LOS ANGELES – Tucker Kraft lives by a simple maxim.
If the Packers' second-year tight end catches the ball, he expects to make the first defender miss. Kraft did plenty of that on his way to a career-high 88 receiving yards and two touchdowns during Sunday's 24-19 win over the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium.
Both of Kraft's scores came during a tide-turning third quarter for Green Bay's offense, which benefited from a pair of Xavier McKinney takeaways.
After McKinney corralled a loose fumble at the start of the quarter, Kraft turned a pass into the flat into the longest reception by a Packers tight end in 12 years on his way to a 66-yard touchdown that put Green Bay up 17-13 at the time.
When McKinney picked off Matthew Stafford on the next series, the 6-foot-4, 259-pound tight end put an exclamation mark on a seven-play, 54-yard scoring drive for Green Bay when bucked his way into the end zone on a 7-yard TD.
All in a day's work.
"Just goes back to the rules I keep myself, the standard I set at the beginning of the season – don't let a DB tackle me in space," Kraft said. "Sometimes that still happens but always trying to make the first one miss. But head down, bull in a China shop. That's just what I do."
Coming off a big September, it was expected Kraft would be in for a heavy workload against the Rams. Fellow tight end Luke Musgrave was active but didn't play in the game after missing practice this week due to an ankle injury.
What couldn't have been forecast is Kraft tying for the third-longest TD catch by Packers tight end in the Super Bowl era, behind only Paul Coffman (78 yards in 1979), Tom Crabtree (72, 2012) and Jackie Harris (66, 1993).
Kraft felt the Packers were well-positioned to break an explosive play out of that formation based on the looks the Rams were giving Green Bay's offense in second-and-medium.
Looking at second-and-6 after a Josh Jacobs run, LaFleur dialed it up and Kraft and Co. executed with quarterback Jordan Love hitting his tight end in stride. Second-year receiver Dontayvion Wicks helped throw a block downfield to spring Kraft for the score.
If Wicks has learned anything about playing with his 2023 draft classmate, it's the play is never over.
"He's nice. He's tough," Wicks said. "He's probably not going down on the first contact. You can't never stop blocking when Tuck's in there. That's big time for us. It's not just the guys on the outside that's making plays in the passing game. It's the tight ends, too."
Creating big plays is part of the job description for Kraft. For those who have defended him in practice, it's no surprise seeing Kraft come up big on gamedays.
"I feel like Tucker can be the best tight end in the game, hands down," cornerback Eric Stokes said. "He keeps showing it week in and week out. He keeps getting more confident and him and Love got a connection, and it's become very dangerous."
'Reed's down there somewhere': The Packers couldn't have started any faster than Love airing out a 53-yard pass that second-year receiver Jayden Reed pulled down at the Rams' 2-yard line despite being triple-covered.
The explosive gain set up Jacobs' first touchdown with the Packers, which put Green Bay up 7-0 at the time. Asked what he saw on Love's deep ball, Reed quipped: "I saw trust."
"There were three guys, I looked up and I just told myself you've got to make the play," Reed said. "They used to say in college, 'F--- it, Reed's down there somewhere, so just throw it up.' That's trust from '10.' I can't throw the ball, I've just got to make the play."
Paired with Kraft's 66-yard TD, Sunday was the first time Love has thrown two 50-plus-yard passes in the same game.
Reed, who finished with four catches for 78 yards, also added two carries for 19, making him just the sixth player in NFL history with 400-plus receiving yards and 100-plus rushing yards in the team's first five games of a season.
He's the first NFL player to do it since San Francisco running back Roger Craig in 1985.
"Just finding mismatches, holes in the defense," said Reed of the key to his all-around success. "The coaches do a great job putting us in position to make a play and make us come open. They do a great job with that."
Going with four: The Packers rolled with just four receivers on the gameday roster as Christian Watson missed the game with an ankle injury and Romeo Doubs served a one-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team.
Reed, Wicks and Malik Heath started for Green Bay while Bo Melton rotated in.
"It's a chance to step up, feel the room and having a bigger role in helping your team win," Wicks said. "We only have four guys up but we believed in each other and our offense believed in us."
Reed said he spoke to Doubs, who's "doing good."
"We've just got to stay together collectively," Reed said. "That's the most important thing."
Next D-linemen up: With Devonte Wyatt out with an ankle injury, the Packers turned to 2023 draft picks Karl Brooks and Colby Wooden to step up in the former first-round pick's absence.
Wooden had three tackles in his first game in a month while Brooks finished with 1½ sacks among three quarterback hits.
"Both of them did great," defensive lineman Kenny Clark said. "I think the defensive tackles, we all played pretty good. Colby and KB, they both stepped up. D-Wy was out today. We knew they had to play a huge role today and credit to them, they prepared like they're starters every single week."
Positive road vibes: There were plenty of Packers fans in attendance to witness the team's first win in Los Angeles since 1966 and players felt that enthusiasm on the field, with several "Go Pack Go" chants breaking out during the game.
"This is an incredible atmosphere," Kraft said. "SoFi, great place to win at, that's for sure. Packers fans traveled really well. Defense played really well, and it was fun to get back out there and get back into our regular cadence, as some of the Rams fans were heading out of the stadium getting an early start home. It was great. I had a lot of fun."
