Packers quarterback Malik Willis hasn't backed down from challenge of keeping season alive
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Matt LaFleur wasn’t trying to toss his backup quarterback in the deep end and see if he’d sink or swim. On this third-and-6, the Green Bay Packers were on the fringe of field goal range. It was Sunday’s opening drive. They just needed points.
From the sideline, LaFleur called a quick route designed to merely get a first down. Some momentum. Keep the chains moving. But the Tennessee Titans’ coverage was taking away the quick route underneath. The sacrifice was leaving their downfield coverage vulnerable.
The Titans were essentially daring Malik Willis to throw deep.
Willis took the bait. He’s been fearless this past month, arriving in Green Bay with his career at a crossroads, the value of a meager seventh-round pick exchanged in a trade with the Titans, and he's showing there’s a lot more to him than anyone could have thought. Anyone except Willis. He hasn’t shrunk from this monumental challenge of keeping the Packers' season alive, nor the single coverage he saw Sunday against his fastest receiver.
“Honestly, before the play was even snapped,” Christian Watson said, “I knew it was going to be coming my way.”
Watson raced past Titans cornerback Roger McCreary, who at 5-foot-11 was giving up 5 inches against the big receiver. All Willis needed to do was offer up a chance. Easier said than done when throwing downfield on third down. Willis lofted his pass high, where it needed to be, letting Watson use his height to tower over the shorter cornerback. He finished the catch for 30 yards, propelling an opening touchdown drive in the Packers’ 30-14 win, as surprising a blowout as any in recent team history.
Malik Willis proves the Titans wrong
It might not have been the plan to test Willis so early, but what he did Sunday — what he’s done the past two weeks — might be the best example of how important a situation is for NFL quarterbacks. Four weeks ago, the Titans decided Willis was not talented enough to play for them. They traded him for a pick in a round filled with players who rarely dictate wins and losses as directly as Willis did Sunday.
As starter Jordan Love’s status hung in the balance, Willis made a point this week to say there was nothing personal about this potential matchup with his former team. He didn’t gloat from the podium inside Nissan Stadium afterward, either.
“I think all wins count the same,” Willis said. “It’s not really too much more or less.”
Except this win was different. Because not every team gets beaten by a quarterback it traded away only a few weeks earlier. And not every team can maximize a quarterback’s talent so quickly.
Willis returned Sunday to complete 13 of 19 passes for 202 yards, one touchdown and a 120.9 passer rating. He added 73 yards on six carries, finishing the game’s opening drive with a 5-yard touchdown run. A week ago, the Packers bolstered their game plan against the Colts with training wheels for their backup quarterback. The training wheels were taken off Sunday. Willis was a central character in this win. The reason rather than an accessory to victory.
He carved up the defense he once faced in practice — apparently, not well enough to stay on the team — with precision the Titans couldn’t have had in their scouting report. Willis completed four passes of at least 30 yards, including two on the opening drive. He later connected with Watson for a 37-yard gain on a feel route through the Titans’ zone. He found Romeo Doubs in the deep middle for 18 yards on third-and-14.
Willis was dropping bombs on his former team.
“He definitely comes out with the right mindset,” left guard Elgton Jenkins said. “You can tell he’s a winner. You put him in a good position, he’s going to execute and do the right things. I don’t feel like the moment ever be too big for him. He just sit back there making plays, and he just gets it done.”
Willis has the talent to compete in the NFL
What an embarrassment Sunday must’ve been for that organization. Because it turns out the Titans, from offense-centric new head coach Brian Callahan to the front office to the supporting staff, were not talented enough for Willis. There was, indeed, a skillset to mine here. It’s what the Packers have done in the 27 days since Willis was traded to them.
Willis last stepped onto Nissan Stadium’s field during gameday late in his 2022 rookie season. It was Christmas Eve when Willis completed just 14 of 23 passes for 99 yards, no touchdowns, two interceptions and a 34.5 passer rating in a loss to a Houston Texans team that would finish that season 3-13-1. In three starts as a rookie, Willis had a 39.67 passer rating. He completed 51% of his passes. He threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. He never had a game with 100 passing yards.
It’s not because he was incapable.
“Maybe a change of scenery can be good for some guys,” LaFleur said. “I just cannot articulate the job that he’s done in a short period of time. People can’t fathom that. I promise you. You guys don’t get it. I know you think you’ve got it, but you don’t get it. What he’s been able to do, I’ve never seen something like this. So hat’s off to him. Hat’s off to everybody around him, guys rallying, having his back.”
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Willis had his first 100-yard game last week. Threw his first career touchdown pass too. On Sunday, he had his first 200-yard game. His first game scoring multiple touchdowns. Willis’ fourth completion of at least 30 yards was his easiest, dumping off a screen to Emanuel Wilson in the left flat and letting his running back do the hard part, taking it to the end zone. But it showed Willis’ willingness to make the easy play, something he’s done routinely filling in for the injured Love.
There’s a reason some franchises have unfathomable fortune at the quarterback position, and others wander decades through the desert. Why some teams have three franchise quarterbacks in three decades, and others have a revolving door. Willis had the talent to win games in the NFL.
He just needed a team that knew it.
“Three starts,” Willis said. “That’s what I was judged off, and that’s what it is. You don’t really have a say-so in that. It’s a results-based league, so it’s a business. I can’t really be mad at that. I got my opportunity. Whether it was one of the better opportunities or not, it was an opportunity. I’m grateful for that, and I learned from it. I’ll try to continue to work hard until my next one comes.”