Jordan Love faces a greater burden to carry the Green Bay Packers’ offense as long as they’re unable to run the ball consistently.
asserted
they → face → ball
Christian Watson and Matthew Golden have made Love’s challenge a bit easier by developing into one of the NFL’s top receiving tandems.
asserted
challenge → make → tandems
In Green Bay’s 31-7 blowout of the Chicago Bears on Sunday, Love joined Aaron Rodgers as the only Packers players ever to throw for 350-plus yards and multiple touchdowns with no interceptions in a game while completing at least 80% of their passes.
asserted
Love → join → passes
Watson had six catches for 143 yards and two touchdowns, while Golden caught six passes for 123 yards.
asserted
Golden → have → yards
They have stepped up their play now that fellow receiver Jayden Reed is out for the season with a neck injury.
asserted
Reed → step → injury
“We talked about it a little bit last week, how good the offense can be,” Love said after Sunday’s game.
asserted
Love → talk → game
“It just shows right there.
asserted
It → show → ?
Watson is the first NFL player since Jerry Rice in 1986 to have at least 25 catches and six touchdown receptions while averaging 18 yards per catch through the first five games of a season.
asserted
Watson → have → season
His 474 yards receiving rank fifth in the NFL, and Golden is eighth with 397.
asserted
Golden → rank → 397
Watson’s six touchdown catches put him second in the league, behind Seattle’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
asserted
catches → put → Njigba
“There’s a lot of individual goals I want to achieve, but I’ve got to keep on doing what I’m doing if we want to have success as a team,” Watson said.
asserted
Watson → ’ → team
“Obviously they’re relying on me a lot, so I’ve got to keep on doing what I’m doing to obviously get the team the best chance to continue winning.”
asserted
team → rely → chance
Love ranks 14th in the NFL in passer rating after finishing sixth in that category last season, but he is heating up now that Green Bay’s injury-riddled offensive line is stabilizing.
asserted
line → rank → category
Sunday marked the first time the Packers used the same starting O-line in consecutive games.
asserted
Packers → mark → games
The Bears game marked Love’s third 300-yard performance of the season.
asserted
game → mark → season
He went 25 of 31 for 367 yards.
asserted
He → go → yards
That included touchdown passes to Watson of 42 and 53 yards.
asserted
That → include → yards
“Regardless of how good or bad things are going, he’s going to be the first guy to lift everybody’s head up,” Watson said.
asserted
Watson → go → head
“He’s going to be the first guy to pick you up when you’re down.
asserted
you → go → you
He just has an unwavering confidence in everybody around him.
asserted
He → have → him
That just instills confidence in us when we’re out there.”
What’s working
The Packers have produced eight takeaways over their last two games.
asserted
Packers → instill → games
They forced turnovers on four straight possessions during one second-half stretch Sunday.
asserted
They → force → stretch
They also didn’t commit a turnover.
asserted
They → commit → turnover
… Green Bay limited the Bears to 81 yards on 24 carries, well below their NFL-leading average of 196.3 yards rushing entering the game.
asserted
Bay → limit → game
The Packers produced six pass completions of more than 30 yards, including four of at least 42 yards.
asserted
Packers → produce → yards
… With Caleb Williams out because of a hamstring injury, the Packers sacked Bears QBs Tyson Bagent and Case Keenum twice each. ...
asserted
Packers → sack → Bagent
The Packers were penalized four times for 25 yards – both season lows – after entering this game with an NFL-high 86 penalty yards per game.
asserted
Packers → penalize → game
What needs work
The rushing attack remains a major concern.
asserted
attack → need → work
Green Bay gained 70 yards on 26 carries Sunday.
asserted
Bay → gain → carries
The Packers have an NFL-low 60.4 yards rushing per game.
asserted
Packers → have → game
They’re gaining 3.1 yards per carry for the league’s second-lowest average, ahead of Las Vegas.
asserted
They → gain → Vegas
Xavier McKinney had his fourth career two-interception game.
asserted
McKinney → have → game
… Devonte Wyatt recorded two sacks to match a career high.
asserted
Wyatt → record → high
… Since stats started getting measured as an official statistic in 1982, Dani Dennis-Sutton is the first Packers rookie to have a sack, multiple tackles for loss and a fumble recovery in the same game.
asserted
Sutton → start → game
… Daniel Whelan’s average of 55.3 yards per punt was the third-highest in team history for any game in which someone had at least four attempts.
asserted
someone → have → attempts
After going 6 of 7 on field-goal attempts with a 58-yarder and a 59-yarder in his first four games, Trey Smack had the worst performance of his rookie season Sunday.
asserted
Smack → go → season
He missed an extra-point attempt and went 1 of 3 on field goals.
asserted
He → miss → goals
Smack made a 35-yarder but missed from 43 and 47.
asserted
Smack → make → 43
DT Javon Hargrave was carted off the field with an Achilles tendon injury.
asserted
Hargrave → cart → injury
Hargrave joins Reed, offensive tackle Zach Bako-Bewele (knee) and linebacker Edgerrin Cooper (Achilles) as Packers players with season-ending injuries.
asserted
Hargrave → join → injuries
…and 6 more, not listed.
The Aporia
