Packers Week 17 Winners and Losers vs. the Ravens

Last night was certainly a football game, I’ll tell you what. The Baltimore Ravens and Green Bay Packers met for the first time since 2021 in what was officially the Packers’ last game at Lambeau Field until the 2026 season. Just like the 2021 game, the Ravens were starting backup QB Tyler Huntley. This time, however, the Packers had their own backup QB in as starter Jordan Love recovered from a concussion sustained against the Bears.

I’m calling this the Malik Willis Game, because he was essentially the entire offense for the Packers. After keeping it close for the entire first half, the wheels (and body parts) started falling off, and the Ravens won handily with a score of 41-24. While the Packers didn’t need to win on Saturday, it sure would’ve been nice to be in the division race still. They are, alas, no longer. Let’s take a look at the winners and losers from a game which cemented the Packers as the NFC’s 7-seed.

Winner: Christian Watson

After the chest injury he sustained in Denver, and the subsequent ambulance ride out of the stadium, I thought Watson’s season may be over. Two weeks later, he became the Packers’ first 100-yard pass catcher since Week 8 (Tucker Kraft please come back). Watson was phenomenal Saturday night, with some big effort and athleticism leading to huge gains, including this 39-yard touchdown to cap off their first drive of the night.

He had another big pickup of 32 yards to start the second half, and, in an homage to Tucker Kraft, made a push to get as much extra yardage as he could on this play. Watson finished the night leading all receivers with 5 catches on 6 targets for 113 yards and a score.

Winner: Malik Willis

Malik Willis, I am going to be so sad when you leave. The backup QB rose to the occasion last night and had his best game as a Packer. I knew it would be a fun watch, but I still don’t think I was fully prepared for the experience. He. Was. SLINGING THAT THING. It took 2 plays for the team to get down the field and into the end zone during their first drive of the game, and they happened to be Willis’ longest throws of the year: the below 40-yarder to Romeo Doubs, and the 39-yard TD pass to Christian Watson.

What a BEAUTY. Willis was perfection last night—his first incompletion didn’t come until the second half of the game, and it came on a Chris Brooks drop. He also had one of the most incredible runs I’ve ever seen from a quarterback on 3rd and 9 to pick up a first down. He could’ve gone down 11 yards earlier, and I’m shocked this turned into positive yardage at all. I’ll be thinking about this for days.

Overall, Willis looked pretty incredible given what the team was working with. He also showed what a competitor he was after re-aggravating his shoulder injury and taking a trip to the locker room in clear pain. A few minutes later, the cameras showed him quickly running to the sideline—he was ready to go back out! This game was his audition for a starting job elsewhere next season, and he performed flawlessly. He’s going to make the Miami Dolphins very happy next year. Willis finished the night completing 18 of 21 passes (85%!) for 288 yards, 1 TD, and a 134.6 rating. On the ground, he picked up another 60 yards and 2 TDs. A real “Matt Flynn for 480 yards and 6 TDs against the Lions” performance from Malik. I love him.

Loser: Run Defense

You know what I don’t love? Everything that happened on defense last night. As soon as the game started, I remember thinking “Oh, so this is how it’s going to go”, as Derrick Henry beat us to death with his legs. Guess what, dear reader: that’s exactly how it ended up going for the rest of the game. Derrick Henry, who had been given the “washed” label for much of this season, had 3 TDs. In the first half. He ended up finishing the game with 216 yards and 4 TDs on 36 carries. The 216 yards are a record at Lambeau Field for a visiting RB.

And that’s just Derrick Henry! Tyler Huntley ran for an additional 60 yards on 8 carries. The team gave up 414 total yards of offense, and 307 of those yards were on the ground. If I’m an NFC playoff team, I’m watching this Packers game salivating at the thought of what my run game could do to their defense. We could very well see another Raheem Mostert-type performance against the Packers in January. But hey, look on the bright side: maybe it means no one will want to hire Jeff Hafley!

Loser: Rashan Gary

I don’t know what he does here anymore, and that’s all I have to say about that. With any luck, he’ll be on a new team by August.

Loser: Carrington Valentine

There were multiple instances last night in which I found myself wondering if Carrington Valentine is actually a football player, and I’ve come to the conclusion that the answer is no. Last night was full of missed tackles on guys like Zay Flowers, who weighs approximately 3 pounds soaking wet.

At some point, Valentine was benched for Kamal Hadden. In a cruel twist of fate, both Hadden and Nate Hobbs went down with injuries which knocked them out of the game. Since it’s against the rules to pull fans from the stands to come play DB (for like 10 minutes, honestly I don’t see what the problem is), Valentine ended up back in. He, of course, proceeded to get stiff-armed straight to hell by Derrick Henry. After giving up a few more big plays, including this TD to Zay Flowers, the game was over, and we were all left wondering “What is that smell?”

Winner: Lukas Van Ness

Lukas Van Ness seemed like the only player on defense who was in it until the end. He was applying pressure on Huntley throughout the night to force quick throws. He had a couple of great stops in the run game, including one on Huntley which made it 3rd and 8 (don’t worry, they still scored on the next play—it’s right above this paragraph!) While the rest of the defensive performance left much to be desired, Van Ness was a small bright spot.

Loser: Our Pets’ Heads

THEY’RE FALLIN’ OFF. Nate Hobbs: Knee. Jordon Riley: Achilles. Kamal Hadden: “We will not be showing the replay”. Zayne Anderson: Ankle. Dontayvion Wicks: Concussion. Malik Willis: Shoulder. Would anyone else like to join the club?

The 9-6-1 Packers play their final game of the regular season in Minnesota next Sunday at a to-be-determined time. With both teams’ postseason fates already decided, it’s likely this game will be at noon local time. Since the Packers are locked into the 7th spot in the NFC, we’ll probably see a ton of play from their backups, as the team will want to keep guys as healthy as possible for the playoffs (please).