Green Bay played their best first half of football on Thanksgiving, giving Packer fans lots to cheer about. They punted on their first possession but quickly recovered the muffed punt, and from there they were almost unstoppable. Jaden Reed caught a short sideline pass from Jordan Love to start the scoring.
Love went without an interception for the second straight game. Without Romeo Doubs, the other receivers needed to step up, and boy did they. Tucker Kraft led the way with six catches on seven targets. Josh Jacobs caught four for seventy-four yards.
Dontavion Wicks, who had multiple drops in previous games, dropped one but caught four of five targets and moved the chains. The Packer who was truly itching to erase a bad play from the S.F. game five days ago was Christian Watson. Watson had two catches, including a great deep ball catch that he had to lay out with full extension to snag.
Usually, Watson’s 46-yarder would be the longest play of an NFL game, but Jacobs made a great fake on a short pass to the sideline and turned it into the play of the night, a 49-yarder. Coincidentally, both of those plays led to field goals, not touchdowns. Jayden Reed had three catches on two targets but also contributed with a 23-yard run. His highlight catch was a one-hander that came up just short of the first down yardsticks.
Love’s Leadership
Love was dialed in after missing an open Reed, overthrowing him, on their first drive. He finished 21/28 with a QBR of 129.2. The offense had four scoring drives: three touchdowns and a field goal, in the first half.
The defense matched the offense, executing when they needed to make a play. Miami had four drives in the first half and managed only 3 points. Two quick punts and a turnover on downs to end the second half were highlighted by a sack by Lukas Van Ness and a beautiful pass breakup hit by Isiah McDuffie.
Defensive Dominance
McDuffie had a great game. Listed pregame with an ankle injury, you would never know it by his play on the field. He led the team in tackles. Quay Walker had his second good game in five days with ten tackles, six solo, a sack, and two tackles for loss.
The sack party was joined by Kenny Clark, Brenton Cox Jr., and Kingsley Enagbare for a total of five sacks by the defense. Green Bay also won the special teams battle. The punt team managed to recover the first punt muffed by Miami, and kicker Brandon McManus was 3 for 3 on field goals and nailed all three extra points. Keisean Nixon returned the opening kickoff 46 yards to start the special teams off.
Miami’s Second Half Effort Still Not Enough
Miami did try to make a game of it in the second half. They went all out in a passing game that got the score as close as 27-11. When Green Bay’s offense stalled for the first time in the second half, Miami had the ball for 12 plays but came away empty on a great goal-line stand by the defense.
Miami had two shots at the one-yard line, but Walker produced the big sack on fourth down. The Packers got the ball back and drove 78 yards for a game-sealing field goal to make the score 30-11. Miami’s last score was meaningless.
Apologies mom, but this victory was better than a turkey dinner. Green Bay now has seven days before they face league-leading Detroit. But on Thursday night, it was fun to watch Love, Jacobs, and McDuffie munching turkey legs after a hard-fought victory.
Two games in a row with no interceptions for Jordan Love. It’s no coincidence we scored 30 or more in each game. Love seems more inclined to take the check downs to Josh Jacobs or the short to intermediate throws to Tucker Kraft to prevent the INT’s. Probably at the urging of Matt LaFleur. Then take his shots down field to Christian Watson. Love has an impressive arm and throws a beautiful deep ball while Tua does not. And to think both QB’s were in the same draft class. We got the better one….