Micah Parsons Helps Packers Sack Cardinals 27-23

The Green Bay Packers finally finished a game.

Especially Micah Parsons.

Parsons had a critical sack with 27 seconds remaining to help the Packers hold off the Arizona Cardinals 27-23 on Sunday in Glendale, Ariz.

Josh Jacobs, who had to go through a pregame workout because of a calf injury, rushed for two touchdowns, including the game-deciding score with 1:50 to go.

The Cardinals had a chance to win. However, on first-and-10 at Green Bay’s 26, Parsons blew past right tackle Jonah Williams and sacked Jacoby Brissett. Karl Brooks had a quarterback hit on third-and-11 and Rashan Gary had a quarterback hit on a fourth-and-1 Hail Mary, which was deflected by safety Xavier McKinney.

Jordan Love took a knee to clinch the victory. Green Bay improved to 4-1-1 following its first road win of the season.

Parsons had the first three-sack game of his career. Love was 19-of-29 passing for 179 yards and one touchdown to outduel the Cardinals, who lost their fifth in a row – four in excruciating fashion – despite 279 passing yards by Brissett.

The Packers gave up a field goal to trail 23-20 with 9:06 remaining. They needed a drive but instead went three-and-out when Love fumbled the snap on first down and threw incomplete when pressured on third down.

That put all the pressure on Green Bay’s leaky defense when it took the field with 7:58 to go. Brissett, who at one point completed 14 consecutive passes, badly missed Marvin Harrison on second down but his checkdown to Michael Wilson gained 8, setting up fourth-and-1 with 5:58 to go. The Packers stuffed Brissett’s sneak, giving Green Bay the ball at Arizona’s 48.

On third-and-7, Love stepped up under pressure for 8 yards and a first down. On fourth-and-2, the Packers sent out the field-goal unit for a 47-yard field goal. Instead, they called their second timeout and sent the offense back on the field. Kraft beat safety Dadrion Taylor-Demerson for 15 yards to the 14.

Moments later, the Packers were in the end zone. On second down from the 9, Jacobs broke two tackles on an 8-yard run to the 1 On the next play, he broke another tackle for the touchdown and a 27-23 lead with 1:50 to go.

Green Bay trailed 13-6 at halftime but finally forced its fumble and recorded its third takeaway of the season. Colby Wooden flushed Brissett from the pocket. He was sacked from behind and fumbled, with Evan Williams recovering at Arizona’s 44.

The Packers tied the score moments later on Josh Jacobs’ 8-yard touchdown run.

Great defenses take momentum and multiply it. Instead, Green Bay’s defense gave up a 65-yard touchdown drive. On third-and-14, Brissett beat Nate Hobbs on a 35-yard bomb to Marvin Harrison. Moments later, Trey McBride was wide open across the middle for a 12-yard touchdown. He plowed over Hobbs at the 3 to score.

The Packers desperately needed an answer. They got it. Helped by two defensive penalties, Love faked the handoff to Jacobs and hit Tucker Kraft in the flat for a 7-yard touchdown that tied the game at 20 on the first play of the fourth quarter.

A missed tackle by Isaiah Dunn and a facemask by Arron Mosby on the ensuing kickoff gave the Cardinals the ball at Green Bay’s 45. A second-down pressure by Micah Parsons, which stopped Brissett’s streak of 14 consecutive completions, and a third-down sack by Parsons limited the damage to a field goal, with the Cardinals leading 23-20 with 9:01 remaining.

The Packers trailed 13-6 at halftime. It was another 30 minutes of missed opportunities.

“We’ve got to convert on third down,” LaFleur told Fox’s Jen Hale at halftime. “That’s really on both sides of the ball. We’ve had some critical errors on third down. We’ve got to do a better job on those money downs.”

It was 6-3 with 4:55 remaining in the half. The Packers, however, bumbled their way to a three-and-out.

Things went from bad to worse moments later. On third-and-23 at the 2-minute warning, Green Bay was poised to get a stop, get the ball to end the first half and get the ball again to start the second half.

Instead, Barryn Sorrell was offside and Jacoby Brissett threw a 43-yard bomb to Zay Jones to Green Bay’s 41. The Packers called a timeout after forcing a third-and-4 but gave up that first down, too.

Things went from really bad to even worse moments later. Third-and-9 became third-and-4 when Parsons jumped offside. Third-and-4 became a touchdown when Green Bay somehow blew the coverage on a 15-yard touchdown pass to McBride.

Only a Packers-record 61-yard field goal by Lucas Havrisik prevented a complete disaster. The seven field goals of longer than 54 yards were all kicked by Mason Crosby.

Rather than putting tail between their legs and going into the locker room, coach Matt LaFleur was aggressive. With 7 seconds on the clock, Love hit Doubs for 22 to Arizona’s 43 with 1 second left. Havrisik booted a field goal that might have been good if the goalposts were in Scottsdale.