The Good, Bad And Ugly From The Green Bay Packers' Win Over ...

Jordan Love threw three touchdowns and the Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs, 27-19, ... [+] Sunday night.

Who could have seen this coming?

Just five weeks ago, the Green Bay Packers were 2-5, had lost four straight games and were in the hunt for the first pick in the 2024 draft.

Today, the Packers are one of the hottest teams in the NFL.

On Sunday night, Green Bay slayed the incredible Patrick Mahomes and the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, 27-19. The Packers were precise, particular and physical in notching arguably the most impressive regular season win of the Matt LaFleur-era.

“A big win for us, I think for our guys, against just one of the premier teams in this league,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “Just can’t say enough about the guys in that locker room, the resiliency they showed, the willingness to come in every day with the same mindset, and that’s just trying to get a little bit better, truly taking it one game at a time.

“I was really happy with our performance tonight. It was far from flawless in certain areas, but I think we absolutely did enough to win. Like I said, that’s a really good football team.”

Green Bay has now won four of five games, vaulted itself to 6-6 and are tied for the No. 6 seed in the NFC with Seattle, Minnesota and the Los Angeles Rams.

“We just want to be in the dance, regardless of who we play or what seed we’d be,” Packers center Josh Myers said. “To think we were 2-5? Good lord. This just feels great. I’m really happy.”

This also marked the second straight year the Packers defeated the reigning Super Bowl champion at Lambeau Field. A year ago, Green Bay toppled the Los Angeles Rams, 24-12.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly from the Packers’ win over Kansas City.

JORDAN LOVE: Just more than two years ago, Love made his first career start at Kansas City, and saying it didn’t go well would be a dramatic understatement.

Love completed 19-of-34 passes for 190 yards and had a 69.5 passer rating in a 13-7 loss to the Chiefs.

Love has come light years since then, and he was terrific again Sunday night.

Love completed 25-of-36 passes for 267 yards with three touchdowns, no interceptions and posted a 118.6 passer rating.

“For me personally, obviously I’ve had this game circled for a long time,” Love said. “My first start, obviously didn’t play how I wanted to the first game. So to be able to see these guys again, and get the victory, is huge. It’s just a great team win tonight. Everybody just balled out so it was an awesome win.”

In the last five games, Love has completed 115 of 174 passes for 1,374 yards with 11 TDs and just two interceptions.

“He was great,” wideout Jayden Reed said of Love. “He surprises me every week, man. New things every week that I haven’t seen from him. He’s just showing me how great he is. Some of the throws he’s making, you guys are probably like, ‘Wow’ and I feel the same way. Man, he just keeps doing a great job being a leader and bringing us along with him.”

LATE SEASON SUCCESS: Since Matt LaFleur became the Packers’ head coach in 2019, Green Bay is a remarkable 19-2 in the regular season after the calendar flips to December. The Packers’ only losses in that time came against Detroit, which defeated Green Bay in the 2021 and 2022 regular season finales.

Green Bay has performed remarkably well in December and January regular season games dating back to 1992. In that time, the Packers are 102-40 after November, a stellar .718 winning percentage.

The Packers produced identical 22-7 records (.759) under both Mike Holmgren (1992-98) and Mike Sherman (2000-05), and a 39-18 mark (.684) under Mike McCarthy (2006-18).

Green Bay also went 2-2 under interim coach Joe Philbin in 2018 and was 2-3 under Ray Rhodes in 1999.

“Yeah, I mean, I think it’s just staying consistent, staying true to your process and really pushing to get better,” LaFleur said. “This is a long season and just trying to stay mentally fresh as best you can is an important part of that. but I think the consistency, showing up on a daily basis ready to work, ready to put in the work and wanting to improve is really the key to that.”

CHRISTIAN WATSON: Green Bay’s second-year wide receiver has 14 career touchdowns. Twelve of those have come in November, or later.

Watson had two TD’s Sunday — scores of 9 and 12 yards — giving him five this season. Four of those scores have come in the last three games.

A year ago, eight of Watson’s nine touchdowns came in the final eight games.

“I just think that the confidence and the trust we have as an offense as a whole has just been on the rise and we’ve been clicking and coming together,” Watson said. “We brought that energy to practice every single day — just go out there and make plays, treat every single rep whether it’s practice or a game like it’s the late, and I think it’s been showing.”

