No Agony, No Defeat: Packers Beat Chargers on Jordan Love’s Late Touchdown
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers’ signature victory over the Los Angeles Chargers, 23-20 on Sunday at Lambeau Field, came with one big asterisk.
And then one even bigger sigh of relief.
Jordan Love’s come-from-behind touchdown drive and the defense’s closing sequence was lost in the background of star running back Aaron Jones being carted to the locker room with a knee injury late in the first half.
Jones, one of the best players in Packers history and one of the most explosive running backs in NFL history, appeared to get his left knee stuck in the turf as he was driven backward by the Chargers with about 3 minutes left in the first half.
Jones walked off the field with the help of a couple trainers and, after a short trip inside the blue medical tent, hopped onto the back of a cart and was driven to the locker room. A towel covered his face; he waved to the fans a few times while being driven inside.
However, coach Matt LaFleur said Jones did not suffer a long-term injury; Jones said his ACL is fine.
With the Packers avoiding a season-altering injury, they could celebrate a breakthrough victory.
“It feels great,” Love said. “We just talked in the locker room – being on the wrong end of a lot of those games in the past, to get a dub and pull out a close game like this, it feels great.”
The Chargers took a 20-16 lead with 5:24 in the fourth quarter. On third-and-9, Justin Herbert whistled a touchdown pass to Keenan Allen, who was open in the end zone between safeties Jonathan Owens and Anthony Johnson; a moment earlier, Johnson leveled tight end Stone Smartt to prevent a touchdown.
That put Love in position, once again, to either be the hero or the goat in a late-game situation. This time, after falling short at Atlanta, Las Vegas, Denver and last week at Pittsburgh, he delivered. Dontayvion Wicks gained 24 on a third-and-20 pass-interference penalty and 35 more when he broke two tackles to turn a 5-yard gain into a game-changer.
On the touchdown, Love threw a 24-yard strike to Romeo Doubs, who made a leaping catch and then spun away from defender Michael Davis so the ball couldn’t be knocked free.
“We preach aggressive hands, and there was definitely a mentality and you could see it right there. He went and snatched that ball,” LaFleur said.
After both teams exchanged punts, the Chargers got the ball at their 20 with 1:27 remaining. Herbert’s deep shot to rookie Quentin Johnston should have provided a 70-yard touchdown but Johnston dropped it at Green Bay’s 30. Kenny Clark’s batted pass on fourth-and-1 clinched the victory.
“We know what type of player Kenny is,” Love said, “and I think that just him finishing off that game with that batted pass was awesome. You need your best players to step up and that’s exactly what they did. The defense balled out today.”
Love threw for a career-high 322 yards – the team’s first 300-yard passing game in almost two calendar years – with touchdowns to Doubs and Christian Watson. Rookie Jayden Reed added a touchdown run for the Packers (4-6).
“Obviously, as an offense especially, you want to keep seeing the growth,” Love said. “And that’s what we’ve been seeing. But the main goal is winning the game. Last week, we came up unsuccessful. Obviously, the hard work’s going to pay off. It paid off today, and that’s what we’re here for, to get those wins.”
Herbert threw for 260 yards and two touchdowns for the Chargers (4-6). Allen caught 10 passes for 116 yards and one touchdown, but he had a drop at the 1 before the Chargers’ first field goal and a drop at the goal line before the Chargers’ second field goal.
The Packers and Chargers were tied at 10 at halftime.
The on-the-field action over the first 30 minutes took a backseat to two significant injuries. Early, Chargers star pass rusher Joey Bosa limped off the field and was carted to the locker room with a foot injury. Later, Jones suffered a knee injury and was carted to the locker room with a towel over his head. When No. 3 back Emanuel Wilson suffered a shoulder injury on the same drive and also was carted to the locker room, the Packers were left with AJ Dillon as the only running back.
That could be a major issue looking ahead to Thursday’s Thanksgiving game at Detroit. Ellis Merriweather is on the practice squad. He replaced James Robinson, who replaced Patrick Taylor. Robinson is a free agent and Taylor is on the Patriots’ practice squad so would be available, too.
Reed was a one-man show on offense with four catches for 46 yards and a 32-yard touchdown run. That gave Green Bay a 7-3 lead. The Chargers quickly answered on Smartt’s 51-yard touchdown catch in which he broke Jonathan Owens’ feeble tackle attempt around the 30.
The Packers took a 16-13 lead with 4 seconds left in the third quarter on Watson’s 11-yard touchdown catch. The Chargers got to the 2 on their ensuing possession but Austin Ekeler slipped on the handoff, got up and was tackled by Kenny Clark, who forced a fumble that was recovered by Rashan Gary.
