Acme Packing Company
The 2nd play in our Top 10 of 2024 is an incredible TD pass from week 7.
We’re continuing our journey through the Green Bay Packers’ top 10 plays of the 2024 season as voted on by APC staff with play #9 in our countdown (check out #10 here). For this play, let’s head to Week 7.
The Packers offense was starting to hit its stride coming off of one of their best wins of the season, beating the Arizona Cardinals 34-13 at Lambeau Field. The week prior the team battled in Los Angeles to beat the LA Rams in a clunky win after starting the season 2-2.
Those wins moved the Packers to 4-2 at this point in the season, going up against CJ Stroud and the 5-1 Houston Texans for Green Bay’s “Winter Warning” game at Lambeau Field. The Texans were on a 3-game winning streak coming off of a 41-21 win against the New England Patriots. I will never understand why this game was in the early time slot.
The game started a little rough; the Packers’ first drive ended with Jordan Love making a risky throw that Jalen Pitre tipped for an interception by LB Neville Hewitt who ran it all the way back to the 11 yard line. Thankfully the Packers defense held the Texans to just 6 yards, so they had to settle for a field goal. The Packers went 3-and-out on their 2nd drive and the the Texans started on a drive that saw them cross into GB territory.
Down 3-0 towards the end of the first quarter, the defense came up with a big stop (aka an Xavier McKinney sack that pushed the Texans out of FG range). The Packers offense then went on a nearly 7 minute drive into the 2nd quarter to give us our #9 ranked play of the year. The drive started at their own 8 after the punt from Houston, and the Packers offense ran 12 plays to make it down to Houston’s 14 yard line.
On 3rd and 3, the Packers went 11 personnel on a no huddle with Love in shotgun with wide receivers Romeo Doubs and Jayden Reed out right with Tucker Kraft while Dontayvion Wicks and Josh Jacobs are on the left. As APC’s own Dusty Evely pointed out in his article from October that covers the play, the Texans show that they’re playing man but upon snapping the ball, that’s not the case after Love notices Hewitt not following Kraft up the middle of the field. While the play was more than likely intended to get Doubs free, he won’t be open over the middle in zone.
This leaves a small window for Love to hit Kraft in the end zone and Love lets it rip. It glides over the fingertips of Texans safety Calen Bullock and Kraft is able to make an incredible diving catch on the ball. Touchdown.
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