Eddie Lacy, James Starks and Aaron Rodgers Make This Highlight Reel
Green Bay’s running game slipped from seventh in the NFL (133.5) on 2013 to 11th at 119.8 yards per game. However, a healthy offensive line and better-rested Eddie Lacy produced a strong finish in the eight games after the bye week.
The Packers also closed out games at Minnesota and against Atlanta, and they pounded a message at the powerful Detroit front in their NFC North-clinching, regular-season finale at Lambeau Field.
Lacy rumbled for 97 or more yards in five of the last six games; his low point was the 73 yards versus Atlanta, and they came on only 13 carries for a 5.6 average.
The Alabama bruiser backed up his 1,178 yards in his rookie campaign with 1,139 more in 2014 and increased his yards per carry number from 4.1 to 4.6.
Needless to say, No. 27 dominates my top 10 running plays of the 2014 regular season, but James Starks and Aaron Rodgers contributed star quality runs, too.
He unleashed several nice runs against the Lions, but his first one gets the nod because it set the tone against the league’s top run defense in what proved to be the biggest game of the year and gave Green Bay the second seed in the NFC playoffs.
Green Bay forced Detroit’s offense into a three-and-out to open the game, and the hosts took over on their 37-yard line. Lacy sliced through them for a 22-yard gain off right guard T.J. Lang, proving to Ndamukong Suh and company that they needed their lunch pails for the next three hours.
Although Lacy only gained 33 yards on 15 tries in the second half after accumulating 67 on 11 attempts before the break, he continued to inflict punishment as the Packers pulled away for their 30-20 win.
The overall numbers for Green Bay’s No. 2 running back also were down from 2013 as Starks slipped from 493 yards and a 5.5 average to 333 and 3.9, respectively. However, the Buffalo product registered some of the biggest runs of the year.
My No. 2 rushing play helped close out Atlanta, 43-37, after Green Bay nearly lost control after bolting to a 31-7 halftime cushion.
Lacy was a bit banged up, so Starks was behind Aaron Rodgers as Green Bay took over at its 39 with 2:09 remaining. He gained two yards on the first play before the two-minute warning, and A-Rod scooted for 12 to force the Falcons to call their first timeout at the 1:51 mark.
Then Starks warmed up the packed house for this Monday night encounter with a 41-yard burst down the left sideline. He followed a pulling Josh Sitton and fullback John Kuhn through the hole on a play that also saw wide receiver Jordy Nelson and rookie tight end Richard Rodgers contribute good seal blocks on both sides for Starks to drive through.
One could pick any number of carries during Green Bay’s final two offensive possessions of the fourth quarter.
So, this is pretty much a combination of several of Lacy’s efforts as he helped the visitors on an 11-play, 87-yard march that ended with his 10-yard TD on a shovel pass and then five consecutive launches into the teeth of the Vikings’ defense that allowed Aaron Rodgers to kneel down on the final two snaps as Green Bay ran out the final 3:32 to claim a 24-21 victory.
His final two carries in the long TD jaunt were a 15-yard burst to the Minnesota 15 and a 5-yard plunge on the next play to set up the short scoring pass. Then Lacy earned his paycheck to finish off the game and his season-high 125-yard performance.
He plowed forward for gains of 3, 5 and 4 yards, which used up one timeout and got to the two-minute warning. Then he rambled for 5 more to burn Minnesota’s final timeout, and then he put the game away with his beautiful 10-yard surge in which he started right behind Kuhn and then cut back left to follow rookie center Corey Linsley and others.
The tie goes to the runner, and in this case, it was the two rushing touchdowns that Lacy recorded against the Vikings in their first meeting, the only time he finished with more than one in a game all year.
Lacy bludgeoned Minnesota for 105 yards on only 13 carries (8.1) during a 42-10 Thursday night massacre at Lambeau. He had a long run of 29 yards, but his back-to-back scoring jaunts in the third quarter made it 42-0.
The first one was an 11-yard effort in which he started behind left tackle David Bakhtiari, shouldering down Viking defensive end Everson Griffen, circling back and around a diving Brian Robison, the other DE, and all the way through a hole to the far right.
His final effort was a 10-yard example of why defensive backs usually try to avoid meeting Lacy head-on – literally. Just ask safety Robert Blanton, who lost his helmet while hitting Lacy high as the latter bulled into the end zone.
