The Packers used a big second half to turn around a halftime deficit and defeat the Steelers, 35-25, on Sunday Night Football at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh.
Here are five takeaways from the impressive triumph:
- Down 16-7 at half, the Packers didn't flinch.
A trio of three-and-outs with a couple of dropped passes on offense. Two missed field goals by returning K Brandon McManus. Third-down penalties on defense.
Not much was going right for the Packers in the first half. But that's why they play two halves.
Five offensive possessions after halftime produced three touchdowns and two field goals. The defense held the Steelers to three points until the last two minutes, getting multiple sacks and a turnover.
It was a night-and-day difference and turned into the Packers' best overall performance since the first two weeks of the season.
"Well, that was a tale of two halves right there," Head Coach Matt LaFleur said shortly after his team improved to 5-1-1. "The greatest thing I saw from our guys is I didn't see any panic. They stayed together and we cleaned up some things we didn't do in the first half and just made plays."
- QB Jordan Love got hot, and everyone else followed suit.
Beginning with a drive at the end of the first half that led to McManus' second missed field goal (from 44 yards out), Love completed 20 straight passes, tying the franchise record set by Brett Favre in 2007.
The streak ran from when 34 seconds remained in the first half until less than six minutes were left in the game. It included a 59-yard catch-and-run by TE Tucker Kraft on third-and-5 from Green Bay's own 15-yard line, on a flutterball as Love was hit by a blitzing defender.
It was a stroke of good fortune and a heads-up play by Kraft to position himself for the catch and take off. If there was one play that seemingly turned the game around, that was it.
"I saw Tuck going to the corner, and as I was throwing it, I got hit," Love said. "Obviously I had no idea where the ball even went. I was hoping nothing bad happened."
From there, Love's streak continued as he converted a clutch fourth-and-1 with a play-action pass to Kraft, hit rookie WR Savion Williams for his first NFL touchdown, beat a third-down blitz by finding returning WR Christian Watson deep over the middle to set up a 3-yard TD run by RB Josh Jacobs, and beat another third-down blitz with Kraft for a 24-yard catch-and-run TD to build a 29-19 Green Bay lead.
"He was on fire," LaFleur said. "That's why I kept wanting to throw the football."
The Packers added two more field goals to push the lead to 35-19 for a dominant 28-3 run over the bulk of the second half, and Love finished with a 134.2 passer rating (29-of-37, 360 yards, three TDs)l.
- Kraft had just a monster game.
The Packers' third-year tight end finished with seven catches for a career-high 143 yards and two scores. Incredibly, 131 of his 143 yards came after the catch.
"He's a big-time player and I think everybody's seen what he's capable of when he gets the ball in his hands, running people over, getting those extra yards," Love said. "He's just an explosive playmaker. I'm glad that everybody's kind of seeing what he's all about now."
Watson's return from last January's ACL injury, to the tune of four catches for 85 yards, provided a significant boost as well. But it's clear this offense is at its best when Kraft is highly involved, and that's sure to continue.
"We'd be crazy not to," LaFleur said. "He was a beast. He was a man possessed. You've just got to find ways to get him the ball."
His first touchdown, for the Packers' only points in the first half, came on a 16-yard catch-and-run that was an audible out of a running play, and the Packers actually wasted a 33-yard catch-and-run of his in the second quarter when the drive stalled and McManus came up short on a 57-yard field goal.
- The defense didn't make anything easy for Aaron Rodgers.
The former Packers QB put up 16 points in the first half but only found the end zone once, settling for three field goals. Then his life got really difficult.
A three-and-out to start the second half – on which the Packers appeared to catch a break when an offside call was missed – was the first of three such possessions for Rodgers after halftime, sandwiched around a fourth field goal. Rashan Gary got his second sack of the game, and Micah Parsons got one as well.
Then a fumble forced by LB Edgerrin Cooper, and recovered by S Javon Bullard, after a short completion to RB Kenneth Gainwell with five minutes left put the Steelers in a tough spot. The Packers converted the game's lone turnover into a field goal for a 16-point lead, and when Rodgers finally led another touchdown drive with two minutes left, LB Ty'Ron Hopper broke up the two-point pass for TE Jonnu Smith, rendering it too little, too late.
Enough Packers fans were in attendance to force Rodgers to use a silent count on occasion, and the "Go Pack Go" chants only got louder as Green Bay's defense cranked up the pressure.
"I've heard that chant for 18 years," said Rodgers, who wound up 24-of-36 for 219 yards with two TDs and a 101.5 rating. "Packer fans travel really well. First time in a while I've used silent count for a home game. That's a credit to those Packer fans."
- The Packers held their position.
In a crowded group atop the NFC, Green Bay remained the only team with just one loss at 5-1-1 and stayed in first place in the NFC North, just ahead of 5-2 Detroit.
But there's still little margin for error across the conference, as Philadelphia and Tampa Bay are each 6-2, with Seattle and the L.A. Rams both 5-2, and San Francisco 5-3.
After now completing a stretch of four road games out of five, the Packers play three of their next four at home, where they're 3-0.
"I'm really excited for our guys," LaFleur said. "Now we gotta take it, learn from it, and move on."
