GREEN BAY – A week after executing a methodical, run-oriented game plan to beat Indianapolis, the Packers reverted back to big-play production to topple Tennessee.
With backup quarterback Malik Willis again standing in for an injured Jordan Love, Green Bay had seven plays go for 20 or more yards in its 30-14 win over the Titans.
The Packers made it clear from the start that this game was going to be vastly different from last Sunday's 16-10 win over the Colts when they ran the ball 53 times for 262 yards.
In fact, Green Bay ran play-action on the very first play with Willis connecting with Jayden Reed on a crossing route that the second-year receiver took for a 30-yard gain.
Three plays later, the former Titans quarterback showed off his deep ball on a 30-yard pass down the sideline to speedy wideout Christian Watson. Willis then scrambled in for a 6-yard touchdown to cap the six-play, 70-yard opening scoring drive.
"I think it set the tone perfectly," said Watson of the two 30-yard completions on the opening possession. "We knew what people were gonna plan to do. We knew we were gonna have opportunities to make plays and I think that first drive we saw exactly what we thought we were going to see."
The Titans' top-ranked defense was difficult to run on early, at least in the traditional sense. Josh Jacobs and Emanuel Wilson had just 28 yards on 11 carries in the first half.
As much as Tennessee clogged up the middle of the field, the speedy Willis found wiggle room outside. He ran for 20 yards on third-and-2 and leaked out for 29 yards along the sideline four plays later down to the Titans' 2-yard line.
Willis' game-high 73 rushing yards all came in the first half, which is the second-most in a game by a Packers quarterback behind only Don Majkowski (88) since 1960.
"He kept one down the right sideline and I seen that speed," guard Elgton Jenkins said. "You know me, I'm an O-lineman. I tried to run with him, but you can tell – it looked like some 4.4 speed."
Willis showed he could make plays on third downs with his arm, too. In the second half, Willis connected with Romeo Doubs for 18 yards on third-and-12 and then hit Watson for 37 on third-and-18.
After starting the third quarter with a 30-yard touchdown on a screen pass to Wilson, the Packers were staked to a 27-7 lead that changed how Tennessee could approach the game.
In contrast to last week when the run set up the pass, Green Bay used its big plays through the air to get the ground game going this time around.
"They thought we were gonna come in and run the ball," Wilson said. "We ran it, of course, but with Malik back there comfortable, he did his thing."
Save that ball: The 30-yard screen pass represented the first NFL touchdown for Wilson, a second-year running back who made Green Bay's roster as an undrafted free agent last year.
Wilson lost the ball after scoring, but Jacobs made sure to run back to grab it for his fellow running back to cherish.
"I really dropped it but Josh went to go get it for me," said Wilson, who finished with 85 total yards on a career-high 14 touches (50 rushing, 35 receiving).
"It meant a lot (to score). Last year, I didn't score at all. I reflected on it and then today really just went out there and executed the play. The receivers set the blocks up and made everything happen."
Challenge accepted: After former Mississippi State teammate Jeffery Simmons told reporters last week that "no one runs the ball" on the Titans' defense, Jenkins lightheartedly set a goal for Sunday's game against his good friend.
He wanted to run for 200 yards on the Titans. Jenkins settled for 188 rushing yards on 37 carries (5.1 yards per).
"Earlier in the week, they said we weren't going to run the ball," Jenkins said. "It was a challenge. I really wanted to get 200 on them but we got (188). We'll take that."
With 261 rushing yards last week, the Packers have now rushed for 449 yards over last two games – their most over a two-game span in a single season since Nov. 2-10, 2003 (502 yards).
Big play for Quay: The first sack of the second half for the Packers may have been the most consequential, as Quay Walker and Isaiah McDuffie stopped Titans quarterback Will Levis on a fourth-and-1 option play.
Tennessee initially sent out its punt team but then called time to put the offense back on the field at its own 37. With Jaire Alexander covering the nearby running back, Walker stopped the 229-pound quarterback in his tracks with McDuffie's aid.
"It was just all off anticipation," Walker said. "We pretty much thought that they was gonna do that rollout to his right, to our left, so any time they gave a ball fake, I automatically just knew... anticipation, that's all it was."
Cleaning it up: Penalties again were an issue for Green Bay against the Titans, racking up 10 for 75 yards. Tennessee finished with two for 15, though one kept an eventual TD-scoring drive alive for the Packers.
Jenkins took ownership for his two holding penalties while defensive end Preston Smith lamented a neutral-zone infraction in the first half that wiped out a sack for Gary.
"That was a third-down sack taken away because of me," Smith said. "Those things can't happen. Some of those mistakes we make, we can't allow, and they can't happen if we want to win."
