Green Bay Packers

It’s Time To Pat Gutey On the Back

Photo Credit: Mark Hoffman/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

There are probably a handful of worthy candidates for NFL Executive of the Year. But Sunday’s gritty Green Bay Packers win in Jacksonville demonstrated why Brian Gutekunst needs to be firmly in the conversation.

Gutey’s fingerprints were all over the key contributors. Josh Jacobs carried the offense when Jordan Love went down, gaining 91 yards rushing in the second half when the Packers were hesitant to throw the ball. Rookie Edgerrin Cooper made a couple of huge plays, forcing a turnover inside the 10-yard line and chasing down Christian Kirk 40 yards downfield to break up a potentially big play on third down.

Then there’s Malik Willis, who the Packers called upon once again to save the day. He delivered with a near-perfect passer rating, punctuated by that 51-yard completion to Jayden Reed that set up the game-winning field goal. Finally, there’s kicker Brandon McManus. Sure, it was a chip shot game-winner, but Gutey’s decision to cut bait with Brayden Narveson and bring in an experienced place kicker has paid immediate dividends with walk-off field goals two weeks in a row.

We’ll know much more about the severity of Love’s groin injury in the next couple of days, but it would be surprising to see him for the big showdown with the Detroit Lions at Lambeau on Sunday. With the bye looming after the game, the medical staff will likely give Love a couple of weeks to heal up. Hopefully, it’s nothing more long-term than that; early reports suggest he has avoided a long-term injury, but who knows?

Whether Willis and the Packers offense can keep up with the Lions on the scoreboard is a question for later in the week. For now, let’s give the kid a ton of credit for stepping onto the field with no practice reps and handling his business seamlessly. That play to Reed wasn’t even in the playbook on Sunday and was a last-second addition when the Pack saw a look they liked. The fact that Willis communicated it and executed it is a tribute to both him and the coaching staff.

The Pack wouldn’t have been in a position to engineer a game-winning field goal drive if not for Jacobs’ brilliance, whose 38-yard touchdown run was his best of the season. After a couple of early-season fumbles, he has been exactly what the team hoped it was getting: a tough, hard-nosed bell-cow back who gets better as the game goes along and can carry an offense when he’s asked to. If Love’s out Sunday, he may get 30 touches against the Lions.

The defensive performance wasn’t as strong as it’s been the past two weeks, part of which was being without Quay Walker and losing rookie Evan Williams early to a hamstring injury. But the two takeaways were huge (it was nice to see Xavier McKinney notch interception No. 6). They also did an excellent job against the run, keeping the talented Tank Bigsby in check all afternoon.

The bad news is that the Packers don’t get to feast on the AFC South anymore after sweeping the division. A pair of NFC North games beckon, with a bye week in between. We’ll wait to hear the news on Love, as well as Williams and Walker, to see if any of them will be available against the high-flying Lions.

If you would have told me the Pack would be 6-2 through eight games after seeing Love writhing on the ground at the end of the season-opening loss in Sao Paolo, I would have been over the moon. There’s plenty to clean up, and, obviously, the team needs to get healthier. Still, it’s nice to know Gutey and the front office are firing on all cylinders, giving this team an opportunity to get where they hope to go.

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