I’m sure many people, as I did, didn’t even remember this play from A-Rod. But I became more amazed at his athleticism every time I watched this replay.
Green Bay was trailing Rex Ryan’s bunch 21-3 in the second quarter after the visitors’ 17-play, 80-yard march to their third TD.
Rodgers moved the Packers from their 36 to a third-and-10 call at the New York 16. No. 12 was in the shotgun as usual and looking to pass, but he was forced to use his legs again and somehow weaved his way through several tacklers and precarious situations for an 11-yard gain.
Green Bay didn’t take advantage of the first-and-goal situation, settling for Mason Crosby’s second field goal, but it was still a thing of beauty in my book.
He was looking left toward a three-receiver set and took a couple of steps toward the left hash mark before reversing field in the pocket and faking out two defenders and getting out of bounds at the 5.
This wasn’t anything fancy in call or design, and the 230-pounder only needed to break one tackle, but this pitch and burst down the left sideline against the Buccaneers was huge nonetheless.
The 44-yard touchdown was Lacy’s longest of the season and gave Green Bay a 6-0 lead (7-0 after the extra point) in the final minute of the first quarter and the visitors never were seriously threatened because their defense dominated.
Lacy finished with 99 yards on 17 attempts as Green Bay pulled away late for a 20-3 triumph, securing its sixth consecutive playoff spot after this Week 16 contest.
He dodged inside of a penetrating defender, shrugged off a diving tackle attempt from Tampa Bay linebacker Danny Lansanah, a former Packer, and outran the pursuit while pushing past the 1,000-yard mark for a second straight season.
This is another effort that maybe went unnoticed at the time and has been forgotten since during a season of so many monumental plays.
However, it was the first snap of Green Bay’s 11-play, 60-yard drive to win a tough road game.
Believe me, I’ve questioned plenty of Mike McCarthy’s calls and/or Aaron Rodgers’ checks over the years like every Sunday afternoon or Monday morning quarterback, and 2014 was no exception. But this was one of their best, and not just because it worked.
Starks, lined up to the right of Rodgers in the shotgun, took the handoff and headed toward left tackle before cutting back toward the middle behind a Bryan Bulaga block for a 12-yard gain to the Miami 48, setting up Green Bay at the two-minute warning (1:57 actually showing).
It was a three-receiver with one tight end look against six Dolphins in the box, an excellent situation for a nice run. Starks avoided the safety and picked up some crucial real estate.
This was another combo deal for the powerful one. Several topnotch plays among his 21 carries contributed to his 98-yard day that helped Green Bay win one of the marquee matchups of the season, 26-21.
His three biggest runs came early and late, and any of them could be the choice here.
Lacy ignited Green Bay’s first possession, which resulted in a 58-yard drive in nine plays to Mason Crosby’s 32-yard field goal and 3-0 lead. Lacy caught a 12-yard pass on the first play and then ripped off 13- and 24-yard chunks on the next two plays.
During the Packers’ final scoring drive in the fourth quarter, immediately after New England had closed to within 23-21, Lacy gained 9 yards on two carries and then punctured the Pats with a 17-yard burst to the visitors’ 15 to help set up Crosby’s 28-yarder.
While Lacy did most of the damage on Green Bay’s decisive final two drives, A-Rod again kept a drive alive and gained valuable yardage because of his mobility.
Green Bay’s 87-yard scoring march and Lacy’s subsequent big plays to end the drive wouldn’t have been possible without Rodgers’ contribution on this crucial play.
The Packers faced a third-and-6 call from their 44 with 11:29 remaining in the game. Green Bay was lined up with two receivers right and one left with Lacy in the backfield. Rodgers avoided severe pressure up the middle by scooting left and down the sideline for an 18-yard gain that set up the rest of the drive.
This is another one that likely wouldn’t be included on many people’s highlight reel for plays of the year, but Starks surprises a lot of defenders with his shiftiness in the open field, and he did it to the Panthers on this effort in Week 7.
Green Bay faced a second-and-1 situation at the Carolina 13 with a little over two minutes remaining in the first quarter and already holding a 14-0 lead at Lambeau.
Starks took the handoff on the right hash mark but slammed on the breaks and headed left. He outraced several linebackers and busted through two defensive backs, stretching the ball across the plane for the score.
He also received a good block from Randall Cobb.
