EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — It wasn’t a great game. Heck, it wasn’t even a good game. But the most important part was the fact that the Packers got a much-needed win.
The Packers beat the Giants 27-20 at MetLife Stadium despite the drops on both sides of the ball, the leaky run defense and playing against banged up Giants receivers.
“It’s the NFL,” said Jordan Love, who threw for 174 yards, two touchdowns and a passer rating of 105.2.
The Packers offense dropped as many as seven balls. Romeo Doubs led the Packers with 53 yards receiving, but he also had a pair of drops. But it was Christian Watson who stepped up in a big way with four catches for 46 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The first touchdown was delivered from backup quarterback Malik Willis, who found Watson in the back of the end zone on third-and-goal at the Giants 1 late in the first quarter.
“Honestly, that was like backyard football,” said Watson, who was playing his fourth game of the season after coming back from a torn ACL. “I wasn’t really supposed to be in that spot, but I just saw a couple guys fly out, I went to dive down and get back to the corner. The corner is playing outside leverage, so I didn’t really have any space to go. I didn’t want to muddy up the window out there, so I kind of just stopped and Malik found me.”
The Packers signed Watson to a one-year $13.25 million extension in September, which will keep him in Green Bay through 2026. Watson made a 17-yard touchdown grab between two Giants defensive players with 4:02 left in the game to give the Packers the lead and the eventual winning margin. Watson is the best and most reliable pass catcher right now.
“It was a play that we had probably called four times that game just to try and get the right look for it,” Watson said. “We weren’t getting man on it the whole game, that was the first time we got man on it, so we got to the can, the man beater, just went on a slot-fade and Jordan just gave me a chance.”
The Packers were unable to get much of a running game going after Josh Jacobs sustained a knee injury in the first half. The longest running play of the day was a 17-yard run around the right end by wide receiver Bo Melton.
The Packers defense has been pretty consistent this year, but on Sunday, it was gashed on the ground. Tyrone Tracy Jr. rushed 19 times for 88 yards — the highest output of the season for the fifth round pick. And then there were the dropped passes. The defense dropped four potential interceptions.
“I get it’s nit-picky but it’s the little things that win games and against better teams and greater teams,” said Micah Parsons, who had six tackles, 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble. “If they’re going to give us an opportunity to get off the field, we got to take advantage of it.”
He’s right. The Packers have to be able to put teams away and put their stamp on a game.
But this game was a positive because the play-action, bootleg and presnap movement made a return to the offense. Things that were proven to work in the past, worked again on Sunday.
Was it perfect? By all means no. But it was a win and the Packers have to continue to improve as it moves on a collision course with the Lions on Thanksgiving.
CHRISTIAN WATSON ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!!
: FOX pic.twitter.com/neLjeU1zvJ
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) November 16, 2025