Packer Central

Packers Report Card: Grades From Victory Over Jaguars

Malik Willis threw the big pass and Josh Jacobs carried the load as the Packers beat the Jaguars despite failing to take advantage of a terrible pass defense and getting shredded by Trevor Lawrence.

Jacob Westendorf

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs is saluted by fans after Sunday's win at the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs is saluted by fans after Sunday's win at the Jacksonville Jaguars. / Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images
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Nothing can be easy for the Green Bay Packers.

They went to the wire with the Jacksonville Jaguars, who had two wins entering Sunday’s game.

They built two 10-point leads and lost them both.

They lost their starting quarterback.

They lost two key members of the secondary, as well.

Thankfully, they didn’t lose Josh Jacobs and made a trade in late August for Malik Willis.

Jacobs helped the Packers regain the lead in the third quarter. Willis ensured that the Packers would escape Jacksonville with a win.

They received high marks in our weekly Packers report card following a 30-27 victory.

Pass Offense

By opponent passer rating, Jacksonville’s defense entered the game as one of the worst in NFL history.

Jordan Love’s performance was disappointing, to say the least, considering that fact. He exited the game with a groin injury after going 14-of-22 with another interception.

This game felt like a prime opportunity for the Packers to get their passing offense on track before the gauntlet they’ll have to face in November. Instead, Love left the game, and now his status is up in the air for next week’s showdown against the Detroit Lions.

When Love left the game, Willis saved the day.

Willis has won all three games that he’s been asked to play an extended period.

His first three completions went for 5 yards total, as the Packers leaned into their run game. His last completion, however, was his biggest punch – a 51-yard strike to Jayden Reed to set up the game-winning field goal.

Coach Matt LaFleur was almost at a loss for words describing how well Willis has played.

“It’s been pretty damn impressive,” LaFleur said.

LaFleur’s game plan and lack of leaning into his passing game against a bad defense was surprising.

So was the fact the Packers blew a 27-17 lead.

Ultimatey, none of it will haunt them because of Willis’ heroics.

Grade: B

Rush Offense

Most of the attention is going to go to Willis for his key completion to Reed. This is a passing league. Quarterbacks and receivers get all the attention.

The hero of this game, however, was the running back who, according to ESPN’s Bill Barnwell, had been a disappointment.

Maybe Jacobs heard about it. Maybe he didn’t. The reality is he carried his team to a 20-17 lead after Love left the game with an injury.

Jacobs finished the day with 25 carries for 127 yards and two touchdowns. He was the best player on the field.

The Packers needed Jacobs in Willis’ first start against Indianapolis and they needed him at Jacksonville. Jacobs delivered both times.

The Packers are thrilled to have him, and they should be.

Chris Brooks also earns high marks for his football IQ. Late in the game, the Jaguars were attempting to let Brooks score as a way to get the ball back instead of letting the Packers win the game on a chip-shot field goal.

Brooks has never scored a touchdown in the regular season, but his unselfish play all but guaranteed the victory.

His final play puts the cherry on top of the highest grade of the day.

Grade: A

Pass Defense

Safety Xavier McKinney’s interception and linebacker Edgerrin Cooper’s sack/strip led to 14 points for the Packers.

However, even with star rookie Brian Thomas Jr. and explosive veteran Christian Kirk out with injuries, the Jaguars rallied from a 27-17 deficit.

The fact Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence was able to march down the field twice with backup receivers to tie the game was disappointing.

Prior to their issues late in the game, the Packers were excellent situationally. The Jaguars missed their first eight third downs. They did not convert a third down until their final drive of the game, when they scored the tying touchdown.

Lawrence’s 308 passing yards and two touchdowns would have made more sense had Kirk and Thomas been able to finish the game. Since they didn’t, it’s a little more disappointing.

They’ll need to be better next week against Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown and an explosive Lions offense.

Grade: C

Rush Defense

Jaguars running back Tank Bigsby is tough to tackle. He entered the game ranked second among running backs in yards per carry and first in yards after contact per carry.

