Green Bay Packers keep winning even as turnovers hamper offense
GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN - OCTOBER 20: Jordan Love #10 of the Green Bay Packers warms up prior to a game against the Houston Texans at Lambeau Field on October 20, 2024 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
GREEN BAY, Wis. - After taking advantage of turnovers for the first third of the season, the Green Bay Packers are now getting a little too careless with the ball.
The Packers (5-2) committed three turnovers and didn’t get a single takeaway Sunday in their 24-22 victory over the Houston Texans.
Houston scored 16 points off turnovers, including two scoring drives that started on the Green Bay 11-yard line.
Green Bay still earned its third straight victory as Brandon McManus capped his Packers debut by kicking a 45-yard field goal as time expired, but the inability to protect the football was noteworthy for a team that entered the game leading the NFL with a plus-9 turnover margin.
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"It’s hard to overcome losing the turnover battle by three in this league," Packers coach Matt LaFleur said after the game.
Indeed, this marked the first time the Packers had won a game in which they posted a turnover margin of minus-3 or worse since a 23-22 victory over the Detroit Lions on Oct. 14, 2019, according to Sportsradar.
Green Bay still has a league-high 17 takeaways, but the Packers also have committed 11 turnovers. Heading into Monday night’s games, the only teams with more turnovers were the Las Vegas Raiders (16), Carolina Panthers (12) and Tennessee Titans (12).
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Jordan Love’s 15 touchdown passes enabled him to enter Monday tied for the NFL lead with Tampa Bay’s Baker Mayfield, who plays Monday night. Love has reached those totals despite missing two games earlier this season with a knee injury.
But he also has thrown eight interceptions, matching Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes and Las Vegas’ Gardner Minshew for the most by any quarterback this season. His eight interceptions have come in 179 pass attempts, whereas last season he was picked off 11 times in 579 passes.
That reflects Love’s confidence in his arm and willingness to throw high-risk, high-reward passes. For instance, Love threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Tucker Kraft on Sunday that nearly got deflected or picked off by Calen Bullock.
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"It’s the NFL," Love said. "There’s not always going to be wide-open guys. It’s going to be tight windows you’ve got to fit the ball in there sometimes, and I’m going to keep playing. I learn and grow from the mistakes, the interceptions and just keep playing, keep moving on, but that’s not ever going to limit me."