It feels like we talk about it every week. It wasn’t a clean performance by the Green Bay Packers, but they came out with a win. That’s how they beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 30-27, even without Jordan Love for most of the second half.

The quarterback suffered a groin injury early, and it obviously affected the entire offense. Malik Willis was efficient again when he needed to get in, and the Packers were able to pull off a win in Florida to improve to 6-2 in the regular season.

It was a combination of big plays on defense, a strong running game, and another solid performance for the backup quarterback. And this sequence tells us a lot about what this team can be if they don't make so many mistakes.

Love got injured again

Quarterback Jordan Love seemed to have injured his knee again. Actually, it was a groin after all, but it hindered what Green Bay would do in Florida.

It wasn't as serious as it was in week 1 against the Philadelphia Eagles, but he limped all game after landing weirdly in the first offensive drive. That limited his mobility throughout the afternoon and affected his footwork in general. It's unclear how much it mattered, but Love threw his ninth interception of the season — he threw 11 the entire season in 2023.

Returning from halftime, head coach Matt LaFleur revealed that Love "can't really move," so they would have to adjust the gameplan.

Right at the start of the third quarter, though, it was too much. Love fell down and kept being evaluated on the sideline.

Backup quarterback Malik Willis had to enter the game. And he played pretty well again, with some big plays and putting the offense in position to have a strong running game — we will talk more about that later on. Willis finished the game completing 4 of 5 passes for 55 yards and a touchdown.

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Defensive performance

In the first few weeks, the Packers defense was getting turnovers, but the down-to-down consistency wasn't there. Last week against the Houston Texans, it was the opposite.

In Jacksonville, both finally happened at the same time. Mostly in the first half, but still.

The defense was incredible limiting the Jaguars offense — which is not a bad unit, 14th by DVOA. And the unit was also capable of generating turnovers, with Xavier McKinney getting his sixth interception of the season to put the offense in position to score after a rough start.

It was the most complete performance by the Packers defense since Jeff Hafley has been the coordinator. The Jaguars didn't convert a single first down until five minutes left in the second quarter — and they ended up scoring a touchdown in that drive with Trevor Lawrence running into the end zone. In that scoring drive, the Packers missed eight tackles.

That bad drive precluded what the start of the second half would be, though. Trevor Lawrence started to play with more confidence and made some beautiful throws to change the outcome of the game in the third quarter.

The biggest issue was the lack of pressure when the Packers sent four. They only affected Lawrence with blitzes, but the opposing quarterback was calmer and more effective after mid-game adjustments made the Jaguars offense more fluid.

But the blitzes were there, though. In one of them, a third and six, linebacker Edgerrin Cooper forced a fumble, and Devonte Wyatt recovered it, putting the Packers in position to score a touchdown with Malik Willis throwing to tight end Tucker Kraft.

Nobody on the defense was more impressive than Edgerrin Cooper, by the way. The rookie linebacker was effective in blitz, run defense, and even covering wide receivers — he forced a huge third-down incompletion for Christian Kirk down the middle.

The lack of four-man wins for the front ended up being costly, and the Packers allowed a game-tying touchdown late. Happily for Green Bay, Jacksonville decided to kick the extra point instead of going for two, which allowed the Packers to march down the field to win the game with a field goal without the pressure of having to score to avoid a loss.

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Running game

Josh Jacobs might not be the most efficient runner as Aaron Jones was and is, but the Packers know really well why they signed him, and they must be happy about it. Even with Jordan Love limited and then out, the starting running back carried a heavy workload — which included a huge 38-yard touchdown when the Packers were trailing 17-13 in the third quarter. Jacobs finished the game with 25 carries for 127 yards (5.1 yards per carry) and two touchdowns.

Throughout the game, the Packers used some 21 personnel as well, giving several snaps for backup running backs Emanuel Wilson and Chris Brooks.

In the final drive to win the game, Brooks had the opportunity to score his first touchdown as a Packer, but smartly went down to kill the clock, allowing Brandon McManus to kick the game-winning field goal.

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