During Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur’s postgame press conference on Sunday, an alarm went off in the Nissan Stadium interview room and a flashing light pulsed against the Packers backdrop.
“They told me this city was going to burn if we came in here and won the game,” LaFleur said, “so I guess it is.”
In the judgment of the Tennessee Titans, Malik Willis wasn’t good enough to be their backup quarterback this season. But he was good enough to direct Green Bay to a 30-14 victory over the Titans in Nashville on Sunday.
Tennessee traded Willis to the Packers the day after their final preseason contest in August.
“I think all wins count the same,” Willis said, turning down the opportunity to I-told-you-so the Titans. “It doesn’t really, you know, too much, more or less. It was cool to see some of my old guys, but I don’t think it adds or devalues.”
In the lineup for a second straight game because of Jordan Love’s knee injury, Willis completed 13-of-19 passes for 202 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions and ran 6 times for a team-leading 73 yards and one touchdown.
Willis opened the scoring on Sunday with a 5-yard run to cap Green Bay’s first possession with 12:25 left in the first quarter, and he connected with running back Emanuel Wilson for a 30-yard touchdown pass as the Packers took a 27-7 lead with 8:25 left in the third quarter.
The Packers also won Willis’ first start 16-10 over the Indianapolis Colts on Sept. 15 after Love sustained a knee injury with six seconds remaining in Green Bay’s 34-29 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sept. 6.
“I just cannot articulate the job that he’s done in the short period of time,” LaFleur said. “People can’t fathom it, I promise you. You guys don’t get it. I know you think you got it, but you don’t get it. What he’s been able to do is, I’ve never seen something like this, so hats off to him, hats off to everybody around him.”
An Auburn alumnus, Willis joined Tennessee in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft, and he started three games as a rookie when Ryan Tannehill got hurt. He might have started more, but the Titans put waiver claim Joshua Dobbs in front of him late in the season.
Last season, second-round draft pick Will Levis overtook Willis on the depth chart and eventually reached the starting lineup, where he remained for Sunday’s game. Levis completed 26-of-34 passes for 260 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions and ran three times for 12 yards against the Packers.
Mason Rudolph backed up Levis. The Titans signed Rudolph in free agency, and the former Pittsburgh Steelers QB made Willis expendable to Tennessee.
“More than anything, I think it’s just a different opportunity,” Willis said. “I only got three starts here as a rookie, and like I said before, I just wasn’t ready at that point in time. And I’ve had a lot of time to just work hard and just grind every day in order to make use of my next opportunity, which I’ve been just trying to do these last two weeks. And I think more than anything you just try to continue to work hard and understand that you don’t know when the opportunity will come, but you have to be ready for it if you get it.”
After the Packers had 53 rushing attempts last week against the Colts, Willis opened Sunday’s game with a 30-yard completion to wide receiver Jayden Reed.
Willis also had a 30-yard completion to wide receiver Christian Watson on third-and-6 on the opening touchdown drive.
On Green Bay’s second possession, which netted a field goal, Willis had a 20-yard run on third-and-2 and an 8-yard run on third-and-7.
To get the Packers into position for a field goal on the final snap of the first half, Willis had an 18-yard completion to wide receiver Romeo Doubs on third-and-14 and a 37-yard completion to Watson on third-and-18.
“I can’t say enough about him,” LaFleur said of Willis. “Just the job that he’s done to be able to lead our offense and be productive. And he made some big-time plays throughout the course of the game. I think, obviously, some plays with his legs that were huge. Then also plays in the passing game. Some of those third-down-and-longs to make some of those completions down the field, obviously, on that first drive to hit Christian. And then there was a big one later on in the game, in the second quarter, where he hit Romeo over the middle. That was just a huge, huge play in the game.”
Willis credited the Green Bay defense with the victory. The Packers recorded eight sacks, and cornerback Jaire Alexander returned one of the interceptions 35 yards for a touchdown with 51 seconds left in the first quarter.
“Oh, my goodness, they went crazy,” Willis said. “That was amazing. Eight sacks, right? Oh, my goodness. That was super. I mean, they won the game for us. If we want to say that, them guys did great. Everybody deserved a game ball. I’ll pay any how much money out of my pocket to everybody, they keep doing that. I’ll add to their salaries. Oh, my goodness. Hey, that was amazing. But it was good to see. And those guys work hard all week, and you just love to see it come to fruition out there on the field.”
The Packers play the Minnesota Vikings in an NFC North game at noon CDT Sept. 29 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in their next game.
FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
