Green Bay Shakes the NFC With Stunning Jordan Love Injury Update After the Bears Hit That Sparked Outrage.QQ
It’s a windy Saturday night in Chicago, ideal conditions for the meeting of two of the NFL’s most historic franchises on a rare weekend in which the meeting of the two century-old rivals actually means something. The Packers are playing the Bears with first place in the NFC North on the line and, in a worst-case scenario situation for Green Bay, quarterback Jordan Love was knocked out of a very tense game with just over eight minutes to play in the second quarter.
The play was called for unsportsmanlike conduct on the Bears defender who hit Love, Austin Booker. But it drew outrage from Bears fans who noted that it was Love who dropped his head into Booker, who did not appear to be targeting Love. Either way, the penalty stood.
Love, according to the team, was evaluated for a concussion and ruled out. He was replaced in the game by backup Malik Willis, who started two games for the Packers in 2024 while Love was out with a knee injury, and won both of those starts.
Willis, primarily an option/running quarterback, led the Packers on a field-goal drive after Love was injured and helped the team take a 6-0 halftime lead.
GAME UPDATE: The Packers steadily built upon the lead until the final moments of the game, when they allowed a field goal just before the two-minute warning to cut their lead to 16-9, then lost an onside kick. The Bears scored a game-tying touchdown on a fourth-down play, and won the game in overtime, 22-16.
Packers’ Matt LaFleur Has Confidence in Jordan Love Backup
Before the disastrous ending for the Packers, the team did what it always seemed to do when Willis has taken control in the past: Take chunk yardage off his run-pass options and exploit defenses that focus too much on Willis’ running ability, forgetting he can throw the ball, too.
Willis was 9-for-11 passing vs. the Bears for 121 yards and a beautifully thrown 33-yard touchdown to Romeo Doubs late in the third quarter. He ran for 44 yards on 10 carries.
Coach Matt LaFleur has consistently projected confidence in Willis in the two years he’s been a Packers backup. On the Fox Sports broadcast, sideline reporter Erin Andrews said that LaFleur did not find much of a challenge in going to Willis, because of the level of familiarity the team has with him.
“I spoke with Matt LaFleur and he said he is comfortable with the majority of what we have,” Andrews said. “The guy has been here for almost two years, he has got a good grasp on our playbook, you saw that drive right there–he did a good job. The biggest thing for us, much last week against Denver, we need to finish in the red zone.”
Indeed, the Packers had three trips in the red zone in the first half and came away with two field goals and a turnover on downs.
Packers Collapsed in Final 2 Minutes
The positive play from Willis seemed to set the Packers up with a particularly impressive win, especially as they led, 16-6 late in the fourth quarter. With just under three minutes to go in the game, the packers had a 97% chance of winning, according to ESPN’s probability measurements.
But the field goal from Cairo Santos cut the deficit to one score, and on the ensuing onsides kick, Doubs botched the low, rolling squib and the Bears recovered at their own 47. Five plays later, they were down to the Packers’ 6-yard line. After holding the Bears to a fourth-and-4, with the game on the line, Green Bay’s defense let Jahdae Walker free in the corner of the end zone and he caught the tying score from Caleb Williams.
A 46-yard pass from Williams to DJ Moore won it in overtime.
Malik Willis Was ‘Impressive’ in 2024
Willis was 40-for-54 passing last season, a 74.1% completion rate, in seven total appearances. He threw for 550 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.
Willis ran for 138 yards on 20 attempts with another touchdown last season.
One of his better efforts in 2024 came in leading a game-winning late drive in a 30-27 win against Jacksonville after Love suffered a groin injury and had to be removed from the game in the third quarter. Willis hit Jayden Reed with a 51-yard catch-and-run that set up the winning field goal with just over a minute to play.
LaFleur said of Willis’ work then: “It’s been pretty damn impressive, Impressive is the word.”
