Snaps, Studs, Duds and Defining Stats From Packers’ Destruction of Patriots

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Are the Green Bay Packers good enough to get to the Super Bowl?

The Packers answered that question in emphatic fashion on Sunday, crushing the defending AFC champion New England Patriots 45-27 on Sunday. Jordan Love made a statement. His receivers caught everything in sight. There was an honest-to-goodness running game. The defense produced four takeaways and the special teams bounced back.

Here is our weekly look at the snap counts, along with some studs and duds.

Packers Snap Counts on Offense

The Packers played 66 snaps on offense.

Quarterbacks: Jordan Love got to watch the final 9-plus minutes from the sideline. He played 58 snaps, with Tyrod Taylor running out the clock.

Love threw for 372 yards and three touchdowns even while not attempting a pass in the fourth quarter. He was great under pressure, he destroyed the blitz and he made one big-time throw after another. It was a virtuoso performance.

Running Backs: The Packers’ projected running back depth chart was Josh Jacobs, Chris Brooks and MarShawn Lloyd. For most of Sunday’s game, it was Kaleb Johnson and Pierre Strong. With Jacobs suffering a broken finger, Brooks on injured reserve and Lloyd inactive with a knee injury, Strong played 30 snaps, Johnson played 26 and Jacobs was limited to 10.

Johnson had been in the doghouse since fumbling at Tampa Bay. Because of circumstances, he’s probably out of it. Johnson carried the ball 14 times for 68 yards and one touchdown. We credited him with 60 yards after contact and two broken tackles. The Packers, barely averaging 60 rushing yards per game through Week 8, rumbled for 129.

Green Bay Packers running back Kaleb Johnson heped the team rush for 129 yards at New England. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Receivers: Christian Watson and Matthew Golden ran circles around one of the best cornerback tandems in the NFL. Watson played 51 snaps and Golden played 49. They combined to catch 17-of-18 targets for 335 yards with one touchdown apiece.

Savion Williams has become a key piece to the puzzle with 32 snaps. For all his work as a gadget guy, he is far more productive when he plays receiver and does receiver things. His 10-yard touchdown catch was superb work. Bo Melton and J. Michael Sturdivant played 15 snaps apiece. On special teams, Melton played 21 and returned a kickoff to midfield and added two tackles, and Sturdivant played 20.

Tight Ends: Tucker Kraft played 54 snaps. He contributed almost nothing statistically because Love was zeroed in on his receivers. Kraft converted two quarterback sneaks but both were nullified by false starts and then was stuffed when he tried to jump over the pile on the third.

Mark Redman played 24 snaps and had the big block on Kaleb Johnson’s touchdown run. Inactive last week, Jonnu Smith played 16. Drake Dabney was elevated from the practice squad and played six snaps on special teams.

Offensive Line: Right tackle Anthony Belton and center John Williams went the distance, and left tackle Jordan Morgan and right guard Laken Tomlinson played 58.

Left guard Aaron Banks missed some time in the first half and got to watch the end of the game on the sideline. So, he played 46 snaps. Kevin Zeitler finally got some action on offense and played 20 snaps as part of the shuffle following Banks’ injury and then in garbage time.

Morgan was tremendous; he’s really playing well as the blindside protector.

Packers Snap Counts on Defense

The Packers played 63 snaps on defense.

Defensive Tackles: The Packers’ defensive front will be as fresh as spring daisies for next week’s game against the Vikings. Rookie Chris McClellan played 33 snaps and Karl Brooks played 32, so barely more than half. Devonte Wyatt played 29 snaps, followed by Anthony Campbell with 25 and Jordon Riley with 20.

Brooks is having a really good season, even if the stats haven’t shown it, so it was good for him to have two sacks among his four pressures.

Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Karl Brooks (94) sacks New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Edges: Just like at defensive tackle, the scoreboard allowed defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon to level out the playing time even more than usual. Brenton Cox led the unit with 34 snaps. He was followed by Dani Dennis-Sutton with 32, Lukas Van Ness with 32 and Barryn Sorrell with 30. Sorrell also logged 25 snaps on special teams.

