For once, the Green Bay Packers were not the ones who frittered away a fourth-quarter lead. While it was anything but pretty, the Green and Gold escaped MetLife Stadium with a 20-17 overtime victory over the New York Jets, overcoming the rain, injuries, and their own abundant mistakes for their first win of the season.
Matt LaFleur's offense was not the star of the show. Best to give Packers fans some time before soliciting their thoughts on Sunday's playcalling.
In an unfamiliar game script, it was special teams and the defense that saved the day. Defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon and his crew produced the majority of the winners in this one, balancing out the opposing forces that had the Packers staring down the jaws of defeat.
The Packers' winners from Week 2: Lukas Van Ness leads the way
Edge rusher Lukas Van Ness
Was this the Van Ness breakout game? Not even his eye-popping box score does him justice: 10 tackles, 1.5 sacks, three TFLs, and four quarterback hits. Not shown is Van Ness breaking constantly into the backfield, creating pressures to force quick or errant throws, funneling ball carriers to the arms of teammates.
Fittingly, it was Van Ness who blew up the Jets' 4th-and-1 attempt from midfield with 1:20 to go in regulation, wrapping up running back Braelon Allen for no gain.
A first down there and New York likely wins the game. Van Ness had his name called again in overtime, initiating the second of back-to-back sacks that produced a Jets three-and-out and gave Green Bay the ball for a game-winning drive. LVN for MVP.
Defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon
Gannon and his defense kept the Packers in the game while the offense sputtered. Despite the expectation coming in that the Jets would do their damage on the ground, Green Bay's defensive front held them to just 67 rushing yards on 27 carries. The dynamic Breece Hall averaged under two yards per carry.
Gannon schemed up a strong line of scrimmage while, for the most part, limiting Jets quarterback Geno Smith to short completions in front of the sticks.
Smith made it work for a while, thanks in part to sloppy Packers penalties filling in for chunk plays, but once Gannon's pass rush began getting home, the Jets' offense ground to a halt.
Gannon kept Smith guessing by showing an all-out blitz only to drop everyone back, and at other times following through on stunts or by bringing extra rushers from the defensive backfield. Linebacker Edgerrin Cooper and defensive backs Evan Williams and Brandon Cisse all registered at least one quarterback hit.
Safety Evan Williams
Speaking of which, Williams had his own monster game. The team co-leader in tackles alongside Van Ness, Williams flew 40 yards across the field to record a crucial pass breakup late in the game after Keisean Nixon got beat. A long completion may well have been a backbreaker.
Williams made sure it didn't happen. His second PBU of the day, it was the highlight of another game furthering his status as an emerging star in the Packers secondary.
Receiver/kick returner Skyy Moore
Moore set up the Packers for a game-tying field goal with a 63-yard punt return late in the fourth quarter. Those three points are all to Moore's credit. Despite starting from New York's 19-yard line, the offense scuffled into another three-and-out and had to send in Trey Smack instead of punching it in for the lead.
A direct hand in potentially game-saving plays is a common thread among the winners thus far.
That wasn't Moore's only moment. He churned out 29 yards on three other punt returns and rattled off a 43-yard runback on a kickoff. So this is what having a real return specialist feels like.
Running back Kaleb Johnson
More modestly, Johnson had a solid offensive debut. Rushing for 32 yards on eight carries, Johnson gave the Packers a dose of the powerful foot-in-the-ground running they needed on the hard, wet MetLife turf.
It wasn't an aesthetic masterpiece (and he did commit a fumble), but he was more effective than MarShawn Lloyd or Chris Brooks. Johnson's 12-yard run was the longest of the day. After being limited to kick return duties in Week 1, he's earned a larger role moving forward.
The Packers' losers from Week 2: Matt LaFleur's playcalling caps it off
Packers' ball security
The Jets fumbled three times themselves, but the ball was apparently more slippery in Packers hands. Of the five different fumbles committed by five different players, Green Bay was fortunate to lose only one. Credit the defense for allowing just a field goal on the other, which the Jets recovered at the Packers' 18.
Green Bay has now lost the turnover battle in each of its first two games.
Team discipline
A week after committing 12 penalties for 98 yards, the Packers turned around and drew 14 for 133. That doesn't include the three the Jets declined.
The difference this time is that most of those flags were well-deserved. Two of the most notable: a painful 15-yard taunting penalty on Javon Bullard that negated a third-down stop - why, why would you do that, JB? - and a 34-yard pass interference call on Keisean Nixon that set up the Jets' first touchdown drive.
The sloppiness continued for most of the game, and it's something they have to bottle up on both sides of the ball.
Cornerback Keisean Nixon
After being featured among the Week 1 winners, Nixon turned in a clunker of an encore. It wasn't just the pass interference. The Jets targeted him all game. Right after Nixon's costly penalty, he gave up a first down on a 3rd-and-9 throw that turned a field-goal attempt into a 1st-and-goal from the five.
Jets star Garrett Wilson outmaneuvered him all game. In short, Nixon looked far from the CB1 he envisions himself to be. Not to pick on him - the Jets did plenty of that already - but a performance like that just won't cut it.
The Packers' offensive-line health
Bad injury luck struck early, with receiver Jayden Reed being stretchered off the field, and the Packers suffered multiple casualties on the offensive line. Right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele exited shortly after Reed with a serious leg injury, which LaFleur said post-game has season-ending potential.
Aaron Banks, who was questionable throughout the week, injured his toe. His replacement, Donovan Jennings, left with a hand injury.
We'll have to wait for an update on Banks, but it sounds like the Packers will be without Bako-Bewele for the foreseeable future. Get ready to watch more Jacob Monk with a side of Anthony Belton at tackle.
On the bright side, if there is one, Packers fans may get to see rookie Jager Burton make his debut as a starter. Obviously, depth could become a pressing issue, especially if Jennings isn't healthy, either.
Matt LaFleur's playcalling
If Gannon sits on one end of the Packers fan satisfaction spectrum, LaFleur is in timeout on the other. While influenced by the weather and a shaky offensive line, his playcalling against the Jets remained frustratingly bland despite its lack of success.
Johnson provided a boost, but overall the Packers failed to get much on the ground. Why keep calling first-down runs when the Jets had no problem stuffing them?
Sidenote: Tucker Kraft exists. Get him the ball.
The sequence following Moore's big return captured fans' agony in a nutshell: a pair of Chris Brooks runs, followed by…wait, hold on. No Packers series should start with a pair of Chris Brooks runs, let alone a situation with the game in the balance. If you're going to hand it off, give it to Lloyd or Johnson, the better ball carriers.
Anyway, Brooks gained four yards on first down and was stuffed for a loss after that, setting up an incompletion to Christian Watson and Smack's field goal.
Also excruciating: watching the Packers squander a gift-wrapped opportunity after getting the ball at midfield with 80 seconds to go and timeouts in hand. Doesn't feel like the best time for a deep shot on 2nd-and-10, but maybe that's more on Jordan Love than LaFleur.
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