By Jalen Maki
I was traveling when the Packers took on the Indianapolis Colts last Sunday, so I wasn’t able to get a column written last week. But I do have something I’d like to say: Kudos to Packers head coach Matt LaFleur for putting together a fantastic game plan. Green Bay ran the living heck out of the ball (to say the least!), which took pressure off backup quarterback Malik Willis, and the team earned a great win with starting quarterback Jordan Love sidelined with an MCL sprain.
Love practiced during the week ahead of the Packers’ Week 3 matchup against the Tennessee Titans this past Sunday, but he was ruled inactive in the hours leading up to kickoff. Willis, who was traded to Green Bay by who other than the Titans for a seventh round pick just 27 days prior, got his second straight start, this time against his former team. And folks, he looked quite good, again! So much so that it makes you wonder: Are Jordan Love trade rumors incoming?
I’m kidding, of course. But it’s incredibly comforting to know that Green Bay has a capable dude behind Love, and in the event their QB1 has to miss time again, the Packers can win with Willis. If you had done a Vibes Check among Packer fans after their Week One loss to the Philadelphia Eagles – the game in which Love was injured – the results probably would’ve come back somewhere between Bad and Not Good. It was believed that Love could’ve missed a month or more, and if the Packers were to open the season with, say a 1-4 record, their chances of making the playoffs would’ve been microscopic. Things were looking pretty grim! But now, it looks like Love could return next week against the Minnesota Vikings after missing only two games – both of which were wins, meaning they’re pretty much right on track with a 2-1 record. Things went about as well as they could’ve after Love went down.
Alright, now let’s take a look at the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from the Packers’ 30-14 Week 3 win over the Tennessee Titans – what might go down in history as the Malik Willis Revenge Game.
The Good
Willis looked pretty dang good against his former team. We’ll get to him in a bit.
Here’s something I haven’t said with a positive connotation in probably a decade: How ‘bout that Packers defense? New defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley’s guys put on a show in Nashville. They had eight sacks, with the edge rushers having a big day as a unit: Preston Smith had two sacks, edge Kingsley Enagbare had 1.5, and Lukas Van Ness contributed one. Defensive lineman Devonte Wyatt (another player we’ll talk about later) had a pair of sacks of his own, while linebackers Isaiah McDuffie, Quay Walker, and rookie Edgerrin Cooper each contributed a half-sack. A few of these sacks were the product of Hafley’s utilization of a very fun formation known as the “NASCAR package,” when interior linemen are replaced along the line of scrimmage with additional edge rushers. The Pack also forced three turnovers: cornerback Jaire Alexander jumped a hitch route for a pick-six in the first quarter (somehow the first of his career), which gave the Packers a lead they held for the rest of the game, and in the third, Van Ness jumped on an Enagbare-forced fumble by Levis. Safety Xavier McKinney, a third guy we’ll get to later, picked off Levis late in the fourth quarter. Last year, the Packers had the fewest turnovers in the NFL, with seven. Through three games this season, they have nine – the most in the league. Although it’s worth noting that Green Bay has faced three turnover-prone quarterbacks so far in the Eagles’ Hurts, the Colts’ Anthony Richardson and Levis, the fact that they’ve already surpassed 2023’s mark is very encouraging.
LaFleur is making an early case for Coach of the Year. It was a smart move to keep Love on the sideline this week, and the success the Packers have had in Love’s absence can largely be attributed to LaFleur’s game plans, in which he prioritized establishing the run and allowed Willis to throw the ball mostly only when necessary, while trusting him to take a few shots and make plays with his legs. Winning two games with Willis seemed like a tough task a couple weeks ago, but LaFleur got it done, once again proving he’s among the best head coaches in the NFL.
The Bad
There’s a few things that I suppose are worth pointing out, but ya know what? I’m not going to nitpick here.
