Packer Central

Micah Parsons Suffers Knee Injury; Broncos Take Lead Over Packers

The Green Bay Packers (9-3-1) have won four consecutive games. The Denver Broncos (11-2) have won 10 in a row. Follow along for all the updates from this big showdown.
Bill Huber|
Green Bay Packers defensive end Micah Parsons
Green Bay Packers defensive end Micah Parsons | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

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Green Bay Packers

Brandon McManus kicked a 37-yard field goal to bring the Packers within 27-26 with 10:55 remaining in regulation. Jordan Love hit Matthew Golden for 27 on third down. They couldn’t convert the next one, though. On third-and-10, Love threw incomplete to Josh Jacobs; Dontayvion Wicks was practically tackled in the end zone.

Micah Parsons Injured, Packers Trail

The Green Bay Packers lead the Denver Broncos with 44 seconds in the left quarter but might have suffered a horrendous blow to their championship hopes when Micah Parsons suffered an injured left knee.

The Packers had the Broncos facing third-and-13. Micah Parsons pressured up the middle and was held but no penalty was called. Bo Nix dumped it off for a gain of 12, setting up fourth-and-1, which Nix picked up with a sneak.

Xavier McKinney will lament two dropped interceptions. Neither play was easy. Both are plays he’s made. Back-to-back runs by T.J. Harvey gained a total off 14 – linebacker Quay Walker was injured on the second.  

On the next play, star defensive end Micah Parsons was getting past right tackle Mike McGlinchey. As he changed direction, he pulled up holding his left knee. After a couple minutes on the turf in obvious pain, he walked with trainers to the locker room.

The Packers ruled him questionable.

The Packers, who already have lost right tackle Zach Tom (knee) and receiver Christian Watson (chest), gave up the lead a few plays later on a touchdown pass to Troy Franklin, but it’s almost irrelevant from the big-picture perspective.

Denver leads 27-23 at the end of the third quarter.

Momentum Has Changed

The Green Bay Packers, their lead cut to 23-21, needed an answer. They didn’t get it. Jordan Love turned a sack into a 24-yard scramble. But the drive stalled and Love was sacked for the first time of the game on third-and-10.

The team’s horrendous play on special teams continued when Daniel Whelan kicked a touchback and Isaiah McDuffie was flagged for holding.

Christian Watson Injured, Broncos Pull Within 23-21

With the Green Bay Packers leading the Denver Broncos 23-14, the defense forced a three-and-out, Jordan Love threw a bomb to Christian Watson. Patrick Surtain made a superb interception, the Defensive Player of the Year’s first interception of the season. Watson, who has changed the season since returning from his torn ACL, landed hard and was injured.

The Broncos started at their 29 with 12:46 left in the quarter. Ad-libbing Bo Nix threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Courtland Sutton, who toasted Keisean Nixon at the line of scrimmage. Just like that, it's 23-21 with 9:07 left in the third quarter.

Officially, Watson is questionable with a chest injury.

Josh Jacobs Strikes Again Packers Lead 23-14

The Green Bay Packers extended their lead to 23-14 on Josh Jacobs’ 40-yard touchdown run just 1:01 in the second half.

On third-and-4, Riley Moss was flagged for pass interference on a deep shot to Matthew Golden. Moss twice grabbed Golden’s right arm, including as the ball arrived, for a gain of 25. On the next play, left guard Aaron Banks and center Sean Rhyan had key blocks – Rhyan’s was a pancake – and Matthew Golden pancaked a defensive back as Jacobs went untouched for the touchdown.

Darian Kinnard played right tackle for Zach Tom, who suffered a knee injury on Jacobs’ second-quarter touchdown catch.

Green Bay’s defense forced a three-and-out on the ensuing possession.

Packers Lead Broncos at Halftime

The Green Bay Packers lead the Denver Broncos 16-14 at halftime.

Starting from their 14 with 1:51 to go – a muffed kickoff put the Packers in a hole – Jordan Love hit Christian Watson for 19 and Luke Musgrave for 16, with 15 yards tacked on when Zach Allen was flagged for going low on Love.

A third-and-6 completion to Romeo Doubs set up Brandon McManus’ 35-yard field goal.

Facing the vaunted Broncos defense, Love was 17-of-22 passing for 215 yards and one touchdown.

Green Bay, which has scored on all four possession, is up 251-170 in yards – the Broncos were giving up only 282.0 yards per game – but has hurt itself with six penalties for 48 yards.

“We can’t have penalties, first and foremost,” coach Matt LaFleur told CBS’s Tracy Wolfson. “Those kill you.”

A pregame fracas involving Kingsley Enagbare has boiled over to the game.

“That is something we addressed pregame,” LaFleur said. “We cannot lose our composure. That’s going to be hit again.”

