The Green Bay Packers will face off against the Cleveland Browns on Christmas Day. It is a tale of two completely different teams. The Packers have already clinched their division and a playoff spot. The Browns, meanwhile, are currently last in their division, but are only one game out of first place. While the Browns will be fighting for their playoff lives, the Packers’ motivation will come from their desire to keep a hold on the NFC’s number one seed. As Green Bay and their fans prepare for Week 16, here are three important numbers to know for the matchup against Cleveland.
The Packers Lead the All-Time Series 13-7
This statistic is a little misleading. Of course, the Cleveland Browns of old are now known as the Baltimore Ravens. From 1955-1995, the Packers and Browns played 15 times with the Packers winning 10 of those matchups. From 1961-1967, Green Bay won five of those matchups in a row.
Since the expansion Browns franchise began in 1999, the Packers have played them five times. Green Bay is 4-1 in those five games. The last time the two teams played was 2017, when Brett Hundley led the Packers to an overtime victory. This was one of the few Hundley games that was actually a good game from him. He completed 35 of 46 passes for 265 yards and three touchdowns. He did not throw an interception.
Fun fact: the Browns’ starting quarterback in that 2017 game? DeShone Kizer.
Aaron Rodgers Has Never Thrown an Interception vs the Browns
It is no secret that Aaron Rodgers is one of the best there is when it comes to protecting the football. With 442 career touchdown passes, Rodgers has just 93 interceptions. When Brett Favre reached 442 touchdowns, he had 288 interceptions.
In two career games against the Cleveland Browns, Rodgers has not thrown a single interception. The first time he played the Browns was in 2009. The Packers won that game 31-3 behind 246 yards and three touchdowns from Aaron Rodgers. Ryan Grant had 27 carries for 148 yards that day as well.
The last time Rodgers faced the Browns he led the Packers to a 31-13 victory. He threw for 260 yards and three touchdowns to three different receivers. Surprisingly, the Packers’ leading receiver that day was Jarrett Boykin, who had eight catches for 103 yards and a touchdown.
336-3-0-131.8
What might those numbers be? Those are the passing numbers of the last Browns quarterback to defeat the Green Bay Packers. On September 18, 2005, Trent Dilfer threw for 336 yards, three touchdowns, zero interceptions, and a 131.8 quarterback rating. On that same day, Brett Favre threw for 342 yards and three touchdowns. However, he also threw two interceptions. The Browns won 26-24. At the time, they improved to 1-1 on the season while the Packers fell to 0-2. The Browns would go on to finish the season 6-10 while the Packers finished 4-12.
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