San Diego Chargers vs Green Bay Packers Match Player Stats On Oct 18, 2015

The Sports Xchange
Oct 18, 2015

GREEN BAY -- Philip Rivers threw 64 passes before his final attempt was batted down at the goal line by Packers cornerback Damarious Randall, giving Green Bay a 27-20 victory over the San Diego Chargers at Lambeau Field on Sunday.

Rivers had 503 passing yards, just the 17th 500-yard game in NFL history, and completed 43 of 65 passes with two touchdowns.

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers had two touchdown passes and running back James Starks rushed for 110 yards including a 65-yard run tha staked Green Bay to a 14-3 lead in the first quarter.

Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen caught 14 passes for 157 yards, including an NFL season-high 11 in the first half, but was out for most of the second half with a hip injury.

The Packers (6-0) took a 27-20 lead on Mason Crosby's 28-yard field goal with 2:37 remaining.

Rivers drove the Chargers the length of the field, leaning heavily on tight end Antonio Gates and running back Danny Woodhead. On fourth-and-goal from the 3 with 20 seconds remaining. Rivers went to Woodhead to his right in the flat but Randall closed and broke it up to save the game.

San Diego (2-4), which fell behind 17-3 in the first half, trailed 24-20 when it got the ball at its 29 with 9 minutes remaining in regulation. On the first play, Rivers threw a short pass to Gates that he turned into a gain of 21. Another short pass turned into a gain of 14 by running back Branden Oliver, but the Packers' defense – run ragged for most of the final three quarters – stiffened with a third-down sack.

Rodgers hit tight end Richard Rodgers for 25 on a naked bootleg, then avoided unblocked cornerback Patrick Robinson's sack attempt and flipped the ball to receiver Jeff Janis for a gain of 33. San Diego's defense held for a field goal.

San Diego tied the game at 17 on its first possession of the second half, with Rivers' 50-yard bomb to Malcom Floyd converting a third-and-17 before he found Green for a 19-yard touchdown over linebacker Clay Matthews.

The Packers' offense, in a funk since scoring touchdowns on its first two possessions, recaptured the lead with 46 seconds left in the third quarter on Rodgers' 8-yard touchdown pass to James Jones.

San Diego trimmed into the margin to 24-20 with a field goal on the ensuing possession, with Josh Lambo hitting a 32-yard field goal one play after Packers cornerback Sam Shields dropped an interception.

The Packers led 17-10 at halftime.

San Diego put together two good drives in the second quarter but only one of them resulted in points. On the first, Chargers coach Mike McCoy kept the offense on the field on fourth-and-3 from the 12. Rivers threw a back-shoulder pass to Gates near the goal line but Gates dropped what might have been the 102nd touchdown catch of his career.

On the next, Allen continued his prolific first half with a 38-yard completion on a deep post, a beautiful toe-tapper for a gain of 16 for a first-and-goal at the 7 and another just short of the goal line on third-and-goal from the 10. On fourth-and-goal on the final play of the half, Rivers looped a pass over safety Micah Hyde to receiver Dontrelle Inman.

NOTES: Chargers QB Philip Rivers made his 150th consecutive start, the fourth-longest by a quarterback in NFL history. Packers QB Aaron Rodgers passed 30,000 career passing yards, breaking Johnny Unitas' record for fewest attempts to that milestone. … Packers RB James Starks' 65-yard touchdown run in the first quarter was the team's longest since DeShawn Wynn's 73-yarder vs. Detroit in the 2008 finale. Sunday was Starks' first two-TD game in his career. … Chargers RB Melvin Gordon left the game with a lower leg injury, returned and fumbled twice before watching most of the second half. … Chargers WR Keenan Allen finished the first half with 11 receptions for 128 yards – the most first-half catches in team history and the most in the NFL since 2012 -- while QB Philip Rivers was 22-of-32 for 211 yards. He had almost as many completions as the Packers ran total plays (24).