Green Bay Packers’ tight end Tucker Kraft had two touchdowns and 143 receiving yards Sunday night.
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There was no revenge.
Only more proof that Green Bay’s decision to pull the plug on Aaron Rodgers-era was the right one.
The Packers played their best half of the season Sunday night, outscoring host Pittsburgh, 28-9, in the second half and rallying for a 35-25 win over the host Steelers.
Green Bay played a miserable first half and trailed, 16-7, at the break. But the Packers scored on their first five second half possessions and ran away from the Steelers.
“The greatest thing I saw from our guys was I didn’t see any panic,” Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur said. “They stayed together and we cleaned up some things that we didn’t do in the first half and just made plays. So I’m really excited for our guys.”
The 41-year-old Rodgers, who spent 18 years in Green Bay before the Packers traded him on April 26, 2023, looked old, worn down and mediocre, at best. Rodgers threw for 219 yards and two touchdowns, but was sacked three times and spent most of the night throwing short passes and checkdowns.
Meanwhile, Jordan Love — the man who replaced Rodgers in Green Bay — was sensational throwing for 360 yards and three touchdowns.
“He’s showed he’s the successor,” Packers defensive end Micah Parsons said. “He’s the up and coming.
“I’m just so proud of him, everything he’s been through, how he’s developed as a player, how he’s developed as a person, and he’s just playing some really good football right now, and I’m glad I’m here to watch it. I’m glad I’m on this side. So J-Love, keep going.”
LaFleur agreed.
“Yeah, it’s great for Jordan,” LaFleur said. “Jordan’s worked his ass off to get here. He was patient throughout the process, throughout the journey, and he took advantage of the opportunity, he really did.”
The Packers improved to 5-1-1 and are the NFC’s No. 1 seed. Pittsburgh lost its second straight game and fell to 4-3.
Here’s the ‘Good, Bad and Ugly’ from the Packers’ win.
THE GOOD
TUCKER KRAFT: The Packers’ standout tight end won’t be a free agent until after the 2026 season. The sooner Green Bay can get him locked up, though, the better.
Kraft continued his breakout season with seven receptions for 143 yards and two touchdowns on National Tight Ends Day.
“He’s a big-time player, and I think everybody’s seen what he’s capable of when he gets the ball in his hands, just making guys miss, running people over, getting those extra yards,” Love said of Kraft. “So you know that anytime he touches the ball, he’s going to try to fight for all those yards. He’s just an explosive playmaker, so I’m just glad that everybody’s kind of seeing what he’s all about now.”
Kraft had a 16-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter where he caught a pass in the right flat, got a head of steam and ran through four Steelers on his way to the endzone.
“The more things that he continues to do, the more he just pours into it,” Packers tight ends coach John Dunn said of Kraft. “He wants to be as good as he can possibly be in every area. So that part is fun to see.”
With Green Bay’s offense stuck in first gear early in the third quarter, Kraft had the most improbable 59-yard reception you’ll ever see.
Love was under duress and threw a jump ball up for Kraft. Somehow Kraft fought off a defender, caught the pass 15 yards downfield, then rumbled 59 yards to the Pittsburgh 26. Six players later, Love hit Savion Williams for an 8-yard touchdown that pulled the Packers within 16-14.
Kraft had a terrific block on defensive end T.J. Watt that sprung Emanuel Wilson for a 15-yard gain.
Then Kraft found the endzone for the second time early in the fourth quarter, this time a 24-yard TD that pushed Green Bay’s lead to 29-19. Kraft beat his man to the inside, then angled to his left and ran away from two defenders for another score.
“He was a beast,” LaFleur said of Love. “He was a man possessed. Like you just gotta find ways to get him the ball.”
JORDAN LOVE: The Packers quarterback had one of the best games of his young career. Love completed 29-of-37 passes for 360 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions for a passer rating of 134.2.
Love completed 20 straight passes at one point, which tied the franchise record set by Hall of Famer Brett Favre in 2007.
“He’s just so confident,” LaFleur said of Love. “He’s a great teammate, he encourages the other guys, he’s a hell of a leader and he’s really grown as a football player.
“I’m sure going into this game, I’m sure he put a lot on himself and I thought that he went out there and he’s just so consistent in who he is, through the good times and the bad times. There’s moments where you can sense the frustration from him but he keeps going. To be honest with you, I kind of like it when he gets a little pissed off because you don’t see it too often.”
CHRISTIAN WATSON: Welcome back Christian Watson.
The Packers wide receiver suffered a torn ACL in Week 18, 2024.
Watson made his season debut Sunday and caught four passes for 85 yards, including a 33-yard reception.
“Just to get him back in the fold you could see just — it’s just his ability to do so many different things,” LaFleur said of Watson. “He’s such an intelligent football player. He’s obviously a specimen. It was great to see him get back out there.
“I know the journey that he’s been on. It’s been a long road. It was a pretty devastating time when you think back to that game versus Chicago last year. To lose him, who’s such a great team-first oriented guy, just always goes out there, competes, does his job, and I’m really excited for him.”
