Packers’ Two-Man Passing Game Is Elementary (My Dear Watson), Golden, Glorious

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers haven’t had a 1,000-yard receiver since the 2021 season. It’s the longest streak in the NFL.

That streak will be broken – into a million little, tiny bits – this year.

With the Packers getting ready to play the Tampa Buccaneers on Sunday, they are the only team with two players in the top 10 in the NFL in receiving yards. Christian Watson entered Week 4 ranked fourth with 284 receiving yards and Matthew Golden was ninth with 253 yards.

It’s a change that’s equal parts stunning and expected all at once.

This offseason, the Packers let Romeo Doubs go in free agency and traded Dontayvion Wicks. So, their bloated receiver corps was shrunk to only Watson, Golden and Jayden Reed as proven players. With Reed suffering a season-ending neck injury in Week 2, tight end Tucker Kraft off to a slow start following last year’s knee injury and no significant additions at either position, the expectation all along is that Watson and Golden would get more targets.

The numbers, though, are rather incredible.

Christian Watson, Matthew Golden on Historic Paces

In 2022, 2023 and 2025, the Packers didn’t have anyone touch 800 yards, let alone get to 1,000. In 2024, Reed led the way with 857 yards. So, it’s not just that the Packers were the only team without a 1,000-yard receiver the previous four seasons. They were the only team without a player who hit even 860 yards.

From 1978 through 2021 – the 43-year stretch spanning Hall of Famer James Lofton’s rookie season to the final season in Green Bay for future Hall of Famer Davante Adams – the Packers had only four seasons without an 860-yard receiver (not counting the 1982 strike season).

The 17-game projections are absurd – even in light of our absurd preseason projection for Watson.

Watson’s on a pace for 96 receptions for 1,609 yards and 23 touchdowns. That season would be practically unprecedented in NFL history. When Randy Moss set the single-season record with 23 receiving touchdowns with the Patriots in 2007, he caught 98 passes for 1,493 yards in a 16-game season.

Moss and Jerry Rice, who caught a mind-boggling 22 touchdowns in 1987 despite a work stoppage that limited teams to 12 games, are the only players with more than 18 touchdown catches in a season.

Even throttling back the projection to 90 receptions for 1,500 yards and 15 touchdowns, that statistical season has been accomplished only seven times in NFL history. Moving the bar to 16 touchdowns cuts the field to only four players.

The Packers records for receiving yards and receiving touchdowns are held by Davante Adams, who had 1,553 yards in 2021 and 18 touchdowns in 2020.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Matthew Golden runs after the catch against Atlanta Falcons cornerback Billy Bowman Jr. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Golden’s on pace for 85 receptions for 1,444 yards and six touchdowns. Only Adams (1,553 yards in 2021), Jordy Nelson (1,519 yards in 2014), Robert Brooks (1,497 yards in 1995) and Sterling Sharpe (1,461 yards in 1992) finished the season with more yards than Golden’s early-season pace.

The only receiver duos in NFL history to hit 1,400 yards in a season were Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders for the Broncos in 2014, Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin for the Cardinals in 2005, Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt or the Rams in 2000 and Herman Moore and Brett Perriman for the Lions in 1995.

The Packers have had a receiver tandem each hit 1,100 yards just once – Nelson and Randall Cobb in 2014.

“I think he’s been playing really good football,” coach Matt LaFleur said of Golden. “He does a great job separating. The thing that we challenged him on I would say a year ago is just making sure the physicality is there, both in the run and the passing game, fighting for extra yards, and I think he’s done that.”

More on the Way?

Combined, Watson and Golden have caught 32 passes for 537 yards. They are tied for fourth in combined receptions, and only the Saints’ Chris Olave and Juwan Johnson have more yards (548).

Can they do it alone? Especially without Reed?

“I think every game’s going to be a little bit different,” LaFleur said. “I know you guys aren’t accustomed to seeing that in a while, but I feel like we’ve got a lot of weapons. We’ve got to get our tight ends and backs involved. That’s probably one area we need to amp up a little bit. And then we’ve got other receivers we feel really good about.”

The other receivers on the roster are Skyy Moore, Bo Melton and J. Michael Sturdivant. Savion Williams is on injured reserve; he was wearing a helmet and catching passes from a JUGS machine at the start of Friday’s practice.

Moore was drafted in 2022 and has 53 career receptions, including 10 since the start of the 2024 season. Bo Melton was drafted in 2022 and has 29 career receptions, including 13 since the start of the 2024 season. Sturdivant is an undrafted rookie. Williams caught 10 passes as a rookie last year.

Those three were mentioned by LaFleur as slot replacements for Reed, though their histories suggest there’s no reason to believe they will be consistent factors.

Green Bay Packers receiver Christian Watson (9) celebrates with fans after a touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

“The confidence is still high,” Watson said. “We have guys that were able to sit behind J-Reed and watch everything that he was doing and learn from him. And, obviously, we're always learning from each other all the time. So, I think that we’ve got the right guys to step up and try to fill his shoes as best as possible.”

The player the Packers must get going, obviously, is Tucker Kraft, who has nine catches for 106 yards to start the season. He had more yards in two games last season than he has in his comeback season.

There was an old TV show called Eight Is Enough. For an NFL passing attack, eight is too many. Three could work, though; it did in 2014, when Nelson (98 catches, 1,519 yards and 13 touchdowns), Cobb (91 catches, 1,297 yards and 12 touchdowns) and rookie-year Adams (42 catches, 427 yards and four touchdowns) led the team to the brink of the Super Bowl.

The incredible early-season production by Watson and Golden could be just that – early-season production skewed by the team’s inability to run the football and the deficits it’s had to overcome.

On the other hand, the additions of guards Laken Tomlinson and Kevin Zeitler should fix what had been by far the biggest weakness. They will help the run game, meaning more big-play chances in the play-action game, and give Jordan Love more time to throw the ball downfield.

Combined with Reed’s season-ending injury, there could be even more opportunities for Watson and Golden to add to their incredible production. Given the short list of perimeter playmakers, the season might go only as far as Watson and Golden can take it.

Will three practices be enough for Kevin Zeitler to start for the Packers on Sunday?

Here's what he said after practice today. ⬇️https://t.co/FMq8QvBIhP
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) October 2, 2026

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