The Packers elevated Robert Rochell from the practice squad.  It was his third elevation.  The Packers released LS Matt Orzech to make room for DL Jonathan Ford, then released Ford and later signed Ford to the practice squad.  The Packers then re-sign Orzech.  Quay Walker and Corey Ballentine were held out of the game due to injuries, and the other inactives were Brenton Cox, Andre Dillard, Kitan Olapado, and Travis Glover.

OFFENSIVE LINE:

The offensive line was adequate with its run blocking.  The Packers gained 170 yards on 39 carries, a 4.36-yard average (4.2-yard per carry without Willis).  That is roughly NFL league average.  It is one of the reasons why the Packers have some issues in the red zone since they become a little one-dimensional.  The Packers can punch it into the end zone for a touchdown by running the ball, but their success rate is at best average.  The Packers were bad in the red zone last year and entered the game 18th in the NFL in success rate, per Pro Football Reference.  The Packers succeeded twice on six tries in the red zone in this game.

The pass blocking was again good.  The Packers allowed 4 quarterback hits and 1 sack.  Love seemed less able to move around in the pocket, much less escape outside the pocket, so it may have seemed worse than it was.  

Dillard did not play again.  It appears if the starting five plus Morgan are healthy, Dillard is inactive.  He has appeared in 4 games and has 19 snaps on special teams.  There have been some reports that teams were interested in trading for Dillard.      

RUNNING BACKS:

Josh Jacobs is a really good back.  He has good speed and he can break a defender's ankles.  He also runs through trash very well and had good balance.  Jacobs gained 127 yards on 25 carries, a 5.08-yard average, with a long of 38 and 2 touchdowns.  Clearly, the Packers are putting a lot of this offense on his back.  The productivity when he is off the field is much lower. 

As I watch each touch that Emanuel Wilson gets, I understand why the play went no where.  Still, there has to be some reason why over the last few games every time Wilson touches the ball, the Packers lose yardage.  Wilson gained 5 yards on 4 carries with a long of 4.  He also caught 2 passes for negative 1 yards.   Jacobs also caught a pass for negative 2 yards.  Is it the type of plays LaFleur calls for Wilson?  Also, that pass in the flat to the running back which is also often almost a lateral is a staple of many offenses, but it has not been working lately. 

It is also notable that Brooks got more snaps and Wilson.  Brooks gained 16 yards on 4 carries and had the presence of mind to take a knee at the Jacksonville 4 yard line instead of strolling into the end zone, which he well could have done.  That allowed the Packers to run out the clock and kick a very short field goal for the win as time expired.

TIGHT ENDS:

Kraft caught all 3 of his targets for 78 yards (26.1-yard average) with a long of 67 and an easy touchdown reception.  The long completion came after Love extended the play by escaping outside (and apparently aggravating his various injuries) and again featured a ton of yards after the catch.  Kraft leads the Packers with 5 touchdown receptions.  Sims did not catch his only target.   John Fitzpatrick got his first snaps with the Packers.

QUARTERBACKS

Love completed 14 of 22 passes (63.63%) for 196 yards (8.91 yards/attempt) with no TDs and 1 interception.  He had a 73.3 passer rating.  Love threw some beautiful passes, including a perfect pass down the right sideline to Doubs for 29 yards.  His diminished mobility made it more difficult for him to operate off-schedule.  Love was injured with 12:07 remaining the third quarter with the Packers leading 13-10.  Willis completed 4 of his 5 passes for 56 yards and a touchdown.  He had no interceptions and was not asked to make any difficult throws.  His passer rating was 152.8.  One would think that the Packers would have used a package of RPO plays while Willis was the starter.  On the other hand, when it mattered, LaFleur was able to reach into his bag of tricks (apparently at the suggestion of Jason Vrable, passing game coordinator), to run a play that got Jayden Reed wide open.  Willis threw a nice pass in stride to the streaking Reed to set up the final points of the game. 