SENSATIONAL SECOND HALF: The Packers had a dreadful first half and trailed, 16-7, at the break.
But Green Bay scored touchdowns on its first three drives of the second half to take control.
Those drives were nine plays and 90 yards, 10 plays and 78 yards, and four plays for 45 yards. That’s a total of 23 plays for 213 yards — an average of 9.3 yards per play.
The Packers then added field goals on their next two possessions, giving them 28 points on their first five second half drives.
“When we came into the locker room at halftime, the message was we just weren’t finishing,” Love said. “We weren’t executing our plays. We weren’t locked in on doing everybody’s 1/11th. There’s plays to be made, and I think we just weren’t executing those and we weren’t able to stay on the field.
“So I think the first half went by really fast for us as an offense. We had one scoring drive. So I think the message was just do your job, lock in, execute plays and stay on the field. We did that.”
CARRINGTON VALENTINE: After playing just two snaps last week, Valentine replaced Nate Hobbs at outside corner and shined.
Early in the second quarter, the Steelers had a third-and-3 on Green Bay’s 32 and Valentine was left 1-on-1 with Pittsburgh standout wideout D.K. Metcalf. Rodgers threw deep for Metcalf, who had inside position, but Valentine stripped loose what would have been a 32-yard touchdown.
Valentine made an aggressive and legal tackle on Pat Freiermuth that sent the tight end to the blue medical tent.
UNDER PRESSURE: Rashan Gary had two sacks of Rodgers and Micah Parsons had one.
On Gary’s first sack, Parsons forced Rodgers to step up in the pocket and Gary gobbled him up.
Parsons dumped Rodgers for a 10-yard loss in the fourth quarter. And Parsons wreaked havoc by blitzing up the middle behind a defensive tackle all night.
“Micah is a phenomenal player,” Love said of Parsons. “I think the most surprising thing for me is just the way he is every day at practice. You know, the player you see out there on the field on Sunday is the same player in practice where, you know, we’re trying to have to tell him to ease up sometimes and stay away from me at times, because he’s always hunting, trying to get those sacks and trying to win every rep.”
THIS AND THAT: Edgerrin Cooper forced a fourth quarter fumble that Javon Bullard recovered. … The Packers rotated Jordan Morgan and Sean Rhyan at right guard. Those two had split time early in the season, but Morgan played 100% of the snaps last week at Arizona. … Kingsley Enagbare dumped Jaylen Warren for a 5-yard loss midway through the second quarter. … Green Bay held Pittsburgh to 1-of-10 on third downs. … Love was not sacked.
THE BAD
BRANDON MCMANUS: Green Bay’s kicker missed the last two weeks with a right quadriceps injury and was questionable this week. McManus should have probably taken a third week off.
McManus went through a pre-game workout and the Packers deemed him healthy enough to play. McManus then went 2-for-4 on field goals.
McManus can be forgiven for missing a 57-yard field goal, one that was dead center but 2 yards short. But there was no excuse for him pulling a 44-yarder wide left on the final play of the first half.
McManus did rebound to make a pair of second half field goals.
“We’ll see. We’ll reassess, re-evaluate,” LaFleur said.
With McManus out, Lucas Havrisik made all four of his field goals and all six of his extra points the past two weeks. Havrisik also set a new franchise record with a 61-yard field goal in Arizona last week.
McManus has enough house credit built up that his job is almost certainly safe. But the fact the Packers haven’t released Havrisik tells you they might not be “all in” on McManus.
RUN DEFENSE: The Steelers lined up with multiple tight ends, extra offensive linemen and wide receivers that are terrific blockers. Pittsburgh then had 81 rushing yards on 15 carries (5.4) in the first half.
Green Bay clamped down in the second half, though, allowing just 12 rushing yards after intermission.
THIS AND THAT: Green Bay reserve running back Chris Brooks had a holding penalty on the opening kickoff. … Javon Bullard had a holding penalty on Pittsburgh’s first punt of the second half.
THE UGLY
KEISEAN NIXON: Ahmad Carroll. Kevin King. Estus Hood.
The Packers have had their share of miserable performances by lousy cornerbacks through the years.
You can throw Nixon’s name into that mix.
Everything Nixon touched on this night turned to nonsense.
The Packers’ cornerback took his first stab at returning punts this season. It failed miserably.
Nixon was nonchalant while trying to Corliss Waitman’s punt and dropped it. Fortunately for the Packers, heady Zayne Anderson was Johnny on the spot and recovered the fumble.
Nixon allowed a 45-yard reception to Roman Wilson on Pittsburgh’s opening drive that led to a Chris Boswell field goal. Nixon was also flagged for defensive holding when the Packers appeared to have the Steelers stopped midway through the second quarter.
Late in the second quarter, the Steelers had a third-and-9 at Green Bay’s 36 when Nixon was flagged 21 yards for pass interference to keep the drive alive. Three plays later, Metcalf beat Nixon for a 2-yard TD and Pittsburgh led, 16-7, at halftime.
Nixon was better in the second half, but his first half will make things uncomfortable in the film room this week.