Packer Central

Malik Willis Replaces Injured Jordan Love, Helps Packers Beat Jaguars 30-27

Malik Willis came off the bench and delivered a 51-yard completion to Jayden Reed to help the Green Bay Packers beat the Jacksonville Jaguars on the final play.

Bill Huber

Green Bay Packers safety Xavier McKinney (29) celebrates an interception during the first half against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Green Bay Packers safety Xavier McKinney (29) celebrates an interception during the first half against the Jacksonville Jaguars. / Melina Myers-Imagn Images
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – With Jordan Love injured, Malik Willis came off the bench to help the Green Bay Packers beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 30-27 on Sunday in Jacksonville.

Love, injured on the opening series off the game, dropped out after being bumped by Travon Walker on the opening series of the second half. Willis stepped in, Edgerrin Cooper made a game-changing play on defense and the Packers extended their winning streak to four when Brandon McManus made the game-winning kick for the second consecutive week.

After the Jaguars tied the score at 27 with 1:48 to play, Willis hit Jayden Reed for a gain of 51. A play-action fake, which included Reed serving as a blocker, allowed the explosive receiver to get wide open. About 25 yards after the catch later, the Packers had a first down at the Jaguars’ 15.

Jacksonville didn’t have enough timeouts to get the ball back, so Green Bay drained the clock and McManus booted a 24-yard field goal to beat his former team.

“We knew this was going to be a battle,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “There’s too many good players over there, too many good coaches. I’m just really happy with the effort of our group, the resiliency of our group. It’s tough to do when the momentum’s swinging one way. The ability to make a humongous play to Jayden Reed … and to win on a walk-off two weeks in a row is kind of crazy.”

The Packers (6-2) will host the NFC North-leading Detroit Lions (6-1) on Sunday.

Will Love be healthy enough to face the best team in the NFC? Or will Willis have to come to the rescue after he led the Packers to wins in starts against the Colts and Titans and against the Jaguars in relief?

“Obviously, a high level of concern,” LaFleur said. “I think everybody could see him struggling to move around and I just got to a point where we didn’t (and) he didn't feel like he could protect himself.”

Willis was 3-of-4 passing for 5 yards until the game-deciding pass to Reed. It was a "can" play that was not in the game plan and was not repped at practice.

Jacobs carried the load, which is exactly why the Packers signed him in free agency. He carried 25 times for 127 yards and two touchdowns.

On a third-down incompletion on the first drive of the game, the Packers’ season might have taken a drastic change had Willis not rode to the rescue.

With Love on the move, he overthrew Jacobs and pulled up near the Jaguars’ sideline. After missing two games with an injured left knee early in the season, Love was injured again. Every bit of his movement the rest of the game, whether it was making a handoff or trying to escape pressure, was labored.

Love stayed in the game for the rest of the first half, helping the Packers lead 13-10, but went down again on the third play of the third quarter. On a completion to Jacobs, Love backpedaled to get himself out of harm’s way but ran into Travon Walker. It wasn’t much contact but Love was down and out – officially, a groin injury – with Willis entering on the next play.

Green Bay punted and Jacksonville breezed down the field to lead 17-13.

With Willis in the game, the Packers drove 80 yards for the go-ahead score. Jacobs was sensational. After Willis turned a bootleg pass into a 20-yard run, Jacobs on first down from the Jags’ 38 broke tackles by De’Andre Prince at the 33 and linebacker Ventrell Miller at about the 30. Downfield blocking by Christian Watson got Watson into the end zone for a 20-17 lead with 21 seconds left in the third quarter.

Moments later, on third down, Cooper blitzed, wrapped up Jags quarterback Trevor Lawrence and poked the ball free. Devonte Wyatt recovered at the Jaguars’ 5. Moments later, Willis’ play-action pass resulted in an easy touchdown pass to Tucker Kraft to make it 27-17 with 14 minutes remaining.

The Jaguars answered with a field goal, then took possession with 3:50 to go. Lawrence’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Evan Engram tied the score, setting the stage for the late heroics.

The Packers had a chance to take command early but led only 13-10 at halftime.

On the opening series, Love was injured on a third-down incompletion. The injury impacted the offense until he exited in the third quarter.

So, even while the Packers allowed zero first downs on Jacksonville’s first four possessions, they failed to build any real margin.

On Green Bay’s third possession of the game, the Packers drove from their 8 to Jacksonville’s 16 before Love threw an interception. Love entered the day with a league-worst eight interceptions; Jacksonville started the day with a league-worst one interception.

Moments later, the Packers were in position when safety Xavier McKinney grabbed his sixth interceptions of the season. Romeo Doubs drew a pass-interference penalty on third-and-7, a 21-yard penalty that set up Jacobs’ easy 3-yard touchdown run. Josh Myers and Sean Rhyan opened a huge hole on the play.

Green Bay extended the lead to 10-0 following Tucker Kraft’s 67-yard catch and run. He broke two tackles and gained 36 yards after the catch thanks to a series of stiff-arms on safety Andrew Cisco. The Packers couldn’t score on first-and-goal from the 9, though. Jacksonville didn’t have a single goal-to-go stop all season.

That seemed to light a fire under the Jaguars. On the ensuing possession, they broke eight tackles, including on Lawrence’s 6-yard touchdown run.

Both teams traded field goals to end the half, so Green Bay led by only three despite an 80-yard advantage in total offense. Going 1-of-6 on third down and 1-of-4 in the red zone were the big issues.

More Green Bay Packers News 

Packers-Jaguars: Live updates | Packers-Jaguars: Big matchup | Three reasons why Packers will beat Jaguars | Three reasons why Packers will lose to Jaguars | Saturday’s transactions: What they mean for Packers-Jags | Packers miss several top receivers | Brian Gutekunst’s genius showed this week

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.