The Packers will get the ball to start the second half.

Broncos Take 14-13 Lead Before Halftime

The Denver Broncos answered Green Bay’s touchdown with one of their own to take a 14-13 lead over the Packers late in the first half.

After Green Bay took a 13-7 lead, Denver wasted no time in answering. On the second play of the ensuing possession, Courtland Sutton beat Keisean Nixon on a double move for a gain of 42 to Green Bay’s 22.

One play later, Bo Nix’s receiver screen to Troy Franklin was almost a pick-six by Carrington Valentine. Instead, Franklin made the catch, eluded Valentine and picked up 10 to the 7. One play later, Nix threaded the needle to Lil'Jordan Humphrey against tight coverage with 1:56 to play.

Josh Jacobs’ Incredible Touchdown

The Green Bay Packers took a 13-7 lead against the Denver Broncos on a highlight-reel catch by Josh Jacobs.

On third-and-3 at the start of the drive, the Broncos blew the coverage on Jayden Reed, who was wide open in the flat for a catch-and-run gain of 29. Runs of 8 and 11 by Jacobs and a pass of 11 to Reed, who lined up in the backfield, gave Green Bay a first-and-goal at the 9.

The Packers stalled, though. An illegal shift eliminated Jacobs’ 9-yard, two-tackles-broken touchdown run and Luke Musgrave dropped a run-alert pass. On third-and-goal from the 14, Jordan Love lobbed one up for Jacobs, who made a jaw-dropping catch over standout linebacker Dre Greenlaw.

Right tackle Zach Tom was hurt on the play – a big deal – but the Packers led 13-7 with 4:29 to go. He is questionable with a knee injury.

Broncos Take 7-6 Lead

On third-and-3, Micah Parsons got too far upfield on his pass rush, which allowed Bo Nix to step up in the pocket and potentially run for the first down. Nickel Javon Bullard took a couple steps toward Nix, which allowed Michael Bandy to get wide open. He caught the ball at the 12 and had clear sailing up the left sideline for a touchdown with 8:19 to play in the half.

Unnecessary roughness on Bullard at the start of the drive not only bailed the Broncos out after left tackle Garrett Bolles was flagged for holding Micah Parsons but gave Denver 15 yards to jump-start the scoring drive.

Karl Brooks was flagged for unnecessary roughness on the extra point as the Packers have been guilty of three foolish penalties.

Packers Start Fast

The Packers won the toss and deferred, setting up a matchup between their defense, which has struggled to force turnovers, and the Denver offense, which has taken care of the football all season.

After the Broncos snuck for one first down on third-and-1, the Broncos had another third-and-1. The play a handoff to rookie running back R.J. Harvey straight at Micah Parsons. Harvey picked up the first down but Parsons twisted him to the turf and ripped the ball loose. Edgerrin Cooper recovered, giving the Packers a first down at their 48.

The Packers picked up one first down. After Josh Jacobs was stuffed on third-and-1, Jordan Love went play-action and sprinted to the right and picked up the first down.

Before the next play, left tackle Rasheed Walker was flagged for a false start. It was a huge penalty. It shouldn’t have been, though. On second-and-14, it appeared Jayden Reed stretched the ball over the first-down marker but he was ruled a yard short. On third-and-1, safety Talanoa Hufanga destroyed tight end Josh Whyle and tackled Jacobs for a loss of 2 all in one fell swoop. Whyle was injured on the play; he was ruled out with a concussion shortly thereafter.

The Packers scored, though, when Brandon McManus announced that he was officially past his midseason, injury-related slump. For the first time since Week 4 at Dallas, he kicked a 50-yard field goal – his 53-yarder giving the team a 3-0 lead with 7:02 to play.

Green Bay’s defense forced a three-and-out. On third-and-5, Bo Nix threw a pass into the flat to running back Tyler Badie. Linebacker Edgerrin Cooper buried the lead blocker, and Badie was stopped after a gain of 1.

The Packers started their next possession at the 3, no thanks to Kingsley Enagbare’s mind-numbingly stupid penalty for taking a shot at the punter. The penalty was assessed at the 6, even though the Broncos first touched the ball at the 12.

It didn’t matter, though. First, Luke Musgrave made a superb, diving catch for a gain of 26. On the next play, Love made a superb, back-foot throw to Romeo Doubs for a leaping gain of 26 more. After back-to-back 7-yard gains, Love threw a missile over the middle to Matthew Golden, who made an underrated, all-hands catch on a pass that was thrown behind him. That gave Green Bay a first down at Denver’s 12.

An ineligible-player-downfield penalty on Rasheed Walker not only wiped out a 6-yard completion on a run-pass option but moved the Packers back 5 yards. That killed the drive, and McManus tacked on a 26-yard field goal.

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.