After Jordan Love suffered what some speculated as a season-ending injury a few weeks ago in Brazil, the Green Bay Packers find themselves at an impressive 2-1, with Love’s return potentially right around the corner.
My expectation, along with Packers fans’ everywhere, was that Malik Willis would be abysmal. Sure, he isn’t a world-beater, but his stats are impressive for a backup. More importantly, he hasn’t made costly turnovers and has had exceptional game control.
We do have to come back down to earth now and realize that the Packers are 2-1 due to the genius of head coach Matt LaFleur. While it’s (really) fun to continuously poke the “Bears” (pun intended) and Caleb Williams…
Quick comparison!
- Malik Willis in two starts: 324 yards on 25/34 passes(73.5%), 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, and a passer rating of 122.7! He’s also the only QB since the 1970 merger to post a 120+ passer rating and 40+ rushing yards.
- Caleb Williams in three starts: 630 yards on 70/118(59.3%) passes, 2 (garbage time) touchdowns, 4 interceptions, and a passer rating of 65.3.
…The Packers’ wins come against the Indianapolis Colts and the Tennessee Titans, who have a combined record of 1-5. Now they look ahead to the unlikely kings of the NFC and one of the five undefeated teams in the NFL, the Minnesota Vikings.
Kicking Issues Persist
I hate to harp on this yet again, but now the Packers seem to have an issue. Due to a penalty, it will not come up on the stat sheet from Sunday’s game against the Colts, but Brayden Narveson has now missed a field goal in each of the first three games this season.
This penalty by no means had any impact on the kick. A kicker in the NFL is expected to make 40+ yard field goals with ease at the very least.
Former rookie kicker at the time, Anders Carlson, didn’t miss his first field goal until Week 6 against the Denver Broncos back in 2023. Is that a fair comparison? No, probably not. While it’s a little harsh, a miss in each of three games should not be tolerable considering the track record of kicking issues last season.
We’ve seen a version of Narveson that has a big leg, but he’ll need to display accuracy in this first divisional matchup or we’ll have a big problem on our hands.
Replacing a G with a Horn
After 5,940 yards on 1,177 touches, 45 rushing touchdowns, 18 receiving touchdowns, and much love for Green Bay, Aaron Jones is now donning purple and yellow after seven seasons with the green and gold.
On March 11th, 2024, the Packers moved on from Jones by releasing him for the signing of Josh Jacobs. The very next day, March 12th, Jones signed with the Vikings.
Sunday will hurt. It won’t be those moments of anger like when Darren Sharper, Greg Jennings, or Za’Darius Smith joined the Vikings. Anyone who has kept up with Aaron Jones off the field knows he’s a great guy. Nevertheless, it will hurt emotionally for the team and fans, but it will also hurt the defense.
Jones is averaging 5.4 yards per carry on 42 touches thus far. The Packers rush defense is currently ranked 10th in the league by allowing an average of 105.7 yards per game, but this game is most definitely going to mean a little more to Jones than it did to Jonathan Taylor and Tony Pollard weeks previous.
Jordan Love’s Return or Malik Willis Part 3?
As mentioned before, it looks like Love will be back. He looks like he’s moving really well in practice and probably could’ve returned last week. Ultimately, the Packers made the right decision by making him inactive for the non-conference opponent.
The growing expectation is that we will not see Malik Willis this Sunday. The skeptical side of me thinks that this 3-0 start by the Vikings is a fluke—but either way— Sam Darnold is slinging the ball exceptionally well.
Through three games, Darnold already has 657 yards at a 67.9% completion rate and 8 touchdowns. The Vikings are also averaging 28 points per game, so this will be a test for the Packers’ defense. The need for a more explosive offense becomes pertinent and it will be best accomplished by a Jordan Love leg group.
The border battle is renewed for the 126th time with a new QB1 for the Vikings and Love (injury status pending) will look for his second win as a starter. The Packers lead the all-time series 66-58-3.
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