Packers PFF grades: Best, worst players from Week 12 vs. Lions
Rashan Gary 52 of the Green Bay Packers forces a fumble against Jared Goff #16 of the Detroit Lions during the fourth quarter of the game at Ford Field on November 23, 2023 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Mike Mulholland/Getty Images)
Dominant performances from quarterback Jordan Love and edge rusher Rashan Gary led the Green Bay Packers to a potentially season-changing win over the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day. Love threw three touchdown passes and Gary delivered three sacks and two forced fumbles.
Based on grades from Pro Football Focus, here are the best and worst players from the Packers’ 29-22 win over the Lions:
1. WR Malik Heath: 94.5
2. WR Christian Watson: 87.7
3. QB Jordan Love: 86.6
4. WR Jayden Reed: 73.9
5. LT Yosh Nijman: 70.
Heath caught all four of his targets and made three contested catches despite running only five (!) routes. He averaged over nine yards per route run. Watson made three contested catches and averaged over three yards per route run. Love dominated off play-action and from clean pockets, made two big-time throws and didn’t have a turnover-worthy play. Reed created three first downs or touchdowns and finished with 50 total yards and a score on six touches. Nijman gave up two pressures but was the team’s highest-graded offensive lineman in the run game.
1. OLB Rashan Gary: 91.9
2. DL Karl Brooks: 91.5
3. S Jonathan Owens: 71.3
4. OLB Kingsley Enagbare: 71.2
5. DL Kenny Clark: 71.
Gary produced four pressures (three sacks), two forced fumbles and four stops over 43 snaps. Brooks had five pressures, one stop and one forced fumble over 31 snaps. Owens played all 84 defensive snaps, producing 12 total tackles with just one miss, a team-high five stops and a defensive touchdown. Enagbare delivered a team-high three quarterback hits and finished with four pressures and two stops. Clark had a team-high eight pressures, including seven hurries. He has 14 pressures the last two weeks.
1. RG Jon Runyan Jr.: 46.7
2. RB Patrick Taylor; 52.7
3. TE Tucker Kraft: 54.6
4. LG Elgton Jenkins: 57.3
5. WR Romeo Doubs: 57.
Runyan gave up an immediate pressure, was penalized for a false start and received poor grades in the run game. Taylor gave up two pressures, including a hit, as a pass protector. Kraft caught a touchdown pass but finished with only 15 receiving yards on 29 routes run. Jenkins allowed two pressures and got dinged for a holding penalty. Doubs made a tough contested catch but also had a terrible drop on third down and finished with only 37 receiving yards on 29 routes run.
1. CB Corey Ballentine: 42.7
2. S Anthony Johnson Jr.: 42.8
3. DL T.J. Slaton: 43.7
4. LB Isaiah McDuffie: 52.0
5. LB Quay Walker: 55.
Ballentine missed three tackles and gave up nine catches for 171 receiving yards. Jared Goff had a 149.1 passer rating when targeting him. Johnson missed four tackles. Slaton had one run stop but also a missed tackle. McDuffie had two stops but also a missed tackle, a penalty and two completions allowed into his coverage. Walker broke up a pass and delivered two stops but also had a bad pass interference penalty.
Eric Wilson played a team-high 15 snaps on special teams and had a tackle. Benny Sapp III, Patrick Taylor and Kristian Welch also had tackles. The special teams didn’t have a penalty, and Welch had the only missed tackle. Daniel Whelan put all four of his punts inside the 20-yard line. Anders Carlson missed an extra point and a 63-yarder.
Jordan Love: 86.
Love’s adjusted completion percentage from clean pockets was 88.9. Good quarterbacks must dominate in the best throwing circumstances and Love did vs. Detroit. He had two big-time throws and connected on 8-of-12 passes thrown over 10 yards in the air. Off play-action, Love averaged 11.5 yards per attempt. To the intermediate middle part of the field, Love was 5-for-5 for 73 yards. His passing grade was the highest of the season.
The Packers defense produced a remarkable 33 pressures, and Jared Goff was under pressure on 52 percent of his dropbacks. All three of Goff’s turnover-worthy plays came under pressure. Eight different players had multiple pressures, and five had four or more. The Packers finished with three sacks, nine quarterback hits and 21 hurries. This was a dominant effort up front against the pass.
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