Packer Central

Giant Sigh of Relief: Jordan Love’s TD, Evan Williams’ INT Rescue Packers

Jordan Love threw a late touchdown pass to Christian Watson and Evan Williams had a critical interception as the Green Bay Packers outlasted the New York Giants.
Bill Huber|
Green Bay Packers tight end Josh Whyle (81) celebrates after catching a touchdown pass against the Giants.
Green Bay Packers tight end Josh Whyle (81) celebrates after catching a touchdown pass against the Giants. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

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Green Bay Packers

A win’s a win, especially after back-to-back losses.

The Green Bay Packers, after a pair of ugly losses to the Panthers and Eagles, didn’t earn any style points but they scored enough points to beat the New York Giants 27-20 on a blustery Sunday at MetLife Stadium.

“Obviously, just extremely happy with a win,” coach Matt LaFleur said after the game. “We definitely didn’t make it easy on ourselves, but bottom line is we overcame a lot of adversity and found a way, and that’s sometimes what it takes in this league. So, we’ll celebrate it tonight and then move onto the Vikings tomorrow.”

Jordan Love, who missed part of the first half with an injured left shoulder, threw a sensational touchdown pass to Christian Watson with about 4 minutes remaining.

With the Giants in the red zone, Evan Williams made a leaping interception on third-and-6 with 36 seconds to go.

Green Bay couldn’t run out the clock, but Daniel Whelan blasted a 61-yard punt and Micah Parsons had a sack/strip on the final play.

Green Bay improved to 6-3-1. It will host the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, play at the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving and host the Chicago Bears the following week.

The Giants, in interim coach Mike Kafka’s debut, lost their fifth in a row and are 2-9. They hogged the ball for almost 36 minutes and bludgeoned the Packers with 142 rushing yards.

Love went 13-of-24 passing for 174 yards and two touchdowns. Backup quarterback Malik Willis also threw a touchdown pass for the Packers, who played without Josh Jacobs for most of the final three quarters after he suffered a knee injury.

The Packers trailed 20-19 with 7:22 after the Giants’ methodical, go-ahead touchdown. On third-and-10 from near midfield, Love had nobody open but plenty of time. He bounced in the pocket. He directed traffic. Finally, with pressure coming, he lofted one up to rookie Savion Williams, who made the biggest play of his young career for a gain of 32 to the 20.

A moment later, on second down from the 17, Love went deep to Watson, who made a leaping catch over cornerback Korie Black and safety Dane Belton in the back corner of the end zone. The two-point pass to Emanuel Wilson made it 27-20 with 4:02 to go.

So it was up to Green Bay’s defense, which had been pushed around by the Giants’ depleted offense for most of the game. On third-and-5, Jameis Winston threw a perfect pass to the sideline to tight end Theo Johnson for 11. Next, Tyrone Tracy ran for 17 yards. He broke three tackles before dragging half the Green Bay roster.

At the 2-minute warning, it was third-and-3 from Green Bay’s 32. Devin Singletary plowed ahead for 7 and the first down. Finally, on a day of missed opportunities, Green Bay’s defense made a play.

On third-and-6, Winston went to the end zone to receiver to Jalin Hyatt. The ball was off-target and Williams made a leaping grab interception with 36 seconds to go.

Green Bay took a 19-13 lead to open the second half. Back in the lineup after missing last week’s game with a shoulder injury, Matthew Golden got a step on safety Dane Belton. The result was a 35-yard penalty for interference, giving the Packers a first-and-goal at the 3, but Golden left after apparently aggravating the injury.

One play later, Love threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Josh Whyle.  

The Giants then embarked on a tedious drive that lasted almost 10 minutes. They converted a pair of fourth downs. Finally, on fourth-and-3 from the 10, the Packers made the play they’d been waiting for all game. Micah Parsons raced around the corner for immediate pressure. The rest of Green Bay’s five-man rush kept Winston contained long enough for Parsons and Isaiah McDuffie to get a critical sack.

The offense was of no help, though, with a three-and-out that not only failed to make it a two-score game but prevented the defense from getting a breather.

So, after a 16-play drive stalled, the Giants went 85 yards in 15 plays in 8 minutes for the go-ahead touchdown and extra point. They gained 20 on a well-timed screen against a blitz on 13 yards on a third-and-5 pass to receiver Isaiah Hodgins. It was Hodgins’ fifth catch of the day; he had zero catches this season. Finally, Winston snuck for the touchdown, putting the screws on the Packers to answer with 7:22 remaining.

The game was tied 13-13 at halftime with Love and Jacobs missing time and Lucas Havrisik missing an extra point.

Love was 6-of-13 passing for 75 yards, which seems bad, but he was victimized by five drops.

The Giants are in contention for the first pick of the 2026 NFL Draft. Two plays encapsulated a disappointing first-half performance.

With Green Bay leading 13-7 in the second quarter, Winston ran for 10 yards on a third-and-1 quarterback sneak. That’s not a typo. Ten yards, not 1. That set up the Giants for a touchdown.

The Packers had a chance to take the lead before halftime. On second down from their 40, Sean Rhyan’s snap was low, to the left and on the turf. Love managed to pick it up and fire a pass to Luke Musgrave, for what would have been a short gain. Instead, Musgrave dropped the ball. Really, it looked like a catch and unforced fumble.

Green Bay’s rushing offense got rolling against arguably the worst run defense in the league with 16 carries for 106 yards in the first half. Willis had 16 on third-and-8 moments after Love was hit on the left shoulder by linebacker Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles.

One play after Jacobs was injured, Willis threw a bootleg touchdown pass to Watson on third-and-goal. Willis was clobbered by Brian Burns but the throw was as good as Watson’s hands on a contested catch against Deonte Banks.

Wilson put the Packers on top 13-7 in the second quarter. Romeo Doubs dropped a pass early in the series but had two big catches on the way to the end zone and a key block on Wilson’s score.

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.