The Packers cap off Thanksgiving with a dominant win over the Dolphins

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Hours after the Green Bay Packers watched the Chicago Bears provide them no help as they botched the end of the early Thanksgiving game against the Detroit Lions, the Packers concluded that they are on Thursday in Lambeau they should at least help themselves in the field.

Green Bay conducted business against it the Miami Dolphins, 30-17, in the finale of the three-game Thanksgiving Day schedule, staying within shouting distance of the NFC North-leading Lions (11-1). The Packers will still need help catching Detroit, but they can start the process by winning in next Thursday night’s NFC North showdown at Ford Field.

They’re also in much better shape than they were in the Week 9 loss to the Lions at Lambeau Field, picking up crucial wins over the San Francisco 49ers and Dolphins – which are also the only two games played by quarterback Jordan Love this season don’t throw an interception. Without wide receiver Romeo Doubs (concussion) against the Dolphins, Love threw two touchdown passes to Jayden Reed, and Green Bay added a rushing touchdown from Josh Jacobs – his third straight game with a touchdown and his fifth rushing TD in those three Play games.

Here’s what you should know for both teams:

Key game: It happened early, but the tone was set for the rest of the evening when Packers backup quarterback Robert Rochell recovered a blocked punt from Miami’s Malik Washington inside his own 10-yard line. Instead, the Dolphins got the ball after a Packers three on the game’s first drive, Love got the ball back and threw the first of his two touchdown passes to Reed, and the Packers never looked back.

Most surprising performance: Maybe the Packers do have a pass rush they can count on. At least they were able to do that for a while in the second quarter, when the lead was still 14-3. Then Lukas Van Ness came home and sacked Tua Tagovailoa in the second period, and then Kingsley Enagbare sacked him in the third period to force a punt. For Van Ness, it was his second straight game with a sack after recording just one and two quarterback hits in the first ten games of the season. Even defensive tackle Kenny Clark, who didn’t have a sack in the first 11 games of the season, finally got one in the fourth quarter.

Promising trend: Two weeks ago, the Packers were one of the worst red zone offenses in the NFL. They ranked 27th with a 48.7% touchdown rate when inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. They then scored nine straight touchdowns on drives inside the red zone before finally settling for a field goal on their first possession of the third quarter against Miami. After going 5 of 5 in red zone touchdowns against the San Francisco 49ers, they reached the end zone on their first four possessions inside the 20 against the Dolphins. According to ESPN Research, it was the second-longest streak in the NFL this season. The Packers had to settle for another field goal in the red zone with 5:02 left in the fourth quarter, but by then the game was already under control. – Rob Demovsky

Next game: at Lions (8:15 p.m. ET, December 5)

The Dolphins brought more than 3,000 pounds of cold-weather gear to Wisconsin for their prime-time game against the Packers, and it still took them nearly three quarters to warm up.

Miami allowed more than 7 yards per play in the loss, another disappointing performance in frigid temperatures. The loss ended a three-game winning streak and complicated an already unlikely push into the playoffs after a 2-6 start to the season.

Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa completed 37 of 46 passes for 364 yards and two touchdowns, but an offense that had been perfect on third downs over the past month converted just 4 of 14 attempts and turned the ball over twice on downs.

Miami fell behind 27-3 in the third quarter but appeared to be on the verge of a comeback after scoring a touchdown and reaching the Packers’ 1-yard line immediately afterward. Trailing 27-11, the Dolphins failed to score on fourth down, effectively stalling the game.

The Dolphins are now two games behind the Denver Broncos for the final spot in the AFC playoff field and have the 14th toughest schedule remaining, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index – giving them under a 20% chance of making the playoffs .

QB breakdown: Tagovailoa didn’t particularly move one way or the other on Thursday. He averaged 6.4 air yards per attempt before the final drive, but was sacked five times by a relentless Packers defense. He was extremely efficient under pressure, completing 7 of 8 passes for 62 yards. However, he missed Tyreek Hill on several throws that are usually direct hits and overthrew De’Von Achane on fourth down late in the second quarter – which opened the door for the Packers to drive down the field and kick a field goal as time expired shoot half. With an inefficient running game rendered useless by negative game script, Tagovailoa and the Dolphins’ offense struggled to finish drives in the blowout loss.

Promising/Troubling Trend: It must be because of the Dolphins’ cold-weather performance — which is less a “narrative,” as players and coaches have described it, and more an ironclad fact. Tagovailoa’s record in temperatures below 50 degrees fell to 1-7, and the Dolphins lost their seventh straight outdoor game when temperatures were below freezing at kickoff. They will play two more road games in potentially frigid weather against the Cleveland Browns and New York Jets in the final two weeks of the regular season.

Biggest gap in the game plan: Stop the run. Miami had held five straight opponents under 100 yards entering Thursday night’s game; The Packers gained more than 100 yards rushing in the first half. Four players recorded at least 20 rushing yards for Green Bay, which moved the ball at will thanks to its prolific running game. The Packers averaged 7.3 yards per play in a non-competitive Thanksgiving nightcap on Thursday. — Marcel Louis Jacques

Next game: vs. Jets (1 p.m. ET, December 8)