Don’t look now folks, but this Packer team, the youngest in the NFL, is starting to grow up. The Packers went into Detroit on a short week, decimated with injuries, and stunned Detroit, beating them in all three phases of the game.
Jordon Love had a game to remember. His stats don’t do it justice, [22/33-268 yards/3 TDs- no interceptions] but they were pretty darn good. Love was 5-11 on third down and would have had at least one more if not for a Romeo Doubs drop. Love and the offense scored 3 touchdowns on 4 red zone opportunities.
The game started with a fantastic deep throw and better catch by Christian Watson, who led the team with 5 receptions for 94 yards and a touchdown. Malik Heath and Jayden Reed each had three catches and Romeo Doubs had three more.
Love’s first touchdown pass, a bullet to Reed snuck between two Detroit defenders, was eye opening and really demonstrated his growth as a quarterback. All day long, Love was calm in the pocket and made good decisions.
Missing one of his key pass catching weapons in Luke Musgrave who is on injured reserve with a lacerated kidney, he found backup Tucker Kraft for Green Bay’s second touchdown of the first quarter. That’s right, Packer fans, this young offense that goose egged multiple first halves in a row, had 2 touchdowns on their first two possessions to start the game against a quality NFL defense.
Both were 75-yard drives. The second answered Detroit’s first drive that also scored a touchdown. The second drive required Love to convert two 3rd downs.
On the first, a third and eight, Love threw a perfect pass to Christian Watson for 9 yards. The second was a third and one at the Detroit 9. Love lofted a floater perfectly to Kraft, who had snuck out of the pocket after a good block fake. The result, a touchdown and a 13-6 lead.
Two plays later, Jonathon Owens picked up Geoff’s fumble, caused by Rashan Gary’s pressure, and sprinted into the end zone. Anders Carlson, who missed an early PAT, was good this time making it 20-6. The Packer defense continued to pressure Goff and kept Detroit from mounting any meaningful comeback.
When you compare the first halves of this game and the previous Detroit game early in the season, the turnaround is almost miraculous. During the September meeting, the Green Bay offense had seven first half possessions.
The dismal result included four punts on three, “3 and outs”, an interception, a turnover on downs at the end of the half, and zero yards after an interception by the defense that resulted in a field goal. Thirty-two total yards for a half. Three points that were gifted by the defense. In that game, the defense gave up 211 rushing yards.
On Thanksgiving the Green Bay defense gave up a respectable 140 rushing yards. They also had 3 huge sacks from Rashan Gary and 2 tackles for loss by Lucas Van Ness and Jonathon Owens.
Owens had himself a game. His fumble recovery and sprint to the end zone changed the game and gave the Packers a 20-6 lead in the first quarter. He also had a tackle where he nearly knocked the cleats off of Detroit’s Jahmyr Gibbs.
The Packer secondary started three backups but never gave up a long pass over the top. The defense forced 3 fumbles, recovering all of them, and had constant pressure on Goff. Rookie Karl Brooks had another highlight play, stripping Goff and recovering the fumble. The Packers led by 15 in the fourth quarter and played soft defense at the end. They ended Detroit’s hopes when Reed gobbled up the on-side kick attempt. A perfect Packer fan ending for Thanksgiving.
An interesting stat was flashed on the screen showing the passing stats of Favre, Rodgers and Love in their first Thanksgiving game. The similarities could be a good sign for the future. The Packers can now rest up on Sunday and focus on Kansas City in a following Sunday Night game in Lambeau. Another great test for this young team. Until then, Happy Thanksgiving week.
8 Comments
Im shocked! The Packers punched a superior team in the mouth and played with toughness and resiliency to hang on and get the win. Very good sign moving forward. And Im officially off the fire LaFleur train now. Showed his perfectly shaved balls for probably the first time in his coaching career here. Also a very good sign. Things are looking up.
Ya know, Brian Gutekunst can’t draft in the third round. Oh wait, Tucker Kraft was drafted in the third round, never mind.
This young WR group could be special. The game looks like it’s slowing down for Jordan Love as he continues to stack successful performances. If we could somehow steal a win against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs next week. There’s a real path here to the playoffs. More than likely we’re looking like 8-9 this year. Which is what we were last year with “the best QB ever!” I’ll happily take 8-9 knowing we’ve got our franchise QB going forward.
If Gutekunst can get a stud RB and LT in next year’s draft, and he’ll have the draft capital to move up, this young offense could be elite. Add a safety and another corner to the defense and we might have a team that can play with Detroit and Caleb Williams in Chicago in the years ahead.
Not a single comment? Oof. What a fun game, Love will probably never be as good as Rodgers, not many guys are. But if we can get that level of play, put a couple more pieces on the offense, they will win football games with him.
Owens did have himself a game. I would be surprised to see that any other player in the NFL played more snaps in a game this year than Owens did this week. 97 snaps (84 D-13 ST) is a crazy high number of snaps. Speaking of snaps Van Ness had 28 snaps. All but maybe one or two was with Van Ness playing with his hand in the dirt. Van Ness for at least this game was a DE not a OLB. Most of those DE snaps were with the Packers D having four down linemen. Things may be changing.
He Kevin! Did you see Tim Boyle play yesterday? Kevin loves to point out that Tim Boyle beat out Jordan Love his rookie year as backup QB and promptly proclaimed Jordan Love a bust. I say we make Kevin honorary GM. Maybe he could call Joe Douglas and work his magic. We trade Jordan Love straight up for Tim Boyle. If you have to Kevin, throw in the Jets second round draft pick we got for Rodgers. Just get us Tim Boyle back! Time to strike while the iron is hot!
The Jets are a hot mess. And why wouldn’t they be? With Randall Cobb, Allen Lazard, Tim Boyle, and Aaron Rodgers. All players well past their prime. And they’re talking of trading for Davante Adams in the offseason. Look for assistant GM Aaron Rodgers to sign David Bakhtiari to play LT for the Jets next season. Maybe Andrew can give us a betting line on who goes on IR first next season. Rodgers or Bakhtiari?
Meanwhile back in Green Bay, the kids are showing signs of life. That Brian Gutekunst is just lucky! He’s not smart enough to know what he’s doing! Right Kevin?
Amazing what can happen when a QB improves his accuracy, going from 50 completion percentage to 68 completion percentage. I’m surprised Love was able to do it. Let’s hope he keeps it up.
James Jones said it best Deepsky. He said, Jordan Love can do it all. He just has to do it consistently. When he sets his feet he’s much more accurate. He see the field and throws with anticipation. He understands concepts and can read defenses. His footwork is what betrays him at times. That’s a mechanical issue that can be fixed. Foot work is a fixable problem. Being totally clueless and slow to diagnose is not. That doesn’t appear to be his problem.
I’m Starting to believe they are better. Big win beating Dan Neanderthal Cambell. how sweet would it be follow up with win over KC? Start thinking Play-offs