NASHVILLE — Midway through Matt LaFleur’s postgame news conference, a blaring fire alarm interrupted the Packers head coach as he discussed his team’s dominant 30-14 win over the Titans.
“Keep going. Keep firing away,” LaFleur said. “They told me this city was going to burn if we came in here and won the game, so I guess it is.”
The loss was particularly humiliating for the Titans and their fans since the quarterback they traded for a seventh-round pick last month was a big reason why the Packers won so convincingly. Malik Willis, the Titans’ 2022 third-round pick they didn’t even want as their backup quarterback this season, completed 13-of-19 passes for 202 yards and a touchdown while running six times for 73 yards and a score.
Malik Willis rushes in for the touchdown in Tennessee!
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/y2w2ygYaKV
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) September 22, 2024
The Titans’ afterthought proved for the second straight week he belongs in this league. Not only that, but Willis has proven he can be a difference-maker for one of the NFL’s best teams instead of simply a piece to the puzzle who can help tread water in case of emergency. That’s what earned him another game ball, another mobbing by his teammates, another couple of radiant grins for what he’s stunningly accomplished in such a short time with the Packers.
“I just cannot articulate the job that he’s done in this short period of time,” LaFleur said. “People can’t fathom it. I promise you, you guys don’t get it. I know you think you got it, but you don’t get it. What he’s been able to do, I’ve never seen something like this.”
Willis has insisted he doesn’t have a chip on his shoulder for how things went in Tennessee. Asked earlier in the week in Green Bay about proving the Titans wrong if he started Sunday, Willis heavily refuted the premise and instead took the high road by praising the organization for giving him a shot in the NFL. Even after helping the Packers to a two-touchdown win in his former home stadium, Willis downplayed the significance of what he had just done.
“I think all wins count the same,” he said. “It was cool to see some of my old guys, but I don’t think it adds or devalues.”
Willis wouldn’t flaunt his accomplishment, but his teammates had no problem doing so.
“I was talking to other wideouts earlier in the game,” receiver Christian Watson said. “I don’t care if he doesn’t think it’s a revenge game. I’m going out there and playing for him. I want him to be able to go out there and win this thing considering his situation.”
“It just makes me happy to see it because we go back way back,” said safety Xavier McKinney, Willis’ high school teammate in Georgia. “It just feels good being back on the same team with him and seeing how he works, seeing how he go out there and lead us. It’s been great, man, so I love seeing him be successful. I tell him every game, ‘We with you. I’m with you till the wheels fall off.’”
As Willis walked through the locker room after the game, teammates greeted him with a joyous embrace. Running back Josh Jacobs, who has known Willis since his college days and, according to passing game coordinator Jason Vrable, led the way in instilling confidence in Willis before his first start. Wide receiver Bo Melton and tight end Tucker Kraft, too, guys who have played with Willis for only three weeks and change yet have already gravitated toward him. Cornerback Jaire Alexander, the most unique personality on the team, likes Willis so much that he chose to sit next to him on the team plane.
On the field, Willis has proven he’s much more than the failed project in Tennessee. In his first start against the Colts, Willis remained conservative with his arm save for one deep shot that wide receiver Romeo Doubs brilliantly snatched but showed promise with his legs and smoothly operated an offense with lengthy play calls, motions and shifts.
Against the Titans, Willis showed that he can let it rip a little more. He uncorked a deep ball down the right sideline on the opening drive that Watson hauled in for a 30-yard gain to set up Willis’ touchdown run on a keeper. He zipped completions to Doubs and Watson to convert third-and-14 and third-and-18, respectively. Willis ran even more against his old team, selling option plays beautifully and protecting the rock while being evasive.
“He made some big-time plays throughout the course of the game,” LaFleur said. “I think, obviously, some plays with his legs were huge and also plays in the passing game, some of those third down-and-longs to make some of those completions down the field.
“He’s getting the ball, he’s reading the plays the right way, he’s making some off-schedule plays with his legs that were very critical. … Hats off to him. Hats off to everybody around him, guys rallying, having his back. I think (quarterbacks coach) Tom Clements does a great job. And I’d be remiss to say (assistant quarterback coaches) Connor Lewis and Sean Mannion, just the help they’ve given him, the support. Jordan Love has been instrumental, as well, giving him the tips and hanging right by his side and helping him out all along the way.”
We got some playmakers up in here! pic.twitter.com/xRRw6wbIlh
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) September 22, 2024
Speaking of Love, Willis’ turn as Green Bay’s starter is likely over. Love practiced in a limited capacity each day last week and went through an extensive pregame workout before being ruled inactive. Common sense would say that with another week of practice, the franchise quarterback will be ready to go against the 3-0 Vikings at Lambeau Field on Sunday after missing two games with a knee injury.
If this is it for Willis’ run in the spotlight, for now at least, what a brief run it was. To go 2-0 without the guy you just gave a $220 million contract, and to have it look that good, is nothing short of remarkable for the Packers. Especially given how little reason there was to believe Willis could do what he’s done.
Willis has delivered and then some. So too has the coaching staff, led by LaFleur, whose Coach of the Year candidacy just received a boost. So too did general manager Brian Gutekunst in recognizing his two reserve quarterbacks didn’t cut it in camp, and identifying Willis as a talent worth acquiring.
If the Packers go on a playoff run, it’ll likely be on the backs of Love, his weapons and coordinator Jeff Hafley’s defense. But if this season reaches the heights Green Bay hopes, the Packers’ story won’t be told without the last two weeks and how a quarterback cast-off helped keep the season afloat.
Free, daily NFL updates direct to your inbox.
Free, daily NFL updates direct to your inbox.
Sign Up
“It’s a different opportunity,” Willis said. “I only got three starts here as a rookie and like I said before, I just wasn’t ready at that point in time. And I’ve had a lot of time to just work hard and just grind every day in order to make use of my next opportunity, which I’ve been just trying to do this last two weeks. I think more than anything, you just try to continue to work hard and understand that you don’t know when the opportunity will come, but you have to be ready for it when you get it.”
(Photo: Andrew Nelles / Imagn Images)
