Malik Willis, Packers Sack Titans 30-14

Playing without Jordan Love, the Green Bay Packers routed the Tennessee Titans behind Malik Willis, who had the best game of his career, and a rampaging defense.

Green Bay Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander (23) celebrates his pick-six with teammates at Tennessee on Sunday. / Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Halfway through his postgame news conference following the Green Bay Packers’ 30-14 victory over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, a fire alarm briefly interrupted coach Matt LaFleur.

“They told me this city was going to burn if we came in here and won the game, so I guess it is,” LaFleur said.

LaFleur’s team is, well, hot.

With Jordan Love missing a second consecutive game with a knee injury, Malik Willis led the Packers to a 30-14 victory over the Titans on Sunday in Nashville.

Willis, who was drafted by the Titans in the third round in 2022, was acquired by the Packers exactly 27 days ago. In three starts with the Titans as a rookie, he didn’t have a single game of 100 passing yards or a touchdown pass.

After throwing for 122 yards and one touchdown in last week’s victory over the Colts, Willis had 199 yards and one touchdown in less than three quarters on Sunday.

The defense did its part, too, with a pick-six by Jaire Alexander and eight sacks. It was one sack off the franchise record set in 1998 (vs. San Francisco) and matched in 2005 (against Chicago).

Meanwhile, late in the game, safety Xavier McKinney joined linebacker John Anderson (1978) and defensive back Doyle Nix (1955) as the only players in franchise history with an interception in each of his first three games.

“I think that can galvanize our team,” LaFleur said. “We needed everybody. I’m a firm believer that you don’t rise to the level of the competition; you sink to the level of your preparation. These guys prepare the right way, they come to work the right way each and every day with a great attitude.”

After losing Love and the opener in Brazil against the Eagles, the Packers are 2-1, with Love perhaps returning for next week’s game against the Minnesota Vikings (3-0) at Lambeau Field.

Even with Josh Jacobs completely contained by the Titans’ powerful run defense, the Packers led 20-7 at halftime.

With the Titans, Willis’ best game was 99 passing yards. On Sunday, he was 9-of-11 for 158 yards in the first half alone. While he didn’t have a touchdown pass in the first half, he did have a touchdown run. With six carries for 73 yards, Willis had 231 total yards compared to 69 total yards for Titans quarterback Will Levis.

He finished the day 13-of-19 passing for 202 yards and one touchdown through the air and the six rushes for 73 yards and another touchdown on scrambles and designed runs.

Reporting from Nashville, @JoeyVZ_ has the early story on Malik Willis' story of redemption in leading the #Packers to a 30-14 victory. ⬇️https://t.co/Yx2yUr2kqq

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 22, 2024

“It’s a different opportunity,” Willis said. “I only got three starts here as a rookie and, like I said before, I just wasn’t ready at that point in time. And I’ve had a lot of time to just work hard and just grind every day in order to make use of my next opportunity, which I’ve been just trying to do this last two weeks.”

The Packers beat the Colts with one hand tied behind their back, with LaFleur dialing up a run-focused game plan.

Against the Titans, he unleashed Willis. Willis had completions of 30 yards to Jayden Reed and Christian Watson on the opening drive, which Willis capped with a 5-yard touchdown run.

On the final drive of the half, Willis ripped passes of 18 yards to Romeo Doubs on third-and-14 and 37 yards to Christian Watson on third-and-18. Those are Mission Impossible plays for even the best quarterbacks, but Willis made magic to help the Packers kick a field goal to lead big at the break.

Green Bay led 10-7 late in the first quarter when Alexander intercepted a pass by Levis for a 35-yard pick-six.

Amazingly, Part 1: It was the two-time All-Pro’s first career pick-six.

Amazingly, Part 2: The Packers had seven interceptions in 17 games last season. With new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, the Packers had six interceptions in the first nine quarters.

The Packers extended the lead to 27-7 in the third quarter.

Tennessee inexplicably went for it on fourth-and-2 from its own 37 to start the second half. Perhaps Titans coach Brian Callahan was swayed by the booing fans. After an exchange of timeouts, the Packers blew up bootleg when Quay Walker ran down Levis.

The Titans at least got the stop, then were let off the hook when Brayden Narveson missed a 48-yard field goal. However, Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons was flagged for holding to give the Packers a first down.

On second-and-15 from the 30, Willis faked a screen to the right to Bo Melton, then threw a screen to the left to Emanuel Wilson. Wilson caught the ball at the 37, ran through a tackle attempt and got a bunch of key blocks – Zach Tom, Josh Myers and Sean Rhyan among them – for the touchdown.

The Titans answered, with Levis’ 11-yard touchdown pass to DeAndre Hopkins making it 27-14 with about 20 minutes to go.

The Packers had no answer. Even though Willis was 12-of-14 for 199 yards at the time, three consecutive runs by Jacobs gained just 7 yards, giving the Titans a bit more hope.

Their hope died moments later when the Packers finally took advantage of Titans right tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere, the worst pass-protecting tackle in the game through two weeks. Kingsley Enagbare shot inside of him and had a clear path to Levis. His big hit on the quarterback resulted in a sack/strip that Lukas Van Ness recovered near midfield.

The Packers failed to take advantage of the turnover but the game was well in hand. On the ensuing drive, Enagbare struck again. While he missed the sack, Preston Smith was on the scene to take down Willis for the Packers’ fifth sack of the day.

On the next drive, Devonte Wyatt and Edgerrin Cooper had back-to-back sacks to run the total to seven. Preston Smith added the eight sack late in the game.

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— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 22, 2024

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