Defense near Russell Douglas and the Green Bay Packers didn't let the Cleveland Browns spoil Aaron Rodgers' milestone day.
Rodgers overtook Brett Favre to become Green Bay's all-time leader in touchdown passes, and the Packers intercepted Baker Mayfield four times in Saturday's 24-22 win over the Cleveland Browns. Cleveland nearly came all the way back from a 12-point second-half deficit, before Douglas' second interception halted the game with 43 seconds remaining.
"We have to do a better job of closing the game," Rodgers said. "Our defense has closed a lot of games, stopped that 2-point conversion over the past two weeks (in a 31-30 win in Baltimore) and Rasool is coming in with that big pick. It's nerve-racking But it is difficult to win in this league."
Rodgers extended his career total to 445 with three touchdown passes in 24 of 34 for 202 yards. Favre threw 508 touchdown passes during his Hall of Fame career, 442 of which were with Green Bay.
But it was Green Bay's defense that secured the victory, sacking Mayfield five times and forcing him to a four-interception performance of his first career. All three touchdowns by the Packers (12-3) came after a Mayfield interception.
"It was just a missed throw," Mayfield said. "Unethical, and I hurt this team. That's the most frustrating thing for me, because I thought our defense played really well against a really, really good offense. But when you hit the ball in your area, the red zone." In and around midfield and give them extra opportunities, they're going to take advantage of that.
Mayfield was 21 for 36 for 222 yards, including two touchdowns as well as four picks in his return from the reserve/COVID-19 list, which led him to a 16-14 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday .
Nick Chubb ran for 126 yards and a touchdown to lead the Browns' 219-yard rushing effort that kept him in the game.
Brown (7-8) was behind 24-22 and was third in 50 and 10 when Douglas chose Mayfield's pass for Donovan Peoples-Jones in 40.
Since being signed out of the Arizona Cardinals' practice squad in early October, Douglas has had a team-high five interceptions. He had a game-cleaning interception in the last minute of a win in Arizona earlier this season.
"The coach told me that as long as I kept catching them, they would keep coming," Douglas said. "I'm just trying to catch them when they come."
There were also interceptions from Darnell Savage and Chandan Sullivan. Ration Gary had two of the Packers' five sacks against the Browns, whose offensive line was dropped on the COVID-19 list with both left tackle Jedric Wills and center Jesse Traitor.
Until the Browns produced their second-half threat, the day belonged to Rodgers, who broke Favre's record by throwing an 11-yard TD pass to Alan Lazard in the first quarter.
"Aaron broke so many records," Lazard said. "Actually every week it's almost like I get on Instagram on a Monday morning and someone always posts some new record that Aaron is breaking. For us, in a sense, it's just another day at the office. Obviously In fact, it is a big milestone in that sense."
Rodgers supported Favre in his first three NFL seasons before taking over in 2008. Favre sent a message to Rodgers in a video that aired on the Lambeau Field scoreboard after a record-breaking touchdown pass.
"Hey, 12, congratulations man, passing my touchdown record," Favre said. "I have a request. Go bring us another Super Bowl. Congratulations."
"Of course I got a little tear on the bench," said Rodgers, who greeted the Lambeau Field crowd, who heartily congratulated him. "A moment I'll definitely never forget. I'm grateful for Favre's message, for the response people had and the crowd was obviously really special."
Rodgers later threw two touchdown passes to Davante Adams, who had 10 catches for 114 yards. Adams has caught at least 10 passes and two touchdowns for 100 yards in eight career games, the most in NFL history.
Adams has caught 67 touchdown passes from Rodgers, giving him the franchise record for touchdown pass combinations. Rodgers threw 65 touchdown passes to former Packers receiver Jordy Nelson.
"When you start stacking up the numbers for Davante, it blows mind," Rodgers said. "I really think he's the best player I've played with."
The Packers have already won the NFC North title and are looking for the conference's top playoff seed as they chase their first Super Bowl berth since their 2010 championship season. They have lost each of the last two seasons in the NFC Championship game.