FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – No matter the hits or the injuries, the Packers' defense has kept its foot on the gas and the quarterback in its crosshairs regardless of the circumstances this season.
The unit's resolve and coordinator Jonathan Gannon's creativity were again tested Sunday. The response? Four more takeaways that Green Bay's offense converted into 21 critical points in a 45-27 road rout of the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium.
It was the sixth consecutive game the Packers have forced multiple takeaways, with Xavier McKinney picking Drake Maye off twice and Evan Williams adding another.
While Green Bay lost linebacker Ty'Ron Hopper to a chest injury in the first quarter, Isaiah McDuffie stepped up in a major way en route to becoming the first Packers player since 2000 to record multiple tackles for a loss, a sack, a forced fumble and fumble recovery.
It led to yet another dominant showing from a defense that has played nine games without All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons and lost linebackers Edgerrin Cooper and Zaire Franklin, and three defensive tackles to injured reserve.
"It's just a belief in everybody around you," Williams said. "I feel like we all understand how we're going to play, how different plays in our defense are going to play certain routes and when you get those routes over and over.
"JG is putting us in great positions to make plays on the ball, understanding when they have to spread the ball down the field and guys are capitalizing."
The Patriots fell into an early hole and largely abandoned the run while taking downfield shots with Maye with mixed results. He threw for three touchdowns but also was picked off three times after throwing just one INT in his last five games.
McKinney set the tone from the start, picking off Maye on the very first pass he threw and returning it 36 yards to the New England 14. Two plays later, quarterback Jordan Love scrambled for a 13-yard touchdown to put Green Bay up 7-0 not even two minutes into regulation.
With Green Bay leading 17-7, McKinney made a perfect read to pick off a pass over the middle to Eli Raridon to clinch his second two-INT game of the year, becoming the first player since Charles Woodson in 2011 to register multiple two-INT games through the first nine weeks of a season.
A 43-yard completion to Christian Watson and 2-yard Kaleb Johnson touchdown run pushed the Packers' lead to 24-7 with just under five minutes left in the first half.
"When we're able to affect the game early, that changes the momentum," McKinney said. "Knowing who we have on the offensive side of the ball, knowing who our quarterback is, knowing what we have on the offensive side of the ball, it's always a big deal for us."
Any chance of a second-half rally on the Patriots' behalf was quashed when McDuffie ripped the ball from Rhamondre Stevenson's grasp and recovered the fumble himself with 4:27 left in the third quarter.
Love and Watson connected on a 39-yard touchdown on the very next play, pushing the Packers' lead to 42-14.
McDuffie has taken on greater responsibility after the defense lost Franklin (shin) and Cooper (Achilles) to injuries over the past six weeks. With Hopper leaving early, special-teams stalwart Nick Niemann saw his first extended time on defense this season alongside McDuffie.
"It felt great but again there's always things to clean up," said McDuffie, who finished with a team-high nine tackles. "We gotta go back and watch the tape. I keep saying I think the sky's the limit for this team. I really think we have a special group."
One of the things Green Bay wanted to clean up was the 378 total yards it allowed, though some of that production came with backup Tommy DeVito under center after Maye exited when the game was out of reach in the fourth quarter.
Gannon's pressure packages were productive, though. The Packers hit Maye nine times with four sacks, including defensive tackle Karl Brooks' first two of the season.
"I feel like everybody understood what we were walking into," said Williams, who nabbed his third INT of the season in the second quarter. "It was gonna be a 12-round fist fight and we just gotta be ready to for it. Guys were delivering with their own haymakers today and that felt pretty good."
Dangerous duo: The receiving combination of Watson and Matthew Golden was again unstoppable, as both receivers turned in career performances against the Patriots.
Watson caught seven passes for a career-high 171 yards and a touchdown while Golden had 10 receptions for a personal-best 164 yards and a TD.
Golden needed just 15 minutes to establish a new career-high for receiving yards, catching six passes for 126 yards and a 5-yard TD in the first quarter alone. It was the most receiving yards by a Packers receiver in the first quarter since Antonio Freeman had 129 against Tennessee in 1998.
"Shoot, however many yards he had in the first quarter, 120 or whatever it was, it only helps me, gets my energy going," Watson said. "Obviously, it puts less stress on me as an individual actually out there on the field. It's definitely contagious. We're feeding off each other's energy all game. If he's making plays, I know there's plays for me to make."
Together, Watson and Golden are the first Packers receiving duo to each have 150 yards and a receiving TD in same game since Don Hutson and Andy Uram in 1942.
The two combined for eight of Green Bay's 10 longest offensive plays, seven of which went for more than 20 yards.
"Whenever he gets going, I get going, it goes back and forth," said Golden of Watson. "We talked about it all offseason – we were gonna come in, do this thing and take off with it. It's just about continuing to keep going and keep winning games."
Josh Jacobs leaves, Kaleb Johnson sparks run game: Johnson not only bulldozed his way to his first career rushing touchdown but also the most productive game of the season on the ground for Green Bay.
With Jacobs leaving the game with a broken finger and not returning, Johnson rushed for 68 yards on 14 carries and scored his first career touchdown on a powerful 2-yard run in the second quarter.
"I feel like this is a little thing of what I can do when I get comfortable with the system and get familiar with the system," said Johnson, who was acquired before the season in a trade with Pittsburgh. "Going over plays with Coach (Ben) Sirmans every day and just building on that and learning what to do on and off the field and just being me, just getting comfortable and confident."
As a team, Green Bay broke the century mark for the first time this season in finishing with 32 carries for 129 yards.
It was an impressive output considering Green Bay was down its top three running backs: MarShawn Lloyd was a scratch with a knee injury, Chris Brooks remains on injured reserve and Jacobs exited after carrying the ball four times for five yards.
"We were just trying to figure out a way if I can still go and the biggest thing is just being able to grip the ball," said Jacobs, who broke his right ring finger. "Catching is obviously gonna be tough, but just being able to grip the ball, we gonna see."
O-line rotation: Laken Tomlinson split the game between the two guard positions depending on whether left guard Aaron Banks or right guard Kevin Zeitler was in the game.
Love was hit just five times and Green Bay finished with 478 total yards, going 4-of-5 in the red zone.
"Obviously it starts with Jordan making the checks and everything that we scouted and practiced all week, he was perfect," Tomlinson said. "Great job communicating across the line with John (Williams) and just everyone doing their 1/11th and we went out there and executed."