Bigsby had a nice day, but only finished the day with 78 yards on 18 carries. He did a lot of it on his own against shoddy tackling.

The lowest moment of the day came on Lawrence’s touchdown run. Cooper whiffed at the 5 and Lawrence dragged three defenders into the end zone for the Jaguars’ first touchdown of the game.

Ultimately, the Packers were solid if unspectacular against Jacksonville’s run game.

Next week, they face a much stiffer test against the Lions’ dynamic run game.

Grade: B

Special Teams

No real mistakes were made on special teams.

Daniel Whelan had a bad punt in the first half out of the shadow of his own end zone. He made up for that later with a 63-yard punt that was finished off by an excellent tackle by Bo Melton to force the Jaguars to go the length of the field to tie the game.

Brandon McManus was perfect again. There were no opportunities to return kickoffs, nor any gaffes in the punt return game.

Most of the time, all you’re asking for from the special teams is to go unnoticed. For the most part, that’s what happened.

Until the very end, of course, when McManus made his second game-winning field goal in as many weeks. This one was much shorter than last week’s. His 24-yard field goal as time expired helped the Packers snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Grade: B

Coaching

To call LaFleur’s game plan in the first half odd might be understating things.

LaFleur was facing the worst pass defense in the NFL.

All his receivers were healthy and ready to play. Yet, for some reason, he continued to use heavy formations to put Jacksonville’s linebackers on the field.

That came at the expense of putting more of their defensive backs on the field.

His play-calling to end the first half was interesting, as well.

On a field-goal drive that made the score 10-0, LaFleur essentially ran two plays that had no chance after a pre-snap penalty by Christian Watson made it first-and-goal at the 14.

His decision to take the ball first after winning the coin toss has backfired each of the last two weeks, as well. Sean Rhyan’s holding penalty put an end to a promising opening drive. Mistakes like that continue to plague this team.

If they’re not turning over the ball, they’re committing penalties. If they’re not committing a normal penalty, it’s a pre-snap penalty. If it’s not that, they’re not taking advantage of the other team’s mistakes or scoring touchdowns in the red zone.

There’s also the feast-or-famine nature of his quarterback, which has yet to correct itself, as Love threw another interception. This one, coming against a defense that had one interception all season, came in the red zone and took points off the board.

Or in Sunday’s case, it could be all those things coupled with a game plan that did not appear designed to take advantage of the opponent’s biggest weakness.

Perhaps he had to compensate after Love was injured during the opening series.

LaFleur also got too conservative late in the game. His final series while leading 27-20 was two uninspired runs, followed by a pass that appeared to have no chance. It led to a punt, and the Packers’ defense was asked to save the day – which it failed to do.

LaFleur’s has been as successful as they come in the NFL, but this was not his best day.

Even defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley got beat up a little bit.

After giving up less than 10 points in the second half every week since the season opener, the Packers’ defense gave up 17 points in the second half, including a game-tying score in which Lawrence and the Jaguars with backup receivers just marched down the field.

The failure in crunch time overshadows what was a mostly excellent game up to that point.

The Packers won the first eight third downs and forced two turnovers.

The reality is, the way the Packers played at the end of the game was inexcusable. The offense did not do its part and the defense gave up a whopping eight completions of 20-plus yards.

This would have been one that kept the coaching staff up at night all week had they let it get away. Thanks to the heroics of Willis, Jacobs and McManus, they don’t need to worry.

Grade: D

More Green Bay Packers News 

Inside the game-winning completion | Brian Gutekunst’s latest moves win the game | ‘High level’ of concern for Jordan Love | Packers-Jaguars: Stock report | Packers-Jaguars: Game story | Packers-Jaguars: Game highlights | Packers-Jaguars: Live updates | Packers-Jaguars: Big matchup | Three reasons why Packers will beat Jaguars | Packers miss several top receivers | Brian Gutekunst’s genius showed this week

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Jacob Westendorf
JACOB WESTENDORF