GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Jordan Love celebrated the Green Bay Packers’ victory on Thanksgiving by taking a bite out of a turkey leg and lifting it into the air.

His celebration was a long time coming.

Love led the Packers to a Thanksgiving Day triumph in Detroit last year, but didn’t get a turkey leg afterwards, as is common in those televised postgame interviews. His teammates vowed to make sure Love got a turkey leg this time, and he earned it by throwing two touchdown passes to Jayden Reed in a 30-17 win over the Miami Dolphins on Thursday night.

“To come in here, get the win and then get the turkey leg, that was very tasty,” said Love, who went 21 of 28 for 274 yards. “Just a little something to celebrate.”

Josh Jacobs brought a plate of turkey into the locker room as Green Bay (9-3) celebrated its third straight win. The Packers, who have won seven of their last eight games, built a 27-3 lead and made a goal-line stand to thwart a comeback attempt.

Miami (5-7) continued its recent history of cold weather woes. The kickoff temperature at Lambeau Field was 27 degrees (-2.7 degrees Celsius) with winds of 10 mph, light thunderstorms and a wind chill of 18 degrees.

“I would say from my perspective and from our team’s perspective, we’re not going to use any of this as an excuse as to why we didn’t get off to the start that we wanted,” said Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who was 37 for 46 for 365 yards with two touchdowns despite being sacked five times.

The Dolphins have lost their last 12 regular-season or postseason games in which the temperature was below 40 degrees (4.4 Celsius) at kickoff. The Dolphins’ most recent win in a game with a kickoff temperature of 40 or less was a 34-31 overtime victory at Buffalo on December 24, 2016.

Green Bay plays three games in 12 days. The Packers defeated the San Francisco 49ers 38-10 on Sunday and will visit the NFC North-leading Detroit Lions next Thursday night.

“I thought we played well even though it was a short week,” Packers safety Xavier McKinney said. “I thought we came out and had the right attitude. And we started fast, and that was the key to today’s win.”

Love and Reed connected on touchdown completions of 3 and 12 yards, Jacobs scored from 1 yard and Brandon McManus hit two field goals to give Green Bay a 27-3 lead midway through the third quarter.

Miami tried to rally.

Tagovailoa’s 14-yard pass to De’Von Achane – and a 2-point conversion pass to Jaylen Waddle – cut Green Bay’s lead to 27-11 with 2:43 left in the third. After Miami stopped Jacobs for a 2-yard loss on third-and-1 to force a punt, the Dolphins drove again and scored a second-and-goal on 1 early in the fourth quarter.

“We fought hard,” Dolphins defensive lineman Calais Campbell said. “We have no end within us. I really believed we would give ourselves a chance to win at the end.”

Green Bay’s goal-line defense dashed those hopes. After Rashan stopped Gary Achane on second down and Tagovailoa failed to make contact with Jonnu Smith on third down, Quay Walker made a sack on fourth down with 9:33 left.

A 49-yard completion from Love to Jacobs then set up McManus’ 33-yard field goal with 5:02 left. Miami completed the scoring with a deflected 12-yard touchdown pass from Tagovailoa to Tyreek Hill with 3:04 left.

Miami’s slow start allowed the Packers to take command.

After forcing a three-pointer on the first possession, the Dolphins gave Green Bay a first-and-goal chance when Malik Washington thwarted a punt and Robert Rochell recovered at the 9.

The turnover set up Love’s 3-yard touchdown pass to Reed on third-and-goal.

Green Bay reached the end zone again on its next series, as Jacobs’ touchdown capped a nearly seven-minute, 12-play, 76-yard drive.

The Dolphins had a first-and-goal at the 9 in the second quarter, but settled for Jason Sanders’ 33-yard field goal.

Green Bay then scored 10 points in the final 96 seconds of the half to make it 24-3.

On third-and-2, Reed caught a pass around the line of scrimmage and took advantage of a downfield block from Dontayvion Wicks to reach the end zone. After Tagovailoa beat Achane on fourth-and-5 from the Green Bay 38 with 22 seconds left, a pair of completions from Love to Tucker Kraft helped the Packers get in position for McManus’ 46-yard field goal as time expired bring to.

From that point on, it was essentially just a matter of making sure Love didn’t go hungry.

“The most important thing for me was making sure Jordan got his leg,” Kraft said.

Injuries

Packers CB Corey Ballentine injured his knee in the opener. Packers DL Arron Mosby was evaluated for a concussion.

Dolphins DB cadre Kohou injured his back when he collided with Packers WR Christian Watson on an incomplete pass. Dolphins CB Cam Smith injured his shoulder.

Next

Dolphins: Host the New York Jets on December 8th.

Packers: Next Thursday night in Detroit.

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A previous version of this story made a correction that noted the Dolphins have lost their last 12 regular-season or postseason games when temperatures were 40 degrees or below in the opener.

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