The Green Bay Packers got on the right side of the ledger, moving to 3-1-1 with a 27-18 win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. The highly tolerable contest highlighted a couple of monster performances, including a superb display from QB Jordan Love and RB Josh Jacobs. As Green Bay moves farther into their season, more and more concerns linger about their imminent success, particularly when it involves closing games.
The raw athleticism we saw from Love was important — he did a great job of using his legs, especially converting some key third downs throughout the game. Even in the fourth quarter, when he was reticent to run, he made an acrobatic 3-yard scramble look like a highlight. That second play directly set up a 19-yard touchdown pass to tight end Tucker Kraft. This play highlighted Love’s growth as a dual-threat quarterback, showing his potential to make plays not just with his arm but with his mobility.
Though the win was a triumph, the Packers certainly left points on the board and could have grown their lead. After the Pirates took an early 10-0 lead at halftime. This was largely due to Love tossing a red zone interception on their opening drive. The ill-advised throw intended for wide receiver Romeo Doubs was deflected, leading to an interception that thwarted an early scoring opportunity.
On the other end of the field, the Bengals had fielding veteran QB Joe Flacco. He had only been on the team a few days himself, having been acquired in a trade with the Cleveland Browns. Flacco was under a fair amount of duress, particularly from Packers linebacker Micah Parsons, who notched a game-high five pressures. Although Parsons did not secure a sack, he has now achieved five or more pressures in three consecutive games, leading the NFL in this category.
While the Packers’ defense struggled in certain situations, they found ways to limit Flacco’s effectiveness. Matt LaFleur, head coach of the Packers, acknowledged that there were “a lot of critical situations where they were able to make a play, and we didn’t, to keep them in the game.” It’s a telling clause in the story of the struggle the Packers’ defense had even in pulling off a win and an upset.
Josh Jacobs had the game of his life for Green Bay. He rushed the ball 19 times, gained 93 yards and got two touchdowns. He finished with five receptions for 57 yards. This was his first career game with over 100 total yards from scrimmage. Jacobs’ growth has been instrumental for the Packers, though. He’s gone for 150+ yds from scrimmage and two TDs in each of the last two contests!
Kraft made a name for himself, snagging a beautiful touchdown catch. He did encourage all of them to maintain a sharp competitive edge as they go forward. Hopefully, we just gotta continue to play with a nasty attitude and continue to stack wins,” said Kraft post-game.
And that’s impressive considering the Packers did not trail by more than 10 points in any game this season. Love emphasized the need for improvement in closing out games: “It’s 10-0, we gotta find ways to put teams away early, and not even make it a close game at the end.” His recognition of this imperative speaks to a fear from within the coaching staff that they’ve been hard to count on for consistent performance.
LaFleur commented on the team’s overall potential. “That is life in the National Football League.” He acknowledged that more work needs to be done, but there is still cause for hope when it comes to the team’s future.
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