Unfortunately for the Packers, though, Watson suffered a hamstring injury late in the game.

“We’ll see. Just pulled up a little bit at the end there with my hamstring,” Watson said. “Obviously try to take care of that as quickly as I can.”

STARTING STRONG: The Packers had just 10 points on their opening drive in their first eight games. In the last four games, though, Green Bay has scored three touchdowns on its first drive.

The Packers marched 75 yards on 13 plays in 7:47 to open the game and take a 7-0 lead. Jordan Love hit rookie tight end Ben Sims with a 1-yard TD to end the drive.

Green Bay had a terrific mix of seven runs and six passes on the drive. The nearly 8-minute drive was the Packers’ longest of the season and Sims finished it with his first career touchdown.

“I have never been a part of a turnaround this drastic. Never,” Packers center Josh Myers said. “I wish I knew why, but I don’t know.”

SACK MEN: The Chiefs put together a pair of impressive first half drives. One was 13 plays and took 7:13, while the other was 14 plays and took 8:20.

Both drives ended in field goals, though.

On the first, Kenny Clark and Rashan Gary combined to sack Patrick Mahomes to end the march. On the second, Preston Smith dumped Mahomes to stop that drive.

“We’re just working together, crushing the pocket and we all get home at the same time,” Garyt said. “So that’s it – just us working together as a unit.”

Rookie defensive end Lucas Van Ness also had a first half sack, which helped Green Bay hold the Chiefs to a pair of field goals.

“I knew it was going to be a pass, so just did my best to time up the snap, got out and before I knew it I was around the corner and on the ground with Patrick,” Van Ness said. “Love to hear that Lambeau crowd get loud.”

THIS AND THAT: Anders Carlson hit a pair of field goals, including an enormous 48-yarder with 1:09 remaining. “A night like this can be tough,” Carlson said. “It’s one of those games you love playing and I’m just glad I did my part. That feels awesome.” … Keisean Nixon had a huge fourth quarter interception of Mahomes. “I’ve been trying to get one this whole year, and it should’ve been my third one,” Nixon said. “But we’ll take the first one … Mahomes.” … Patrick Taylor’s 24-yard run in the second quarter was the longest of his career. … Rudy Ford downed a punt at the 3-yard line with 9 seconds left in the first half.

LETTING THEM OFF THE HOOK: The Chiefs had a third-and-18 from their own 38 on their first drive of the second half. The Packers rushed just three, which allowed Mahomes more than enough time to pick apart Green Bay’s secondary.

Mahomes eventually found tight end Travis Kelce for 27 yards down to Green Bay’s 35. Five plays later, running back Isiah Pacheco scored from 1-yard out and pulled the Chiefs within 14-12.

Green Bay defensive coordinator Joe Barry had a chance to get after Mahomes and start the second half with a bang. Instead, Barry played it close to the vest and got burned.

NO ANSWERS: Patrick Mahomes is the reigning MVP and the greatest football player on the planet. So the Packers certainly aren't the first team that had few answers for Mahomes.

Still, Kansas City’s magnificent quarterback had an impressive night.

Mahomes completed 21-of-33 passes for 210 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Mahomes has had bigger and better nights, but he was still remarkably impressive.

“Just his play ability, from him being able to extend plays, get his playmakers the ball,” outside linebacker Rashan Gary said about the challenges of stopping Mahomes. “Without him, the offense don’t run as efficiently. So our job was to basically cause pressure, make sure we get him off the spot, just make things uncomfortable, and that’s what we did today.”

THIS AND THAT: Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander — who has played just five games this season — missed his fourth consecutive contest with a shoulder injury. … Running back Aaron Jones, who has just 66 carries this year due to a hamstring and knee injuries, missed his second straight game. … The Chiefs were remarkably effective on third downs, converting 7-of-11.

RUNNING ON EMPTY: The Packers entered the game ranked 27th in rushing yards allowed per game (135.2) and 23rd in yards allowed per carry (4.4).

Kansas City attacked the soft underbelly of Green Bay’s defense and ran for 138 yards on 24 carries .

Running back Isiah Pacheco had a terrific game with 18 carries for 110 yards and a TD.