The Green Bay Packers overcame a wild pick-six thrown by Jordan Love and a 13-10 deficit in the first half and used a late defensive stand to escape Los Angeles with a 24-19 win over the Rams on Sunday at SoFi Stadium.
Josh Jacobs scored his first Packers touchdown, Xavier McKinney delivered two more takeaways, Jordan Love threw a pair of touchdown passes to Tucker Kraft and Karl Brooks produced a pair of second-half sacks in the victory.
The Packers are now 3-2 and headed back home for Week 6.
Here’s what went right, what went wrong and what it means for the Packers moving forward:
What went right
— The Packers won the turnover battle again, thanks largely to Xavier McKinney. He scooped up a fumble caused by Kingsley Enagbare and ranged to his right to intercept an errant throw by Matthew Stafford, delivering two takeaways leading to 14 points. McKinney now has six takeaways by himself this season. The Packers won the turnover battle 2-1.
— Rookie Edgerrin Cooper made two huge plays — both on stunts. He stunted off the edge and sacked Stafford on third down in the first half, forcing a punt. On the decisive 4th-and-3, Cooper stunted inside and pressured a hurried throw from Stafford.
— Explosive plays were once again huge. Jayden Reed made an incredible catch on a heave from Jordan Love into triple coverage, creating a 53-yard gain and setting up Josh Jacobs’ opening touchdown. Later, Tucker Kraft caught a pass from Love and made it happen after the catch on a 66-yard touchdown. The two plays accounted for over half of Love’s passing yards.
— The pass rush was quiet for long stretches, but Cooper’s sack ended a drive and Karl Brooks had three important plays, including a pressure causing an interception, a third-down sack forcing a punt and a second-down sack on the final series. There was just enough pressure for the Packers defense to get off the field late.
— Cooper had two important pressures, and rookie Evan Williams defended two passes. Javon Bullard played more snaps in the slot and had a run stop early.
— Love settled in after his pick-six. He completed nine straight passes, including both touchdown passes, helping the Packers score 17 straight points and take control of the game. The mistake — and some of his poor plays under pressure early — could have spiraled a lesser-willed quarterback. Instead, Love steadied the ship and got the Packers back on track.
— Rookie kicker Brayden Narveson made all four of his kicks, including three extra points and a 46-yard field goal. The Rams attempted to freeze him with a timeout before the field goal, but Narveson made the kick. For one week, Narveson rewarded the Packers’ faith in him.
— The Packers defense made two critical fourth down stops. One in the first quarter inside the red zone, taking away points. And the second with the game on the line late.
— The Packers averaged 5.6 yards per play and 7.0 yards per passing attempt, compared to 4.9 yards per play and 4.9 yards passing attempt from the Rams. The Packers were explosive but inconsistent. The Rams lacked efficiency during a few key moments.
— The Packers gave the Rams three opportunities to return kickoffs but stopped all three returns inside the 30-yard line, beating the touchback spot.
— Josh Jacobs had three more explosive plays. Two runs over 10 yards, and a 21-yard catch.
What went wrong
— Love’s interception was an avalanche of mistakes. The Packers blew a protection, allowing a free runner from the blind side. Love didn’t feel the defender behind him as he rolled right and had to make a hurried and chaotic throw to get rid of the ball, which was intercepted and returned for a score. A safety would have been a better result. Either way, however, it was a disaster sequence.
— The Packers were 1-for-8 on third down. The lone conversion required a scramble from Love on 3rd-and-12. The Rams converted 8-of-16 third downs.
— The pass rush still isn’t disruptive enough in big spots. As was the case last week, Matthew Stafford played from too many clean pockets in obvious passing situations. The Packers aren’t getting pressure without bringing second-level blitzes.
— Dontayvion Wicks is still struggling to finish. He caught two of seven targets, including one clear drop and another failed contested catch opportunity on third down late in the game. Wicks is still separating fine, but the hands have to be better. And soon.
— The Packers were penalized six times for only 34 yards, but the penalties came at inopportune times and often killed momentum. Pre-snap procedural penalties keep happening. The Packers had at least three false starts, including one in the fourth quarter that helped kill a drive that took eight minutes off the clock but resulted in a punt.
— For the fourth time in five games, the Packers allowed a running back to go over 90 yards. Kyren Williams ran hard, turning 22 carries into 102 yards. Williams, Saquon Barkley, Jonathan Taylor and Aaron Jones have all rushed for at least 90 yards, and Williams, Barkley and Taylor went over 100.
What it means
The Packers overcame a tricky week and avoided starting 0-3 in conference play. Matt LaFleur’s team lost at home to a division rival last week and had to go on the road to play a Super Bowl-winning head coach and quarterback while dealing with an internal distraction (Romeo Doubs suspension) and a lengthy injury report. It all looked like a recipe for a letdown. While the Packers were sloppy, good teams sometimes have to win ugly games when they don’t play their best. Once again, it feels like the Packers are close. The offense needs to be better on a down-to-down basis, but most of the missed opportunities have been self-inflicted mistakes. The defense blitzed to create pressure but still isn’t good enough pressuring with four. Now 3-2, the Packers have a chance to head home and prove their status as a contender over the next month. They’ll get the Arizona Cardinals, Houston Texans and Detroit Lions at Lambeau Field over the next four weeks.
Highlights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fBrfZK6JOQ
What’s next
The Packers will return to Green Bay and host the Arizona Cardinals in Week 6. The Cardinals came from behind to beat the San Francisco 49ers on the road on Sunday, improving to 2-3 after five games. Jonathan Gannon’s team has played the 49ers, Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions early this season, so they’ll be battle-tested coming into Green Bay.