Adams Heats Up in Time to Set Record, Clinch Victory
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Chicago Bears limited Davante Adams with its coverage on defense and by keeping him on the sideline with a ball-control offense.
They limited him but they couldn’t stop him.
The Green Bay Packers’ prolific receiver caught six passes for 46 yards and one touchdown on Sunday, a relatively quiet ending to one of the great seasons in NFL history. Adams finished the year with 115 receptions for 1,374 yards and 18 touchdowns. Adams broke Sterling Sharpe’s franchise record for receptions (112) and tied Sharpe’s franchise record for touchdowns.
Adams’ 4-yard touchdown not only sealed the 35-16 victory but it tied Sharpe and former Miami Dolphins star Mark Clayton for the third-most receiving touchdowns in NFL history. Randy Moss had 23 touchdown catches in 16 games for New England in 2007. Jerry Rice had 22 touchdowns in 12 games for San Francisco during the strike-abbreviated 1987 season.
“It definitely feels good,” Adams said. “Been putting in a lot of hard work and have come up short of a few different things in my career. So, it feels good to be able to achieve that.”
Adams missed about two-and-a-half games early in the season with an injured hamstring yet tied for second in the NFL in receptions (Buffalo’s Stefon Diggs had 127), tied for fifth in receiving yards (Diggs had 1,535) and led the way in touchdown catches (Kansas City’s Tyreek Hill had 15).
“I’ll tell you what I told Tae in the locker room,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. “I said, ‘13 1/2 games and you just had the greatest season by a Packer receiver in history.’ And I meant it. And it got me emotional and it gets me emotional in this moment. I just have a ton of respect and appreciation for him and what he’s accomplished. It’s been an unbelievable year. He’s just such a special, special player.”
Adams had two catches in the first half and none in the third quarter but came alive when the Packers need him in the fourth quarter. Clinging to a 21-16 lead, he caught three passes – including a third-and-7 conversion – on the drive that ended with Aaron Jones’ critical touchdown run. The first of those catches matched Sharpe’s 112 receptions, and he broke the record on the next play.
After Adrian Amos’ interception all but clinched the game, Adams caught a 6-yard touchdown pass for the historic 18th touchdown.
“He’s the greatest Christmas gift every single week,” Rodgers said.
It was a happy ending to a challenging day for Adams, who not only had to contend with standout cornerback Kyle Fuller but deal with a game plan designed to take him out of the game.
When Green Bay got the ball with 11:22 remaining in the fourth quarter, Adams had only been targeted twice. With the No. 1 seed at stake, the coaching staff made a concerted effort to get the ball to No. 17.
“That was definitely thoroughly discussed amongst the offensive staff,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “Just trying to move him inside, because it’s harder to take a guy away when you move him inside, so that’s exactly what we did and we went to him right away. He and Aaron have such a great rapport with one another. You have to get your best players at the ball.”
With the ball in Adams’ hands, good things happen. The kid who grew up dreaming of being an NFL or NBA star and pushes himself with a Kobe Bryant-style drive to dominate has caught the ball better than ever in fixing one shortcoming in his game.
“When we get a stalemate and we’re not really productive the way that we can be, that’s when it starts to get a little frustrating, but it is what it is,” Adams said. “I’ve got trust in our coaches and the rest of our team to go out and take care of business, as well. Just try not to panic in situations like that, especially with everything that we had on the line. We just wanted to make sure we stayed as calm as possible and just trusted it, but it was definitely a conversation that was had but it was initiated by the coaches just to make sure they made a conscious effort to get me involved. From there, I just had to make sure I made plays. I tried to do that on those last two drives.”
