For the better part of the last 32 seasons, the Packers have won primarily with the pass. In 2024, Josh Jacobs is helping them win on the ground.
The veteran running back stepped up after Green Bay lost quarterback Jordan Love with a groin injury, and kicker Brandon McManus hit a walk-off field goal for the second straight week as the Packers registered a 30-27 win at Jacksonville on Sunday.
“I told myself yesterday that my goal coming into this game was to inspire our play-calling, inspire this team if it came down to it,” Jacobs told FOX’s Megan Olivi after the game. “I wanted to put the game on my back. That’s what I tried to come out here and do.”
Jacobs was so dominant that when the Packers (6-2) took the ball at their own 30-yard line in a 27-27 game with 1:48 left, he affected the game without touching the ball. On second-and-6, Jacksonville lined up nine men near the ball to take away Jacobs and backup quarterback Malik Willis, off a play-action fake to Jacobs, found Jayden Reed down the left sideline for 51 yards. The completion set up the 24-yard game-winner off the foot of McManus, who signed with the Packers just 11 days ago. He also connected on a 45-yard, game-ending kick to beat Houston last week.
Following a common refrain the Packers have successfully used to win without Love, Jacobs piled up 127 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries, including a 38-yard run at the end of the third quarter that put Green Bay in the lead, 20-17.
“We did a lot of stuff today that we really hurt ourselves with, that we need to clean up but we battled. That’s the thing about this team. We’re very resilient and we just kept swinging and came out with a victory.”
Those swings had to come without Love, who left early in the second half with a groin injury and didn’t return. Despite playing most of the final two quarters, Willis threw only five passes, going 4 of 5 for 56 yards and one touchdown, a 3-yard toss to tight end Tucker Kraft early in the fourth quarter. Willis also had 23 yards on four carries, including a 20-yard scramble just before the long Jacobs touchdown run.
Willis played the final two snaps after Love left Green Bay’s Week 1 loss in Brazil, then went 2-0 in relief of Love over the next two games. Love returned from the knee injury for a Week 4 loss against the Vikings. Now, Willis might need to return to the starting lineup next week when the Packers host the blistering-hot Lions (6-1) in a battle for first place in the NFC North.
Jacksonville (2-6) erased a 10-0 deficit and fought valiantly to be in position to win prior to Reed’s long reception. The Jaguars took a 17-13 lead on Trevor Lawrence’s 13-yard touchdown pass to rookie Brian Thomas with just over five minutes left in the third quarter. Then, Lawrence orchestrated an eight-play, 87-yard march to tie the game on a phenomenal touchdown catch by Evan Engram just after the two-minute warning. Lawrence finished 21 of 32 for 308 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Jacksonville travels to meet head coach Doug Pederson’s former team, Philadelphia (5-2), next week. Pederson led the Eagles to a Super Bowl title in 2017.
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