Although the Packers’ run game took a while to get going, the Titans have a very solid group of guys up the middle, so it’s understandable that they didn’t see the same results they saw against the Colts’ much weaker unit last week. In fact, when it comes to the Pack’s rushing attack, LaFleur deserves props. Despite a somewhat lack of success in the rushing game early on and his apparent trust in Willis to throw the ball more often this week, LaFleur never totally abandoned the run, and it paid off –running backs Jacobs and Emanuel Wilson were ultimately able to pick up some yards on the ground with some consistency as the game went on, allowing time to run off the clock.
The Green Bay offense wasn’t great third downs (they went 5-14), but hey, they were starting a backup quarterback who’s been with the team for a month. They deserve a little leniency here. In another smart move by LaFleur, the Packers never went for it on fourth down, instead opting to punt and allow the defense to try to get stops.
LaFleur made a somewhat questionable clock management decision towards the end of the first half, when he let ten seconds run off the clock before calling a timeout and settling for a field goal as time expired, rather than using the burned time to try to find the end zone at least one more time before sending out the field goal unit. But all-in-all, the man put on a coaching master class over the past two weeks, so I’m more than willing to let this slide.
The Ugly
Penalties. Guys. I can’t with the penalties. The Packers had six for 45 yards in the first half, and they proceeded to just…keep committing penalties for the rest of the game, which is a bold strategy, in my opinion. Green Bay ended the day with 10 penalties for 75 yards. As of Sunday night, the Packers had the fifth-most flags in the league at 26. Please. Make it stop.
I have a humble request: Can Packers players please stop trying to hurdle defenders? Wilson and wide receiver Christian Watson each took a stab at leaping over tacklers Sunday, and neither was successful. I get it; it is cool to jump over a guy. But do you know what is also cool? Not falling six feet directly onto your head.
Players of the Game
Willis is the obvious first choice here. Man, what a couple of games he had under center for the Pack. Over his two starts, he went 25-34 through the air (a cool 74% completion percentage) for 324 yards, two touchdowns, no turnovers, and a 126.3 passer rating. On Sunday, he had 73 rushing yards on six carries – the second-most in a game by a Packers quarterback since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger, behind only Don Majikowski, who had 88 yards on the ground against the Detroit Lions in 1990. Oh, and Willis also scored one rushing touchdown. At halftime of Sunday’s game, Willis had the most passing yards and rushing yards of any player in the first slate of NFL games. In his time as the starter, Willis protected the football and executed LaFleur’s game plans with impressive efficiency. And on top of all this, he seems like the nicest dude ever – during an interview this week, he said he didn’t see the matchup with his former team as a “revenge game” – in fact, he actually thanked the Titans organization for bringing him into the league.
In his third year with the Packers, it looks like Wyatt is having a breakout season. He’s on pace to have a career high sacks in a season: after logging 1.5 sacks in his 2022 rookie campaign and 5.5 last year, he already has three so far in 2024. Hopefully Wyatt can continue to build on his strong start to the year.
McKinney looks like a pretty solid free agency addition, eh? He’s the first Packer to record an interception in each of his first three games since John Anderson in 1978. McKinney brings a spark to the Packers’ safety position that hasn’t been seen arguably since Nick Collins. He’s perfectly suited to play in Hafley’s aggressive and reactive scheme – he’s a great athlete with excellent instincts, which will allow him to continue to be a major contributor throughout the season.
Week 4 vs. Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings might be the most interesting storyline of the NFL season so far.
They’ve beaten the New York Giants, the San Francisco 49ers, and, most recently, the Houston Texans (in pretty convincing fashion), all while being led by journeyman quarterback Sam Darnold. The Vikings are coming to Green Bay in Week 4, which will be both teams’ first matchup against a divisional opponent this year. The Packers will likely have Love back under center for the game, but the Vikings are on a roll. Things could get very interesting in Green Bay on Sunday.
Jalen’s columns, “The Free Play” and “Movies You Gotta See,” can be found online at www.medium.com/@jalenmaki.