lucas Havrisik for the kicking duties once again. Havrisik nailed each field goal and extra point that he attempted, with the longest setting a new Packers franchise record – 61 yards.
“How about that, franchise record. Unbelievable,” coach Matt LaFleur said.
The franchise record kick came after Cardinals tight end Trey McBride scored a 15-yard touchdown with just seven seconds left in the half to put Arizona up 13-3. Taking over from its own 35-yard line, Packers quarterback Jordan Love completed a 22-yard pass to Romeo Doubs to put Green Bay in that realistic field goal range.
Havrisik nailed the kick, and while it only gave Green Bay its sixth point of the game, that kick felt like the start of a momentum shift after a really ugly first half of football.
The ugliness may have stemmed from the day leading up to the game, as one of the Packers’ team planes was delayed several hours due to mechanical issues.
“From the moment we got on the trip, nothing seemed to go right,” LaFleur said. “There were a lot of things that didn’t go right, but the guys kept battling, and that is what it takes in this league.”
Green Bay scored a touchdown in the third quarter, but it was quickly answered by Arizona, and the Packers found themselves down 20-13 heading into the fourth quarter. Green Bay flipped a switch in the final period, and the offense shook off the rust to rip off 14 points and steal the game from the Cardinals.
Down 20-13, Green Bay opened the fourth quarter with a nine-play, 67-yard drive that culminated in a 7-yard touchdown reception to Tucker Kraft.
Arizona answered that drive with a field goal of its own to regain the lead at 23-20.
Green Bay then ripped off a 10-play, 48-yard scoring drive that included a 15-yard reception to Kraft on fourth down. The drive culminated in a Josh Jacobs 1-yard touchdown run to give the Packers their first lead of the game at 27-23.
From there. Arizona marched down the field on its potential game-winning drive.
Facing a first-and-10 from the Packers’ 25-yard line, the drive was stalled as Parsons came away with his third sack of the game forcing Arizona into using a timeout. The drive eventually came down to a fourth-and-11 from the Green Bay 27-yard line. Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett dropped back and threw a Hail Mary, which landed incomplete, clinching Green Bay’s fourth win of the season.
“This was just one of those games where you have to be resilient,” said Packers quarterback Jordan Love. “You just have to keep finding ways every drive to find a way to go out there and get points and stay the course, stay together, and find ways to go win it.”
Love finished the game completing 19-of-29 passes for 179 yards and one touchdown.
Doubs was the leading receiver for the Packers in this game, totaling 72 yards on six receptions. Kraft added another 58 yards and a touchdown on five receptions, while Matthew Golden recorded 37 yards on four receptions.
In the run game, Jacobs, who was banged up with a calf injury and an illness, ran 13 times for 55 yards and two touchdowns. Emanuel Wilson chipped in 17 more yards on six carries.
For Arizona, Brissett completed 25-of-36 passes for 279 yards and two touchdowns in place of the injured Kyler Murray.
McBride was the leading receiver for the Cardinals, catching 10 passes for 74 yards and two scores. Zay Jones and Marvin Harrison Jr. added a combined 125 yards on four receptions.
In the run game, Bam Knight led the way for Arizona, totaling 57 yards on 14 carries.
After picking up its first road victory, the Packers now sit at 4-1-1 on the season and will prepare for an old friend next week as the team travels to Pittsburgh to play Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers.