Cox and Dennis-Sutton shared a sack; Cox for the second consecutive week led the team in pressures with five, according to Next Gen Stats. The others had two apiece.

Linebackers: The Packers came out of training camp with a depth chart of Edgerrin Cooper and Zaire Franklin as the starters and Isaiah McDuffie and Ty’Ron Hopper as the linebackers. Yeah, those were the days. With Cooper on injured reserve and Franklin inactive again with an injured shin, Hopper started but dropped out after two snaps with a chest injury. Even McDuffie was shaken up at the end of the game.

So, the snaps wound up being McDuffie for 60, Nick Niemann for 59, Kristian Welch for three and Hopper for two.

McDuffie led the team with nine tackles, including one sack. Niemann had six tackles. He gave up a touchdown but broke up one pass and had some production as a blitzer.

Cornerbacks: Keisean Nixon and Brandon Cisse’s days were over after 51 snaps. Nixon got beat for a double-move touchdown, the first score he’s allowed this season. Cisse’s pass breakup turned into an interception. According to PFF, he was targeted four times and allowed one catch for 2 yards.

Carrington Valentine played 13 snaps, veteran Benjamin St-Juste – who had played only one snap all season – played 12 and Kamal Hadden played five in the slot. He dropped a pick-six late in the half. St-Juste is a good player; a cornerback-hungry team would be wise to ask the Packers about his availability.

Safeties: Do the Packers’ have the best tandem of safeties in the NFL? Probably. The better question is which of the safeties is better? Evan Williams played 61 snaps. He had one interception and added four pressures, according to PFF. Xavier McKinney played 51 snaps. He had two interceptions, tying him for first in the league with five.

Javon Bullard played 40 snaps in the slot and Kitan Oladapo played 14.

Packers Studs vs. Patriots

QB Jordan Love: Bombs away.

Jordan Love completed 6 of 8 deep passes (20+ air yards) for 235 yards and a touchdown in Week 9.

Love completed six deep passes for the second time this season. No other quarterback in the NFL has done so in any game.#GBvsNE | #GoPackGo pic.twitter.com/lMgscdboLl
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) November 9, 2026

WRs Christian Watson and Matthew Golden: They were the dominant forces. On passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield, they combined to catch 6-of-7 for 235 yards. Against premier cornerback Christian Gonzalez, the carnage was 11-of-12 for 192 yards and the two touchdowns, according to Pro Football Focus. With the Monday night game to be played, Watson is third in the league in receiving yards and Golden is fourth.

S Xavier McKinney: McKinney is tied for the NFL lead with five interceptions. Quarterbacks are foolish to throw it in his direction, especially when it’s not thrown at max velocity. He’s just too good to lob one up in his ZIP code.

S Evan Williams: Williams is tied for sixth in the league with three interceptions. He’s got 71 tackles, as well, making him the only player in the league with 60-plus tackles and more than one interception.

DT Karl Brooks: The Packers’ defensive tackles have been playing selfless team defense throughout the season, so the statistical production hasn’t matched their impact. At some point, though, players have to make plays. Brooks had two sacks.

CB Brandon Cisse: The reigning Defensive Rookie of the Month continued his sensational season. He was targeted four times, allowed 2 yards and produced one interception on the deflection that was picked off by Williams.

Packers Duds vs. Patriots

LG Aaron Banks: Jordan Love got sacked in the first half because Banks botched a stunt. PFF charged him with that sack and three pressures. The Packers need better from their $77 million lineman.

DT Devonte Wyatt: Wyatt signed a three-year, $54.9 million contract extension to keep him in Green Bay through the 2029 season. He shows up twice in the NFL’s statistical gamebook: He started and he played 29 snaps. He had no tackles, no sacks, no quarterback hits. PFF didn’t even credit him with a pressure.

With the way Jordan Love played in the Packers’ blowout of the Patriots – on the day he threw his 100th TD pass and with Tom Brady on the call – he perhaps for the first time in his career looked like a QB not just capable of winning a Super Bowl but ...https://t.co/2GoDnLfjs2
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) November 9, 2026

SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE DAILY PACKERS NEWSLETTER

Add us as a preferred source on Google