The good, bad and ugly of the Packers’ 24-19 win over the Rams in Week 5

The Green Bay Packers pulled off perhaps one of the best plays of the year and also one of the worst plays of the NFL season so far in Sunday’s 24-19 win over the Los Angeles Rams.

Jordan Love’s incredibly deep ball to Jayden Reed got the Packers rolling early, but his pick-six – on a truly wild play – put Matt LaFleur’s team in a hole in the first half. It took the outstanding efforts of several teammates to help the Packers clean up the mess and escape Los Angeles with a much-needed road win.

Here’s the good, the bad and the ugly about the Packers’ win over the Rams:

The good

Tucker Kraft and Xavier McKinney: Two players helped turn the game around for the Packers in the second half. Two takeaways from McKinney — a fumble recovery and an interception — turned into two power touchdown catches, giving the Packers a crucial 24-13 lead at the end. How good was McKinney at taking the ball away? Not only does he have an interception in five straight games, but his six total takeaways are equal to or greater than those of 21 NFL teams through five weeks. Kraft has 10 catches, 141 yards and three touchdowns in the last two games.

Tucker Kraft & Xavier McKinney. 😵‍💫

– j.reed11💂🏾 (@JaydenReed5) October 7, 2024

Jayden Reed’s catch: There’s a good chance this will be Green Bay’s catch of the year. Maybe the litter of the year. Jordan Love’s deep throw – which flew more than 60 yards in the air – landed directly in the hands of Reed, who was standing between three defenders. The 53-yarder set up Josh Jacobs’ short touchdown run.

JORDAN LOVE. JAYDEN REED.

📺: #GBvsLAR on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/gCdw5h1Ma1

– NFL (@NFL) October 6, 2024

The evil

Packers run defense: The Rams averaged 4.8 yards per rush and Kyren Williams managed over 100 rushing yards. The Packers have now allowed a 100-yard rusher in three of five games in 2024. To be fair, Jeff Hafley’s group faced a gauntlet of running backs including Saquon Barkley, Jonathan Taylor, Aaron Jones and now Williams. The Packers looked out of shape at the top, especially at the start. The Rams beat them with perimeter runs and Williams constantly fought for tough yards between the tackles. The Packers face James Conner, Joe Mixon, Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery in the next three games. Can the run defense find answers?

The ugly

This sequence: It will be hard to top this for the worst game of the Packers season. Blown protection, almost certain, pick-six. This is the definition of ugly from Jordan Love and the Packers.

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/184304151887530