Down 10, Not Out

Before Thursday night’s mess, there was this one. On September 20 at MetLife Stadium, the Packers spoiled the Jets’ home opener with a 20-17 overtime win that was about as ugly as a win gets. Green Bay was flagged 14 times for 133 yards, put the ball on the ground four times, and managed just 199 yards of offense. Jordan Love hit MarShawn Lloyd for an early touchdown, but New York answered with scores from Braelon Allen and Garrett Wilson plus a field goal, and the Packers were down 17-7 with about 11 minutes to go.

That’s when things turned. A pass interference call on a deep shot to Matthew Golden set up a 3-yard touchdown from Love to Christian Watson. Then Skyy Moore ripped off a 63-yard punt return, and Trey Smack tied it with a 34-yard field goal with 2:59 left.

Overtime Belonged to the Defense

The Jets got the ball first in overtime and went nowhere. The Packers opened the period with back-to-back sacks of Geno Smith, and Lukas Van Ness finished with nine tackles, 1.5 sacks and four QB hits, his best game in green and gold. The offense then moved into range, helped along by an unnecessary roughness penalty, and Smack drilled a 26-yard field goal to win it.

Love finished 16 of 29 for 145 yards and two touchdowns, and the win came at a cost. Jayden Reed was carted off with a neck injury, and right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele suffered a significant knee injury. LaFleur summed it up afterward: “I know it wasn’t always pretty,” he said, per Packers.com. He’s right, but a win is a win, and it got the Packers to 1-1.

Sources: Packers.com, 5 takeaways from the Jets win, NewYorkJets.com, game recap.

Featured photo: All-Pro Reels, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.