Aaron Rodgers, at Home in Clutch vs. Jets, Gives Packers First Road Win

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Aaron Rodgers refused to sit this one out, even with the playoffs out of the question. And he saved the Green Bay Packers from a dubious franchise milestone.

A banged-up Rodgers threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Davante Adams with 6 minutes 23 seconds left in overtime, leading the Green Bay Packers to a wild 44-38 victory over the Jets on Sunday.

The victory at MetLife Stadium was the Packers’ first on the road this season — ending a nine-game skid away from Lambeau Field dating to last season — and it prevented them from becoming the first Green Bay squad since 1958 to go an entire season without a win away from home.

“It’s good for the young guys to see what the locker room on the road feels like with a win, what the plane flight feels like,” Rodgers said. “How special that plane ride is after a road victory.”

Rodgers, a 14-year veteran, was masterly in the fourth quarter and in overtime for the Packers (6-8-1). He threw for 442 yards and two touchdowns and also ran for two scores — his first rushing touchdowns since the 2016 season. That was despite a groin issue that nagged him last week and a knee ailment that has bothered him all season. Rodgers was intent on playing, and he believed it proved something.

“That it matters, even when the record isn’t great and you’re not going to the playoffs,” he said. “That I have a lot of pride. I love competing in anything. I don’t want to look back in 20 years and wonder: ‘What if I had played that game? Could something special have happened? What would it look like to my teammates if they knew I kind of quit on them?’ I hope my teammates know I’m never going to quit on them.

“I’m going to battle through anything I’ve got, and they did the same.”

They certainly did, erasing a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit and improving to 2-1 under the interim coach Joe Philbin, who replaced the fired Mike McCarthy this month.

“I think it speaks a lot about the character of the guys,” Philbin said. “They never stopped believing that they could get the job done.”

The loss for the Jets (4-11) overshadowed a dazzling performance by the rookie quarterback Sam Darnold, who threw for a career-high 341 yards with three touchdowns — but never got a chance with the ball in overtime. It was probably the final home game for Coach Todd Bowles, who is likely to be fired after next week’s game at New England.

“As an offense, we’ve just got to finish,” Darnold said. “We had a chance to put the game away.”

The Jets were done in by penalties, being called for 16 totaling 172 yards. Bowles was critical of the officiating crew, saying some of the calls against the Jets should not have happened.

“I haven’t seen one like that in my 18, 19 years in the league,” Bowles said. “I thought we were playing two teams: I thought we were playing the Packers and the striped shirts.”

After the Packers won the overtime coin toss and elected to receive, Rodgers took over and led one of his vintage drives.

On third-and-10 from the Packers’ 40, Rodgers was hit as he was throwing, and his pass to Marquez Valdes-Scantling hung in the air and fell incomplete. But Trumaine Johnson was called for pass interference, putting the ball at the Jets’ 27-yard line. Moments later, a pass-interference call on Buster Skrine gave the Packers the ball at the 6.

Rodgers ran it in, but right tackle Bryan Bulaga was called for holding. On the next play, Rodgers found Adams in the back of the end zone for the rare road victory.

“It would have been pretty pathetic if we would have gone the entire season without one,” Adams said.

That all came after Rodgers went over a pile and reached past the goal line for a go-ahead 1-yard touchdown with 1:13 left in regulation, giving Green Bay its first lead. Rodgers then ran it in for the 2-point conversion to make it 38-35, finishing off a terrific drive that included a 23-yard run to get the ball to the 1.

Andre Roberts, selected to his first Pro Bowl last week, returned the ensuing kickoff 51 yards, putting the Jets in good shape. Darnold completed passes of 9 and 14 yards to get the Jets to the Green Bay 15. But three straight passes fell incomplete, and the Jets settled for a tying 33-yard field goal by Jason Myers with 17 seconds left. Rodgers took a knee, sending it to overtime.

Darnold was 24 of 35 passing with touchdowns to Robby Anderson, Chris Herndon and Elijah McGuire, who also ran for a score.

With the Jets leading by one, Darnold marched them down the field on their first possession of the second half to stretch the lead to 28-20 on a 5-yard pass to a wide-open Herndon with 4:21 remaining in the third quarter.

The Jets’ special teams then came up big when Anthony Wint — just promoted from the practice squad — caused J’Mon Moore to fumble and Rashard Robinson recovered for the Jets at the Packers’ 18. Three plays later, Darnold tossed a short pass to McGuire, who took off to the outside and scampered down the sideline for a 20-yard touchdown that made it 35-20 with 3:50 left in the third quarter.

Mason Crosby’s 38-yard field goal cut the Packers’ deficit to 12 with 11:45 remaining in the game.

Rodgers’s 1-yard run with 6:32 left made it 35-30, capping a drive that was helped by consecutive pass-interference penalties on Skrine and Jamal Adams that got the ball down to the 1.

Roberts returned a kickoff 99 yards for a score late in the first half, the second of his career, highlighting a solid outing by the Jets’ special teams.

Rontez Miles took a direct snap on a punt on fourth-and-1 from the Jets’ 31 in the fourth quarter and ran up the middle for 4 yards and a first down.

The one hiccup came on the opening drive of the game, when Myers — picked for his first Pro Bowl — was wide left on a 45-yard attempt.

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