The Packers also closed out games at Minnesota and against Atlanta, and they pounded a message at the powerful Detroit front in their NFC North-clinching, regular-season finale at Lambeau Field.
Lacy rumbled for 97 or more yards in five of the last six games; his low point was the 73 yards versus Atlanta, and they came on only 13 carries for a 5.6 average.
The Alabama bruiser backed up his 1,178 yards in his rookie campaign with 1,139 more in 2014 and increased his yards per carry number from 4.1 to 4.6.
Needless to say, No. 27 dominates my top 10 running plays of the 2014 regular season, but James Starks and Aaron Rodgers contributed star quality runs, too.
1. Eddie Lacy versus Detroit
He unleashed several nice runs against the Lions, but his first one gets the nod because it set the tone against the league’s top run defense in what proved to be the biggest game of the year and gave Green Bay the second seed in the NFC playoffs.
Green Bay forced Detroit’s offense into a three-and-out to open the game, and the hosts took over on their 37-yard line. Lacy sliced through them for a 22-yard gain off right guard T.J. Lang, proving to Ndamukong Suh and company that they needed their lunch pails for the next three hours.
Although Lacy only gained 33 yards on 15 tries in the second half after accumulating 67 on 11 attempts before the break, he continued to inflict punishment as the Packers pulled away for their 30-20 win.
2. James Starks versus Atlanta
The overall numbers for Green Bay’s No. 2 running back also were down from 2013 as Starks slipped from 493 yards and a 5.5 average to 333 and 3.9, respectively. However, the Buffalo product registered some of the biggest runs of the year.
My No. 2 rushing play helped close out Atlanta, 43-37, after Green Bay nearly lost control after bolting to a 31-7 halftime cushion.
Lacy was a bit banged up, so Starks was behind Aaron Rodgers as Green Bay took over at its 39 with 2:09 remaining. He gained two yards on the first play before the two-minute warning, and A-Rod scooted for 12 to force the Falcons to call their first timeout at the 1:51 mark.
Then Starks warmed up the packed house for this Monday night encounter with a 41-yard burst down the left sideline. He followed a pulling Josh Sitton and fullback John Kuhn through the hole on a play that also saw wide receiver Jordy Nelson and rookie tight end Richard Rodgers contribute good seal blocks on both sides for Starks to drive through.
3. Eddie Lacy at Minnesota
One could pick any number of carries during Green Bay’s final two offensive possessions of the fourth quarter.
So, this is pretty much a combination of several of Lacy’s efforts as he helped the visitors on an 11-play, 87-yard march that ended with his 10-yard TD on a shovel pass and then five consecutive launches into the teeth of the Vikings’ defense that allowed Aaron Rodgers to kneel down on the final two snaps as Green Bay ran out the final 3:32 to claim a 24-21 victory.
His final two carries in the long TD jaunt were a 15-yard burst to the Minnesota 15 and a 5-yard plunge on the next play to set up the short scoring pass. Then Lacy earned his paycheck to finish off the game and his season-high 125-yard performance.
He plowed forward for gains of 3, 5 and 4 yards, which used up one timeout and got to the two-minute warning. Then he rambled for 5 more to burn Minnesota’s final timeout, and then he put the game away with his beautiful 10-yard surge in which he started right behind Kuhn and then cut back left to follow rookie center Corey Linsley and others.
4. Eddie Lacy versus Minnesota
The tie goes to the runner, and in this case, it was the two rushing touchdowns that Lacy recorded against the Vikings in their first meeting, the only time he finished with more than one in a game all year.
Lacy bludgeoned Minnesota for 105 yards on only 13 carries (8.1) during a 42-10 Thursday night massacre at Lambeau. He had a long run of 29 yards, but his back-to-back scoring jaunts in the third quarter made it 42-0.
The first one was an 11-yard effort in which he started behind left tackle David Bakhtiari, shouldering down Viking defensive end Everson Griffen, circling back and around a diving Brian Robison, the other DE, and all the way through a hole to the far right.
His final effort was a 10-yard example of why defensive backs usually try to avoid meeting Lacy head-on – literally. Just ask safety Robert Blanton, who lost his helmet while hitting Lacy high as the latter bulled into the end zone.
5. Aaron Rodgers versus New York Jets
I’m sure many people, as I did, didn’t even remember this play from A-Rod. But I became more amazed at his athleticism every time I watched this replay.