WIDE RECEIVERS:

Doubs caught 3 of 6 for 72 yards.  Reed caught 2 of 3 for 55 with a long of 51.  Watson caught 4 of 6 for 39 yards.  Melton was targeted once but had no receptions.  He did well in coverage on special teams.  Heath had no targets.  The team is certainly spreading the ball around, as many fans desired.  Reed has 41 targets, followed by Wicks and Doubs with 40 each.  Watson has 20 targets.  Doubs entered the game with 18 catches that were good for a first downs, followed by Reed with 14 and Wicks with 11.  I might have said that Doubs is the glue that is holding the wide receiver room together, and to a certain extent, I think that is true.  Love seems to look for Doubs when he is in trouble.  However, the numbers suggest that Watson is the big-play threat while the other three wide receivers provide the volume.

INTERIOR DEFENSIVE LINE:

Clark had 3 tackles (1 solo).  Wooden had 2 tackles (1 solo) and he deflected a pass.  Brooks had 2 assisted tackles and Wyatt had no tackles but he recovered a fumble.  Slaton had no statistics.  The Jaguars gained 91 yards on 23 carries, a 3.96-yard average.  The Packers defense was throttling the Jaguars for thier first 4 possession, which included three 3 and outs that gained a total of 17 yards and another possession that ended with an interception on the second play.  Then the Packers started to give up some big plays.  The Jaguars scored a touchdown on a 6 play, 70-yard scoring drive that featured completions 33 and 18 yards mixed in with a 14 yard burst up the middle to Green Bay's 2-yard line.  Lawrence ran in on the next play.  With 48 seconds left in the half, the Lawrence completed passes for 23 and 28 yards to notch a field goal to make it 13-10 at the half.  Jacksonville was 1 for 1 in the red zone while the Packers went 1 for 4 in red zone in the first half.  Jacksonville finished 3 for 3 in the red zone while the Packers went 2 for 6. 

There was not much interior push from the linemen.  Both of Jacksonville's starting guards missed some snaps in the game, so they had to give 29 snaps to a backup, Cooper Hodges, a 7th round pick in 2023 who previously had played one snap in the NFL.  I had hoped for a lot more damage while Hodges was the game than I saw.

DEFENSIVE ENDS:

It was a quiet day from the ends.  Smith, Gary and Van Ness each had 1 quarterback hit.  Van Ness had 3 solo tackles, one of which was a tackle for loss, and Gary had 1 solo tackle.  Enagbare had 2 assisted tackles and Smith had 1.  There were a lot of twists and stunts again because these guys just are not winning their one on ones.  There was some pressure, but it just takes time, given that the ends bull rush a lot.  With the trade deadline looming, there has been the usual chatter about acquiring a player.  A lot of that talk has centered on a corner back such as Greg Newsome, who has had some nice years, though not so much in 2024.  The biggest need is for a pass rusher.  I suppose those are hard to come by. 

LINEBACKERS:

Wilson had 9 tackles (5 solo) including a tackle of loss.  Cooper had 8 tackles (4 solo), including a tackle for loss.  Cooper added a QB hit, a pass defensed and a forced fumble that was recovered by Wyatt at the Jacksonville 5 yard line.  He makes big plays.  McDuffie had 8 tackles (4 solo).  Once again opposing tight ends had nice days.  Of course, not all of those yards are the responsibility of the linebackers.  

  DEFENSIVE BACKS:

McKinney had 6 tackles (4 solo) and another nice interception.  Nixon had 4 tackles ( 1 solo).  Nixon cannot get his head turned in man coverage.  Williams had 2 tackles (1 solo) before leaving the game.  Stokes had 1 solo tackle.  Zayne Anderson had a tackle on special teams.  I counted 7 big passing plays allowed, some to running backs, some to tight ends, and some to wide receivers.  Losing both of their starting wide receivers did not slow down the Jaquars.  Lawrence completed 21 of 39 (65.6%) for 308 yards (9.625 yards/attempt) with 2 TDs, 1 INT, and a 104.8 passer rating.    

SPECIAL TEAMS:

Brandon McManus made all three of his extra points and all three of his field goals, including the game winner as time expired from 38 yards out.  Whelan average 48 yards per punt and helped flip the field.  The opposing punter may have had an even better better.  It was 84 degrees.    

Photo courtesy of Corey Perrine, USA Today Network.