Bills Beat Packers on SNF as Aaron Rodgers Loses Fourth Straight

Behind an early two-touchdown lead from the Bills' offense and a couple of late stands from the team's defense, Buffalo beat the visiting Packers, 27-17, Sunday night, ending a 13-game prime-time winning streak by Green Bay.

Not Mr. Rodgers' Neighborhood Anymore

You have to go back to Week 12 of the 2019 season to find the last time a team got the better of the Green Bay Packers and Aaron Rodgers in a regular season prime-time slot. The Packers' average margin of victory was 14 points across that stretch. So it was certainly a shock to see Green Bay down by that exact amount just seven seconds into the second quarter, and as much a shock to see the team continue to trail by as much (or a little more) for most of the game.

Well, a shock to anyone who has not seen what the Bills have been doing so far this season.

Buffalo let loose its league-leading aerial attack from the onset, scoring three straight touchdowns and a field goal in the first half. The Bills didn't hit all the notes fans have come to expect from their wins, but there were the main ones. Chiefly, the ridiculous connections between Josh Allen and receiver Stefon Diggs, who led all receivers with 108 yards on six receptions, and brought in the Bills' second touchdown of the game.

Allen and Diggs. Always on the same page. 🎯@JoshAllenQB | @StefonDiggs

📺: #GBvsBUF on NBC
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/c9RP6Gj8id pic.twitter.com/7qEpAqFb2i

— NFL (@NFL) October 31, 2022

Josh Allen feels impossible to play against

— Mitchell Schwartz (@MitchSchwartz71) October 31, 2022

In a good dose of complimentary football, as the offense struggled and slowed down (Allen threw a pair of interceptions), the Bills' defense held on to limit the Packers offense. Buffalo held Green Bay to just 10 points through three quarters, and further slowed Green Bay by getting an interception on the first play of a Packer drive early in the fourth quarter that could have shifted momentum after Green Bay had just forced a Josh Allen interception.

Neither the Bills' offense nor defense was the best it had been this season, something Allen even admitted on the offense's behalf following the game, but they did enough to lead start-to-finish on Sunday night, against a team that hadn't lost in that setting for nearly three years.

Things are Getting Chippy

Even if Green Bay hadn't lived up to their billing through seven weeks, Sunday night had the big-game atmosphere befitting a prime-time slot featuring a pair of true postseason contenders. Not just in the leading names on the marquee and all that the teams have accomplished, but in how chippy the game got.

It was rare to see multiple plays go by without players jawing at each other from across the line of scrimmage, and both defenses fueled the atmosphere whenever possible, particularly when back-to-back throws ended with the teams trading interceptions. Things also boiled over at one point, when Green Bay first-round pick Quay Walker was ejected for shoving a Bills practice squad player on the sideline after a play.

#Packers first-round LB Quay Walker has been ejected for shoving a #Bills coach on the sideline. https://t.co/H6FitjoRlO

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 31, 2022

The main event was a night-long battle between Buffalo's top receivers, Diggs and Gabe Davis, and Green Bay's lockdown cornerback, Jaire Alexander. The battle actually began before the contest had even kicked off, and it continued across all four quarters, with Alexander matched up against both men throughout the night. Alexander got his highlights with an interception off of Allen (in the red zone, no less) and by drawing an unsportsmanlike call on Davis, but Diggs put up the 100-yard game and the Bills got the win.

Jaire Alexander and Stefon Diggs got into it before the game 👀

(via lauren.helmbrecht/IG) pic.twitter.com/m8QsVWmQLr

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 31, 2022

The Bay Parallels Continue

Deserved or not, Rodgers and Green Bay have become linked with Tom Brady and Tampa Bay throughout the season, largely because of the parallels in how the future Hall of Famers and their high-powered offenses have struggled, and how they trail in divisions they were considered near-locks to win this year. That trend continued through Week 8. In prime time on Thursday night, it was Brady showing frustration as his Bucs fell to 3-5. Three days later, in prime time, it was Rodgers leaving the game defeated as the Packers' record also hit 3-5.

The loss came after the Bills' secondary held Rodgers to less than 80 yards passing through three-plus quarters. The Packers' QB finished with 203 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but it was backed by a 95-yard drive in the fourth quarter that nearly doubled his stats for the game.

Green Bay's biggest success prior to the game's final few series came from Aaron Jones on the ground, who had just over 70 yards in each half of play (143 total), despite getting very little run later on as the Packers shifted to a pass-focused comeback. Jones and A.J. Dillon (54 yards) gashed the Bills' NFL-best run defense several times, as the Packers put up 208 yards rushing.

The weeks ahead will be crucial to both Bay franchises trying to climb back in their divisions, but Tampa's way forward is much easier than Green Bay's. The Bucs deal with the Rams and Seahawks next and are one game behind Atlanta in the weak NFC South. Green Bay, however, has a couple of lighter opponents in the Lions and Titans upcoming, but a pair of heavy hitters, too: Dallas and undefeated Philadelphia within their next four games. And they trail Minnesota by 3.5 games in the NFC North.