Acme Packing Company
Last night was certainly a football game, I’ll tell you what. The Baltimore Ravens and Green Bay Packers met for the first time since 2021 in what was officially the Packers’ last game at Lambeau Field until the 2026 season. Just like the 2021 game, the Ravens were starting backup QB Tyler Huntley. This time, however, the Packers had their own backup QB in as starter Jordan Love recovered from a concussion sustained against the Bears.
I’m calling this the Malik Willis Game, because he was essentially the entire offense for the Packers. After keeping it close for the entire first half, the wheels (and body parts) started falling off, and the Ravens won handily with a score of 41-24. While the Packers didn’t need to win on Saturday, it sure would’ve been nice to be in the division race still. They are, alas, no longer. Let’s take a look at the winners and losers from a game which cemented the Packers as the NFC’s 7-seed.
After the chest injury he sustained in Denver, and the subsequent ambulance ride out of the stadium, I thought Watson’s season may be over. Two weeks later, he became the Packers’ first 100-yard pass catcher since Week 8 (Tucker Kraft please come back). Watson was phenomenal Saturday night, with some big effort and athleticism leading to huge gains, including this 39-yard touchdown to cap off their first drive of the night.
He had another big pickup of 32 yards to start the second half, and, in an homage to Tucker Kraft, made a push to get as much extra yardage as he could on this play. Watson finished the night leading all receivers with 5 catches on 6 targets for 113 yards and a score.
Malik Willis, I am going to be so sad when you leave. The backup QB rose to the occasion last night and had his best game as a Packer. I knew it would be a fun watch, but I still don’t think I was fully prepared for the experience. He. Was. SLINGING THAT THING. It took 2 plays for the team to get down the field and into the end zone during their first drive of the game, and they happened to be Willis’ longest throws of the year: the below 40-yarder to Romeo Doubs, and the 39-yard TD pass to Christian Watson.
What a BEAUTY. Willis was perfection last night—his first incompletion didn’t come until the second half of the game, and it came on a Chris Brooks drop. He also had one of the most incredible runs I’ve ever seen from a quarterback on 3rd and 9 to pick up a first down. He could’ve gone down 11 yards earlier, and I’m shocked this turned into positive yardage at all. I’ll be thinking about this for days.
Overall, Willis looked pretty incredible given what the team was working with. He also showed what a competitor he was after re-aggravating...
