GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots don’t play each other that often.
The most recent time was in 2022 — an overtime game at Lambeau Field won by Green Bay with Aaron Rodgers under center during his final season in Green Bay.
In the teams’ most recent matchup in New England in 2018, Tom Brady was on the field playing in his penultimate season with the team.
Sunday’s game between the Packers (5-3) and Patriots (5-3) won’t feature either future Hall of Famer. Rodgers is playing what he’s said is his final NFL season in Pittsburgh, and Brady will be calling his first game in Gillette Stadium as an analyst for Fox Sports.
“I think I’m required contractually to catch up with him at some point,” Patriots coach Mike Vrabel joked this week about Brady’s latest return to New England.
But there will be plenty of focus on the quarterbacks that have come behind Rodgers and Brady for their respective former franchises.
Jordan Love appears to be finding his stride in his fourth season as the full-time starter, leading the league in passing yards for a team looking to make the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.
Meanwhile, Drake Maye has recovered from a rough start to account for at least three touchdowns in each of his past five games, leading the Patriots to victories in four of them.
While the Packers enter the game last in the NFL in rushing, averaging only 60.6 yards per game, Love said he isn’t worried about generating offense.
“The run game isn’t where it needs to be, but I think we’ve still been able to kind of adjust and still make plays,” he said. “There’s a lot more out there, but we’ve done a great job just being able to win these games by putting up some points, and that’s what it comes down to.”
Maye said the matchup is certainly a measuring stick opposite a team that like them is trying to keep pace in their division.
“They’re good. They’ve beaten good teams, and they continue to show up every year,” Maye said. “We’ve definitely got a challenge and a chance to see how we look.”