GREEN BAY Wis. -- The Washington Redskins couldn't pull out a third-straight win Sunday, falling to the Green Bay Packers, 20-15. Here's a statistical look at how it happened:
1,436
Adrian Peterson was an NFL legend long before he joined the Redskins last season, but he has reached some pivotal milestones while donning the burgundy and gold. He moved past Jerome Bettis and LaDainian Thomlinson to become the sixth-leading all-time rusher with 642 rushing yards this year.
This week, he added another achievement to his Hall of Fame resume by becoming the sixth player in NFL history to cross the 14,000-rushing yard mark. He joins a group that includes players such as Curtis Martin, Frank Gore and Emmitt Smith.
Peterson had 76 yards against the Packers to push his career total to 14,036 rushing yards.
8
Anyone who has watched the Redskins could easily determine that rookie wide receiver Terry McLaurin is one of the best players on the roster. He didn't get going until late in the fourth quarter, but he showed off all the reasons why the Redskins were wise to spend a third-round pick on him. He had four targets for 57 yards and an acrobatic touchdown that pulled his team within five points of the lead.
Sunday's game was the eighth time in 12 games where McLaurin finished with at least 50 receiving yards. He has been targeted at least six times in nine games, and his touchdown catch was his first score in seven games.
McLaurin is by far the Redskins' leading receiver with 646 yards. He is projected to finish his rookie year with 861 yards on 56 receptions.
195
Aaron Rodgers has consistently been on the NFL's best quarterbacks, and this year hasn't been any different. He started the year throwing for at least 200 yards in the first eight games.
However, the Redskins defense contained Rodgers and his big arm despite playing most of the game without No. 1 corner Quinton Dunbar. Rodgers finished the game completing 18 of 28 passes for 195 yards and a touchdown. It's Rodgers' third-lowest yardage total of the season.
Thanks to linebacker Ryan Anderson and his strip sack in the second quarter, the Redskins also forced Aaron Rodgers to fumble for the fourth time this year. Rodgers has lost all of those fumbles, and it is the second time in three games that he put the ball on the ground.
40
Steven Sims Jr. has shown that he is a valuable asset to the Redskins' special teams unit, but now he's starting to show that he can be more than just a return man.
Sims has been featured more in the offense since fellow wide receiver Trey Quinn has been sidelined with a concussion, and he has taken advantage of his increase in snaps. Against the Packers, Sims had career highs in receptions (4) targets (7) and yards (40). His receptions and targets were tied with McLaurin for second-most on the team, which shows how much rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins Jr. trusts Sims' talents.
Sims also continued to return both punts and kickoffs with Quinn out. He returned two kicks for 25 yards.
17
The Redskins' pass rush is no longer the inconsistent unit that it was in the first half of the season. They seem to have found their rhythm in the past three games, as they had another multi-sack game with four against the Packers. That gives them 17 in the past three games.
Despite playing about half of that stretch without perennial Pro Bowl selection Ryan Kerrigan, who is just 1.5 sacks away from the franchise leader in the category since sacks were calculated, the Redskins have more sacks in the past three games than they did in a five-game stretch from Week 6 to Week 11.
In addition to their four sacks, the Redskins also got seven hits on Rodgers, which dramatically affected his final stat line. The defense forced Rodgers to finish with a 40.1 quarterback rating, which is his sixth-lowest of this season.
