A week after it disappeared, Washington’s offense has been found.
Washington quarterback Alex Smith threw two touchdown passes, and running back Adrian Peterson had two touchdown runs, and Washington beat Green Bay 31-17 today.
It was a big turnaround from last week, when Washington’s offense couldn’t get anything going in an ugly loss to the Colts. This week Peterson ran for 120 yards on 19 carries, while Smith had 220 passing yards on 12-of-20 passing.
For the Packers, it was a disappointing game with some strange decision making from coach Mike McCarthy, who sat on his timeouts late in the first half rather than buying Aaron Rodgers some time to try to score, and then chose to punt late in the game on fourth-and-5 rather than going for it. That punt might as well have been waving a white flag.
Rodgers is noticeably hobbled on his injured knee, but he still managed to complete 27 of 44 passes for 265 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
This game could have implications in the NFC playoff race months from now. Green Bay falls to 1-1-1, while Washington improves to 2-1.