GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers beat the New England Patriots 26-21 in a potential Super Bowl preview on Sunday at Lambeau Field.

In a battle between two of the hottest teams and best quarterbacks in the NFL, the Packers won for the eighth time in nine games as quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw for 368 yards and two touchdowns.

Needing a touchdown on a possession that started with 8:35 remaining, Patriots coach Bill Belichick rolled the dice on fourth-and-3 near midfield. The Packers rushed six but quarterback Tom Brady hit receiver Julian Edelman for a gain of 5. Then, on third-and-7, Brady connected with tight end Rob Gronkowski for 10. LeGarrette Blount then thundered for 12 to the Packers’ 21.

Brady nearly gave the Patriots the lead with a perfectly placed pass but Gronkowski lost control of the ball diving in front of safety HaHa Clinton-Dix, who helped poke the ball loose in the end zone. A sack on third down brought Stephen Gostkowski on, but he missed a 47-yard field goal with 2:40 remaining.

The Patriots were able to convert a third-and-5 with just over two minutes remaining when Rodgers found crossing wide receiver Randall Cobb for a gain of 7 against tight coverage from cornerback Kyle Arrington and safety Devin McCourty.

The Packers, Eagles and Cardinals are all 9-3 and atop the NFC.

New England (9-3), which had blown out first-place teams the past three weeks, had its seven-game winning streak snapped. Brady threw for 245 yards.

The Patriots pulled within 23-21 with 13:51 remaining in the game. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Blount converted a third-and-1 with a leg-churning, pile-moving 12 yard run. He followed that with a hard-charging 13-yard run to the 15, which set up Brady’s play-action touchdown to wide receiver Brandon LaFell.

Green Bay responded with Mason Crosby’s 28-yard field goal to lead 26-21 with 8:41 remaining.

In a key moment before halftime, Rodgers completed a 45-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jordy Nelson to give the Packers a 23-14 lead. The play came on third-and-2, with Nelson running a slant to his left against cornerback Darrelle Revis and catching the ball at the 35. Cobb blocked Revis at the 25 and Nelson beat McCourty to the end zone, with Nelson extending the ball and hitting the pylon just before going out of bounds.

The Packers scored on their first four possessions but led only 16-14 because they went 0-for-3 in the red zone. Runs of 13 and 24 yards by Packers running back Eddie Lacy set up Mason Crosby’s 32-yard field goal to open the scoring. Rodgers’ 33-yard completion to Adams set up Crosby’s 35-yard field goal to make it 6-0.

Green Bay extended the lead to 13-0 on Rodgers’ 32-yard touchdown pass to tight end Richard Rodgers just before the end of the first quarter. Aaron Rodgers pumped to his right, then threw across the field to Richard Rodgers, who caught the ball at the 2 against safety Patrick Chung.

New England got on the board on Brandon Bolden’s back-to-back runs of 12 yards and 6 yards for the score. He entered the game with 15 carries for 25 yards with a long run of 8 this season.

The Packers had to settle for another red zone field goal on a drive in which Randall Cobb had four receptions, including a 33-yarder and a third-and-12 conversion to the Patriots’ 8. Dont’a Hightower came in almost untouched on an A-gap blitz to drop Rodgers on third-and-goal from the 6.

New England capitalized with a touchdown to cut the deficit to 16-14 with 1:09 to go in the half. Brady hit running back Shane Vereen for 26 yards to the 20 and Gronkowski on a punishing third-down conversion to the 2 before hitting LaFell for a 2-yard touchdown on third down.

The Packers had 347 yards at halftime, including 273 through the air. The Patriots had allowed that many passing yards only twice all season.

NOTES: According to the NFL, this was the second time in NFL history that two quarterbacks squared off for the first time with both having 200-plus touchdown passes. The other game was in 1974 when Fran Tarkenton and Len Dawson were the quarterbacks. … Green Bay led 13-0 after one quarter, giving it a 79-0 edge after the opening period of their last five home games. … Packers WRs Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb became the first receiver duo in franchise history with 10 touchdown catches in a season.