Stock Report: Packers Lead Wire to Wire, Blow Away Cardinals

The Green Bay Packers started by scoring on four of their first five possessions. The result was a 24-0 lead. Here is our stock report after an impressive performance from the Packers

Jacob Westendorf | Oct 13, 2024

Oct 13, 2024; Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA; Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) drops back to pass during the second quarter against the Arizona Cardinals at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images / Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

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Green Bay Packers

Popular country singer Luke Combs once sang, “When it rains, it pours.”

As it rained throughout the first half at Lambeau Field, the Green Bay Packers poured on points.

They scored on four consecutive possessions to take a 24-0 lead.

Jordan Love and Matt LaFleur found a rhythm together, as Love fired scoring strikes to Jayden Reed and Romeo Doubs. Christian Watson returned to the lineup and made a key fourth-down conversion and added a long touchdown in the first half.

Meanwhile, the defense did an excellent job of keeping Kyler Murray and the high-powered Arizona Cardinals’ offense under wraps for most of the first half.

As has been the case all season, however, the Packers were unable to keep the pedal to the floor. The game got as close as 24-13 but Love’s fourth touchdown pass of the day, a 20-yard completion to Doubs helped ensure there would be no tense moments late in the game.

Here are our risers and fallers from the Packers' dominant performance against the Cardinals

Rising

Jordan Love

After three starts that were mostly up-and-down, Love was brilliant in the first half on Sunday afternoon.

Save for one interception that cannot be blamed on him, Love finished the half 16/22 for 194 yards and three touchdowns.

He looked decisive and in command of what he wanted to do. His three scoring strikes went to three different receivers, including a deep ball to Christian Watson to make the score 24-0.

Love’s upside is as high as it gets in the NFL. His best games will be right up there with any of the top quarterbacks in football.

If he can combine that with the consistency on a play-to-play basis, he’ll resemble the quarterback that was one of the best in football for the second half of the 2023 season.

With CJ Stroud and the high-powered Houston Texans coming to town next weekend, they’ll need this version of Love for the duration of the game.

Christian Watson

Welcome back to the lineup, Christian Watson. After missing only one game with what looked like a gruesome ankle injury, Watson made an impact early. He had two catches in the first half for 58 yards and the aforementioned 44-yard touchdown.

While the Packers have been the best in football at making big plays, it’s Watson who is their best deep-ball receiver.

That connection is something that could foreshadow more big plays in the future.

Love to Watson for the deep TD! 😮‍💨#AZvsGB pic.twitter.com/7bH43tDA4e
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) October 13, 2024

In addition, Watson was his usual blocking savant in the run game. He was a welcome addition to a team that missed him the last game-plus that he missed.

Romeo Doubs

No, it wasn’t a gaudy stat line at the end of the day, but Doubs was on the field and made an impact.

As Adam Stenavich said earlier in the week, the Packers are a better team when Romeo Doubs plays.

He did play on Sunday, returning from a suspension for conduct detrimental to the team.

He made two catches in the first half. One was a key third-down conversion. The other, was a 10-yard strike from Jordan Love on his first pass of the second quarter.

Doubs broke a tackle inside the three yardline, and dove into the endzone for a touchdown that got Lambeau Field on its feet.

That's TD No. 2 for Doubs!#AZvsGB pic.twitter.com/0Bnqwr69TD
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) October 13, 2024

He found the end zone again in the third quarter on a third down pressure sent by Jonathan Gannon.

Love threw the ball off his back foot and gave Doubs a chance to make a play.

To Doubs’ credit, he did. His second touchdown of the day put the game back firmly in Green Bay’s control at 31-13.

Depending on the severity of Dontayvion Wicks’ shoulder injury, the primary trio of receivers could be Doubs, Watson, and Jayden Reed for the foreseeable future.

They’ll be relying on Doubs. For today, he made an impact that was needed.

Evan Williams

What a find in the fourth-round by Brian Gutekunst.

Wherever there’s a play to be made, Williams appears to be the one to make it.

He was the star of training camp, finding a way to intercept a pass at an Xavier McKinney rate.

Today’s game was a third-down and short for the Cardinals’ powerful rushing offense.

Kyler Murray faked a handoff to James Connor and kept the ball on a zone read.

That left Williams 1-on-1 with the Cardinals’ dynamic quarterback.

Williams stayed square and threw Murray for a loss that forced a punt.

Two plays later, the Packers led 24-0 thanks to a 44-yard touchdown to Christian Watson.

Williams has seen an uptick in playing time each of the last two weeks, and it looks like that’s going to continue if he keeps making plays.

Pass Protection

No, the Cardinals don’t have a lot of big names on their defense, specifically in their front.

It is also true that the Packers struggled last week in pass protection, and needed a bounce back.

Jordan Love’s jersey may have been as clean as could be following Sunday’s performance. He had plenty of time throughout the game to find a variety of receivers.

The six offensive linemen that rotated through the game might have struggled in the run game, but the quarterback was kept clean.

That’s a trade-off the Packers will likely take most weeks.

Karl Brooks

With Devonte Wyatt out, someone had to step up on the defensive line.

It was not the disruption in the passing game that Green Bay is typically used to from Wyatt. Brooks did not finish the day with three sacks or anything like that.

He did, however, help twist the knife into the back of the Cardinals with the team leading 31-13.

Brooks recognized a screen from Kyler Murray and forced a fumble that he also recovered.

The Packers would punctuate that drive off the turnover with a

Falling

Jaire Alexander

Maybe it was a byproduct of the coverage, but Alexander was the closest man in coverage on the Cardinals’ only touchdown drive of the first half.

In addition, he took a silly penalty in the first half on that touchdown drive that wiped out what could have been an opportunity for the Packers to get off the field on third down.

Alexander is a fiery competitor, and one of his best attributes is his ability to get under the opponent’s skin.

In this case, however, it was both silly and unnecessary.

He did make up for it later in the game with a fumble recovery.

Alexander will need to be better in next week’s showdown with his former nemesis, Stefon Diggs.

Eric Stokes

A week after the Packers were doing some mixing and matching at cornerback, they did so again today.

One of the odd men out was Eric Stokes. Stokes did rotate in, but this is a former first-round pick that was a primary starter just a couple of weeks ago.

It appears for now that Alexander and Keisean Nixon are the Packers’ primary corners, and the rest depends how they want to match personnel with the opposing offense.

Stokes, however, looks to be relegated to being a role player for the time being. That’s likely disappointing for the fourth-year cornerback that is in a contract year.

His future, both immediate, and long term, appear to be murky at best.

More Green Bay Packers News

Jordan Love threw four touchdown passes, Romeo Doubs caught two touchdowns and the #Packers clobbered the Cardinals. Here's the early game story. ⬇️https://t.co/YFcgQybHSN
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) October 13, 2024

Published Oct 13, 2024|Modified Oct 13, 2024

JACOB WESTENDORF