Acme Packing Company
Before kickoff between the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers, all anyone could talk about was the matchup featuring Aaron Rodgers playing against his old team for the first time. During the game, however, it was his Packers successor, Jordan Love, who earned the headlines.
Love and his favorite target, Tucker Kraft, filled up the stat sheet on Sunday Night Football, with Kraft posting an exceptional performance on National Tight End Day. Kraft hauled in 7 of 9 targets in the game for 143 yards and two touchdowns, and a returning Christian Watson added another element to the Packers’ passing attack with 85 yards on four receptions of his own.
Meanwhile, the Packers’ defense stepped up significantly in the second half. They got big sacks from Micah Parsons and Rashan Gary, and the unit forced a late turnover to help set up another score for the offense. They even got a clutch pass breakup from Ty’Ron Hopper on a two-point conversion attempt from Pittsburgh that would have closed the game down to 8 points.
Despite all that, tonight’s game was all about Love, who led the Packers’ offense to a second-half comeback victory against his old mentor.
In the first half, Love made a few excellent plays, but he really found his groove in the third quarter. Down by 9 at the break, the Packers outscored Pittsburgh 28-9 in the final 30 minutes, and Love answered every question that the Steelers’ defense threw at him. His final stat line ended up at 29-for-37 for 360 yards and three touchdowns, and his advanced stats look even better — he posted 0.59 EPA per play on dropbacks as every meaningful second-half drive finished with the Packers scoring points.
Love was the first quarterback to touch the football as the Packers received the opening kickoff, but he did so from inside the 20 after a holding penalty on the kick. He got Christian Watson involved right away on the first drive with a reception on second down, but could not connect with Romeo Doubs on third down, and the Packers went three-and-out to start the game.
Rodgers uncorked a deep ball on the Steelers’ first drive, hitting Roman Wilson for a 45-yard gain on an extended play. The Packers pushed Pittsburgh back, however, forcing the Steelers to settle for a 56-yard field goal from Chris Boswell. After a pass interference penalty on Steelers receiver D.K. Metcalf backed his team up, Green Bay got a big tackle for no gain by Edgerrin Cooper on a swing pass and a sack by Rashan Gary on third down to force the three-point attempt, which Boswell drilled cleanly.
The Packers’ second offensive drive got off to a much better start, with Doubs bringing in catches of 24 and six yards to move the chains twice. Malik Heath got into the action with a 13-yard catch-and-run before Tucker Kraft delivered a big blow. Kraft hauled in a screen pass from Love and turned upfield, getting a nice block...
