The tie and the early bye make it harder to appreciate, but the Green Bay Packers have the best record in the NFC at 5-1-1 after Sunday night’s emphatic 35-25 comeback win over the Steelers.
Jordan Love faced off against Aaron Rodgers for the first time in his career and came out on top. The current Packers quarterback thrived in the second half with help from his star tight end.
Here are my takeaways:
1. Jordan Love stole the spotlight from Aaron Rodgers
Of course, the buildup for this game was Rodgers going up against his old Packers, and it would have only been more so had this game been played at Lambeau Field. A halftime lead for Pittsburgh enabled that storyline to remain prevalent much of the way, but the second half belonged to Love and Green Bay, pulling away from the Steelers.
Down 16-7 at the half, the Packers outscored Pittsburgh 28-3 until a meaningless Rodgers touchdown late in the game. At one point, Love threw 20 consecutive completions, the longest streak for a Packers quarterback since Brett Favre did so in 2007.
Love went 29-for-37 for 360 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. It’s his best game of the season – he went for 337 and three scores in the 40-40 tie with the Cowboys, but this trumps that in a victory.
Sunday night was the kind of dominant showing that should put Love back in the MVP conversation. He has 13 touchdowns to only two interceptions, putting him on pace to throw for 32 TDs, which would match his career best, while throwing only five picks.
Rodgers wasn’t bad at all – 24-for-36 for 219 yards and two touchdowns, with no turnovers – but his second half was more as a spectator, unable to answer each touchdown the Packers would come up with.
2. Pittsburgh’s defense keeps letting down late
The Steelers went into Sunday night’s game giving up 10.2 points per game in the fourth quarter – the fifth-most of any team – and somehow got worse. Green Bay managed 21 points in the final period, so that raises their fourth-quarter average to 11.7, which will likely remain the worst in the league.
A week ago, Rodgers threw two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter for a late lead against Cincinnati, only to see the Pittsburgh defense give up a field goal with seven seconds left. Well, Green Bay’s second-half drives Sunday night? Touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, field goal, field goal.
Rodgers is doing his part – 16 touchdowns against five interceptions – but Pittsburgh is just 4-3 because its defense gives up the second-most passing yards in the league, and fifth-most overall.
If you’re the Steelers, do you make a trade to try to shore up that side of the ball? The window with Rodgers is a limited one, and the AFC North is very much up for grabs.
3. Tucker Kraft continues to emerge as Green Bay’s best pass threat
Tucker Kraft is still only 24 years old – for eight more days at least – but the third-year pro is enjoying a breakout season.
Kraft had seven touchdown catches last year, but after two more Sunday night, he already has six in the first seven games of the season. He never had a 100-yard game in his first two seasons, but he had 124 in a Week 2 win over Washington, and he reset that with seven catches for 143 in Sunday’s win against Pittsburgh.
Kraft leads the team in receptions and receiving yards, and the connection he’s found with Love is a big part of their offensive success.
4. Green Bay’s defense buckled down in the second half
Pittsburgh’s offense scored on four of five possessions in the first half, although Green Bay’s defense did well to hold the Steelers to three Chris Boswell field goals and only trailed 16-7 at halftime.
In the second half, Jeff Hafley’s defense clamped down. In the first five drives, while Green Bay’s offense took control of the game, holding Pittsburgh to just 47 yards on 18 plays with only two total first downs and a field goal to show for it.
The cameras focused on Micah Parsons, but it was Rashan Gary who had two sacks of Rodgers, giving him 5.5 sacks to match Parsons for the team lead. If the Packers can just start forcing turnovers – they have three takeaways in seven games, and only the Jets have fewer – they can be an elite defense that can help the Packers make an extended playoff run.
4 1/2. What’s next?
Green Bay’s 5-1-1 record has them a half-game up on Detroit (5-2) atop the NFC North standings, but what’s cool is five of Green Bay’s six division games take place in the final seven weeks of the season. The Packers beat the Lions in Week 1, so they have the early tiebreaker edge until they meet again on Thanksgiving in Detroit.
Three of their next four are at home – first an easy game against Carolina, but then against the defending champion Eagles. That’s a Monday night game on Nov. 10, a huge showdown that will impact the eventual seeding in the NFC and help decide whether the playoffs will go through Lambeau Field or send the Packers on the road in January.
Greg Auman is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He previously spent a decade covering the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.
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