Packers have to take advantage of injury breaks despite short-term concern

The playing statuses for Jordan Love, Jaire Alexander, and Evan Williams remain unclear for the Lions game, but the long-term outlook for Green Bay is rosey.

Of all the things that have kept the Green Bay Packers from playing better football or winning more than their 6-2 record, the team can’t count injuries among the reasons. Bone-headed penalties, sure. Drops and turnovers, no doubt. But Malik Willis engineered three wins with Jordan Love injured, albeit all to AFC South opponents, but two of them came on the road. Matt LaFleur constantly reiterates the cliche about how hard that is to do in the NFL. For the second time this season, Love dodged a major injury. Reports say Jaire Alexander and Evan Williams engineered the same Neo bullet-dodging act. For as long as this run of long-term injury luck lasts, the Packers absolutely must take advantage, and that starts with throwing the kitchen sink at the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

“Don’t jinx it!” I can hear your screams from here. I get it. Injuries are going to happen, that’s the whole point. In 2010, the Packers withstood brutal injury luck to win a Super Bowl. They also needed wins at the end of the year and a little bit of help just to make the NFC playoffs that season. The 2024 team finds itself in a much better position as midseason arrives.

Aaron Rodgers-led teams that had to play without Rodgers, needed half a year to get to the three wins the Packers already earned without Love at the helm. Spectacular playcalling and game management from LaFleur, coupled with sterling execution from the offensive line in the run game and Malik Willis under center gave the Packers the chance to survive without the dynamic signal caller.

Sunday’s game proved no exception. With the game on the line, the Packers went to a play they didn’t install this week. Willis practiced solely with the scout team, never the first team. It’s possible that he’s never made that throw to Jayden Reed leaking out the backside in his Green Bay career, in practice or otherwise. But passing game coordinator Jason Vrable went to LaFleur with the idea after they ran the base concept, a play-action boot, earlier in the game. Vrable alerted his head coach the counterplay was there.

Creativity in play design, and astute play calling, paired with on-the-spot preparation from Willis to be locked in enough during the week to be on the details of the play that wasn’t even in the gameplan. As LaFleur noted on Monday, rip the throw to Reed rather than baby it and negate the after-catch opportunity. Fifty-one yards from where LaFleur called one of the iconic plays of this Packers season, Green Bay had a chance to win it.

It wasn’t just that play though. Later on the drive, fourth-string running back Chris Brooks awarely went down after picking up the first down inside the 10 when the Jaguaras wanted to let him score. Jacksonville would rather get the ball down seven with just under a minute to go than let the Packers bleed the clock and kick the field goal with less than 30 seconds to go and no timeouts.