Crash Course Leads to Malik Willis’ Third-Down Success With Packers

Coach Matt LaFleur didn’t know much about Malik Willis when the Packers acquired him on Aug. 26. On Sunday, Willis was the difference in a key victory over the Titans.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Malik Willis throws past Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, who is being blocked by Elgton Jenkins. / Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – With the Green Bay Packers in the air on the way home from Brazil, coach Matt LaFleur had an injured starting quarterback and a man of mystery waiting in the wings.

With Jordan Love out indefinitely due to a knee injury of unknown severity, LaFleur knew he’d be turning to Malik Willis. At the time, Willis had been with the team for about 10 days.

What did LaFleur know about Willis after the Packers acquired him in a trade on Aug. 26?

“Not very much,” LaFleur said on Monday, a day after Willis played a key role in a dominating victory over the Tennessee Titans.

A change in quarterback required a change in direction. After the season-opening loss to the Eagles, the Packers landed in Green Bay midday Saturday. LaFleur was going to give the team a long weekend, with some conditioning work on Monday before returning to the usual Wednesday-Thursday-Friday practice routine. Instead, LaFleur had the team practice on Monday.

“I thought it was important, given the circumstances, to go out there and practice our team,” LaFleur said. “Why wouldn’t you take advantage of that? I don’t even know if he had taken a 2-minute drive up until that point.

“So, just try to get him as many reps as possible. You’re talking about the most critical position on the football field, the guy that touches the ball on every play. So, it was kind of a crash course into trying some things out and just to see how comfortable he was with them.”

Remarkably, Willis, LaFleur and the Packers overcame all those challenges to earn a pair of season-saving victories.

When the Packers beat the Colts 16-10 on Sept. 15, it was 20 days after the trade and 18 days after Willis arrived in Green Bay. When the Packers beat the Titans 30-14 on Sunday, it marked a triumphant return to the team that essentially gave up on him after one year.

LaFleur ranks among the NFL’s all-time leaders in winning percentage, sharing the perennial success of a bunch of Hall of Famers. Now in his sixth season, he wouldn’t say that this was the biggest challenge.

“I don’t want to say that because I think every week’s a challenge, no matter who you’re playing, who you’re playing with,” he said. “I don’t look at it like that. I think that’s just part of your job. Your job as a coach is to put your players in the best position possible to hopefully give us the best chance of going out there and executing and having success.”

Against the Colts, LaFleur concocted a run-heavy game plan that worked to perfection. Willis didn’t have to do much as a passer, but he had to master the footwork and timing of a menagerie of misdirection runs.

“It’s a lot to digest,” LaFleur said.

There was no way that game plan would work against the Titans. LaFleur would have to come up with something different to beat a defense that clearly would be locked in on stopping Josh Jacobs.

So, Willis was unleashed. Willis, without a 100-yard game in three starts with the Titans, threw for 202 yards against the Titans. Including runs, Willis amassed 275 yards and two touchdowns.

What has been stunning was the team’s success on third down. Third down is where a quarterback makes his money and teams win games.

The Packers went 10-of-17 on third down against the Colts and were 5-of-10 against the Titans until LaFleur “took the air out of the ball” with the game in hand.

Among quarterbacks who’ve thrown at least 10 passes on third down, Willis is first in yards per attempt (11.2), second in passer rating (127.1) and sixth in completion percentage (70.6).

“I think guys are making plays, and then it’s great anytime that you have a quarterback that can make some off-schedule plays,” LaFleur said. “He had two critical third-down conversions with his legs early on in that game. There was a third-and-3 where we scrambled for 20 and that third-and-7 where he was able to pick up 8 yards.”

Those “timely pickups” came on Green Bay’s second drive and set up a field goal to put the Packers on top 10-7.

Late in the first half, with Green Bay in front 17-7, the Packers faced a third-and-14 from their 21. The logical call by LaFleur would have been a conservative pass to set up punter Daniel Whelan. Instead, LaFleur trusted Willis, who ripped a pass to Romeo Doubs for 18.

“That was awesome,” LaFleur said. “We jumped the ball on third-and-14 and Rome ran a great route. We hit the coverage that we thought they were going to be in and the safety took Jayden Reed on that deep post route. It all starts up front. We had great protection on the play, and he was able to hit Rome on the in cut.”

On the same series, it was third-and-18 from midfield. Again, LaFleur could have taken the conservative approach and tried to gain about 10 yards to set up Brayden Narveson for a long field goal. Instead, Willis threw a bullet to Christian Watson for a catch-and-run gain of 37.

Those plays set up a chip-shot field goal that put the Packers on top 20-7 at halftime.

What gave LaFleur the confidence to let his backup quarterback play so aggressively? Since the start of the 2023 season, teams convert about 9.8 percent of the time on third-and-14-plus. With Love, the Packers were among the league leaders at 17.9 percent last year. So, even with a great quarterback, third-and-really-long is almost an insurmountable challenge.

But Willis, in an incredibly short amount of time on the job, earned the trust of LaFleur to take those shots. It was a testament to everyone involved.

“He did it in practice,” LaFleur said. “That’s usually where it starts, right? When they do it in practice, you gain that confidence. Once you see him do some stuff in the game, that gives you even more confidence to call some of that stuff.”

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Malik Willis broke a 100-year-old NFL record for the #Packers on Sunday. ⬇️https://t.co/S25uRDkYI3

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 24, 2024

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