NFL Predictions: A Look at Every NFL Game This Season

Super Bowl LI

Denver Broncos at Green Bay Packers:

We have a rematch of Super Bowl XXXII; what a great matchup between two of the marquee teams over the past 30 years.  The last time these two teams met was a Sunday Night affair in Denver where Aaron Rodgers was held to perhaps the worst game of his professional career.  The Broncos come out in white, and the Packers are in Green as they are the designated home team.

The Broncos win the toss and defer to the second half.  The Packers come out and try to establish the run game early, as two Eddie Lacy runs and a third down screen pass picks up a first down.  However, on a third and three, Rodgers is sacked by Demarcus Ware and the Packers are forced to punt.

The Broncos first drive is a three and out and Paxton Lynch just overthrows Emmanuel Sanders on a deep sideline route.

The Packers get the ball back and Rodgers connects twice with Jared Cook, and once with Randall Cobb and the drive ends in a 38 yard field goal.

The Packers decide to pooch kick the kickoff and Latimer fields it at the 10 yard line and returns it to the Packer 33 yard line.  C.J. Anderson takes a toss sweep for 26 yards and on the very next play the Broncos go play action and Lynch hits Demaryius Thomas down to the five yard line.  Unfortunately three straight runs come up just short and the Broncos settle for a field goal to tie the game.

The Packers get the ball back and are forced into a three and out after Lacy is stuffed for a three yard loss on first down and Rodgers throws two straight in completions under heavy duress.  A Packers punt to pin the Broncos on the eight yard line draws the first quarter to an end.

End of the First Quarter:  Broncos 3  Packers 3

The second quarter begins with a Paxton Lynch bootleg run for 18 yards and is followed by two C.J. Anderson runs for another first down.  After back to back short completions, the Broncos advance the ball past the 50 yard line.  The Broncos drive stalls when C.J. Anderson is stuffed on a third and one and the Broncos are forced to punt.  Dixon just misses pinning the Packers back as the punt rolls one yard into the end zone for a touchback.  The drive didn’t result in point but did take five minutes off the clock.

The Packers again are stymied by the Broncos swarming defense as Rodgers is sacked on third down by Von Miller knocking the Packers back to the 12 yard line.  A booming kick makes it to the Broncos 28, but Jordan Norwood takes the kick back to the Broncos 42 yard line.  On the first play, Paxton Lynch drops back and fires a pass down the seam that is intercepted and returned to the Broncos 18 yard line.

After a first down, Broncos defense stiffens and the Packers are forced to take a

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short field goal and a 6-3 lead.

The Broncos get the ball at the 25 yard line, and immediately Lynch rebounds from his mistake throwing a bullet to Emmanuel Sanders on a deep out for 23 yards.  The next play, Devontae Booker takes a hand off on a stretch zone run to the right and cuts it back left for a 38 yard gain.  Two plays later, Lynch finds Virgil Green for a nine yard TD pass in the back of the end zone and the Broncos take a 10-6 lead.

The Packers next drive includes two first down pass plays going for first downs that brings us to the 2-minute warning.  On the next play Rodgers escapes a Von Miller Sack, but is cleaned up by Demarcus Ware who knocks the ball free.  The Packers recover but it leads to a second and 23.  Two straight runs after that run out the clock, as the Packers are content to go in to halftime down only four points.

Halftime:  Broncos 10  Packers 6

The third quarter opens with a 6-yard C.J. Anderson run, followed by a 12 yard pass from Paxton Lynch to Emmanuel Sanders.  The next five plays are runs by Anderson that go for four, eight, seven, two, and nine yards respectively.  The next play is a play action pass that is executed perfect and thrown right on top of the linebackers to Virgil Green down the seam—touchdown Broncos on a seven minute opening drive.

The Packers once again get nothing going on the following drive as they are forced

to punt after one first down.

The Broncos following drive is a three and out and the Packers get the ball back on their 40 yard line after a poor punt.

The Packers finally break free from the Broncos grasp and put together a nice long drive, converting four 3rd downs.  As the third quarter draws to a close, the Packers have the ball first and goal from the Broncos six yard line.

End of the Third Quarter:  Broncos 17  Packers 6

The Packers strike on the first play of the fourth with a touchdown pass to Randall Cobb.  the Packers try to cut the lead to three but Eddie Lacy is stuffed short of the goal line so it remains a five point  deficit for the Packers.

The Broncos get the ball back and gain two first downs on runs by C.J. Anderson and Devontae Booker, but are forced to punt.  Kubiak seems to have gone into close out mode, not wanting to lean on a rookie quarterback late in the Super Bowl.  The drive does take four minutes off the clock, and Riley Dixon’s punt is downed at the Packer 7 yard line.

The Packers know that the Broncos pass rush is coming, so they start the drive with two straight runs to Eddie Lacy.  Lacy is stuffed on both runs and the Packers face a third and 11.  Rodgers drops back to pass and is flushed out of the pocket as he tries to  force a ball to Jordy Nelson but is tipped by Aqib Talib and intercepted by Darian Stewart who returns the ball back to the Packers 16 yard line.

Two straight runs by C.J. Anderson brings up a third and five, when Paxton Lynch fakes the handoff and boots to the right, getting to the edge and beating the defender to the pylon—touchdown Broncos.

Eight minutes to go, down 12 points the Packers have no choice but to air it out.  Von Miller becomes unblockable and registers a sack, and two quarterback hits.  Rodgers does convert a third and 14 to midfield.  6 minutes to go.  The Packers complete a few short passes and force a fourth and one at the Broncos 41 yard line.  Rodgers fakes the handoff to Lacy but it doesn’t fool Derek Wolfe who is right in Rodgers face and bats down the pass—Broncos ball.

The Broncos hand the ball off to C.J. Anderson three times in a row, and the Packers elect to use one timeout, but by the time they get the ball back there is only 3:02 remaining in the game.  After two straight first downs in three plays, the Packers clock the ball just before the two minute warning, choosing to hang on to their two timeouts.  On the next play, the Broncos bring six, and T.J. Ward comes in for a sack on Rodgers, jarring the ball free and Jared Crick falling on the ball.  The Broncos have the ball back with 1:56 remaining and we go to the two minute warning.

It’s no surprise that the Broncos run it three straight times, forcing the Packers to use their remaining two timeouts.  The Broncos punt the ball back to the Packers with 1:02 to go.

The Packers drive down to the Broncos 40 yard line but on fourth and three Rodgers pass to the end zone for Jordy Nelson is batted down with 8 second remaining.

The Broncos give Gary Kubiak his second Gatorade bath in a year as the Broncos line up in the victory formation and Orange and Blue confetti showers the field once again.

The Pick:  Broncos 24  Packers 12