Green Bay was trailing Rex Ryan’s bunch 21-3 in the second quarter after the visitors’ 17-play, 80-yard march to their third TD.
Rodgers moved the Packers from their 36 to a third-and-10 call at the New York 16. No. 12 was in the shotgun as usual and looking to pass, but he was forced to use his legs again and somehow weaved his way through several tacklers and precarious situations for an 11-yard gain.
Green Bay didn’t take advantage of the first-and-goal situation, settling for Mason Crosby’s second field goal, but it was still a thing of beauty in my book.
He was looking left toward a three-receiver set and took a couple of steps toward the left hash mark before reversing field in the pocket and faking out two defenders and getting out of bounds at the 5.
6. Eddie Lacy at Tampa Bay
This wasn’t anything fancy in call or design, and the 230-pounder only needed to break one tackle, but this pitch and burst down the left sideline against the Buccaneers was huge nonetheless.
The 44-yard touchdown was Lacy’s longest of the season and gave Green Bay a 6-0 lead (7-0 after the extra point) in the final minute of the first quarter and the visitors never were seriously threatened because their defense dominated.
Lacy finished with 99 yards on 17 attempts as Green Bay pulled away late for a 20-3 triumph, securing its sixth consecutive playoff spot after this Week 16 contest.
He dodged inside of a penetrating defender, shrugged off a diving tackle attempt from Tampa Bay linebacker Danny Lansanah, a former Packer, and outran the pursuit while pushing past the 1,000-yard mark for a second straight season.
7. James Starks at Miami
This is another effort that maybe went unnoticed at the time and has been forgotten since during a season of so many monumental plays.
However, it was the first snap of Green Bay’s 11-play, 60-yard drive to win a tough road game.
Believe me, I’ve questioned plenty of Mike McCarthy’s calls and/or Aaron Rodgers’ checks over the years like every Sunday afternoon or Monday morning quarterback, and 2014 was no exception. But this was one of their best, and not just because it worked.
Starks, lined up to the right of Rodgers in the shotgun, took the handoff and headed toward left tackle before cutting back toward the middle behind a Bryan Bulaga block for a 12-yard gain to the Miami 48, setting up Green Bay at the two-minute warning (1:57 actually showing).
It was a three-receiver with one tight end look against six Dolphins in the box, an excellent situation for a nice run. Starks avoided the safety and picked up some crucial real estate.
8. Eddie Lacy versus New England
This was another combo deal for the powerful one. Several topnotch plays among his 21 carries contributed to his 98-yard day that helped Green Bay win one of the marquee matchups of the season, 26-21.
His three biggest runs came early and late, and any of them could be the choice here.
Lacy ignited Green Bay’s first possession, which resulted in a 58-yard drive in nine plays to Mason Crosby’s 32-yard field goal and 3-0 lead. Lacy caught a 12-yard pass on the first play and then ripped off 13- and 24-yard chunks on the next two plays.
During the Packers’ final scoring drive in the fourth quarter, immediately after New England had closed to within 23-21, Lacy gained 9 yards on two carries and then punctured the Pats with a 17-yard burst to the visitors’ 15 to help set up Crosby’s 28-yarder.
9. Aaron Rodgers at Minnesota
While Lacy did most of the damage on Green Bay’s decisive final two drives, A-Rod again kept a drive alive and gained valuable yardage because of his mobility.
Green Bay’s 87-yard scoring march and Lacy’s subsequent big plays to end the drive wouldn’t have been possible without Rodgers’ contribution on this crucial play.
The Packers faced a third-and-6 call from their 44 with 11:29 remaining in the game. Green Bay was lined up with two receivers right and one left with Lacy in the backfield. Rodgers avoided severe pressure up the middle by scooting left and down the sideline for an 18-yard gain that set up the rest of the drive.
10. James Starks versus Carolina
This is another one that likely wouldn’t be included on many people’s highlight reel for plays of the year, but Starks surprises a lot of defenders with his shiftiness in the open field, and he did it to the Panthers on this effort in Week 7.
Green Bay faced a second-and-1 situation at the Carolina 13 with a little over two minutes remaining in the first quarter and already holding a 14-0 lead at Lambeau.
Starks took the handoff on the right hash mark but slammed on the breaks and headed left. He outraced several linebackers and busted through two defensive backs, stretching the ball across the plane for the score.
He also received a good block from Randall Cobb.
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