Acme Packing Company’s Top Plays of 2025 countdown continues today with play number 7.
Week 8 of the 2025 season was Tucker Kraft’s masterclass. He had his first career 100-yard game in the Green Bay Packers’ week two win against Washington, but National Tight End day brought his game to a different level. Against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Kraft demonstrated everything that he provides to the Packers’ offense, catching 7 of 9 targets for 143 yards and two touchdowns. His final catch of the game was this
amazing catch-and-run to finish out the biggest performance so far in his pro career.
Let’s break it down.
The Game
After stumbling into their week 5 bye at 2-1-1 thanks to an inexcusable loss to the Cleveland Browns and a bizarre 40-40 tie against the Dallas Cowboys, the Green Bay Packers beat the Cincinnati Bengals in week six by a score of 27-18, then pulled out a late win in Arizona to improve to 4-1-1 after six games.
That set up a huge matchup on Sunday Night Football in week 8 against the 4-2 Pittsburgh Steelers. Most notably, however, was the fact that this game was the first time — and possibly the only time — that Aaron Rodgers would suit up against the Packers in a different uniform. That made the game an obvious prime time pick, and the national media narrative heading into the game was off the charts.
The Situation
Through three quarters, this game was tight. Pittsburgh’s Chris Boswell hit four field goals in the first three quarters — all from at least 48 yards and two from 56 apiece — as the Steelers held a 19-14 lead. A long pass to Christian Watson just before the end of the third quarter set up the Packers on the doorstep of the end zone, however, and Josh Jacobs punched across the goal line from three yards out on the first play of the fourth quarter, giving Green Bay a 22-19 lead.
Green Bay’s defense forced a three-and-out, as Micah Parsons sacked Rodgers on first down to scuttle the drive early on. After an unnecessary roughness penalty on former Wisconsin Badger Nick Herbig during the Packers’ punt return, Green Bay set up across midfield with 13 minutes remaining in the game. Emanuel Wilson picked up 15 yards on the first play, then two short passes brought up a third-and-4 from the Steelers’ 24.
The Play
Kraft lined up in a tight slot to the right with Romeo Doubs outside him and Jordan Love in the shotgun. At the snap, Kraft lets Doubs clear a path then runs a perfect angle route, getting separation from his defender, safety Chuck Clark. Love hits him in stride just out of his break at the 18, and Kraft sprints away from Clark and avoids Juan Thornhill, who’s unable to find an angle to bring him down before he reaches the end zone.
Check out the breakaway speed from Kraft, whose acceleration pulls him away from the two flat-footed safeties and into the end zone. It’s a great encapsulation of his athletic ability, which sometimes seems to go unrecognized given his willingness and ability to break tackles and gain yards after the catch by fighting through contact.
The Impact
This score effectively put the game on ice as the Packers took a ten-point lead. Pittsburgh would go three-and-out on their next drive then fumble on the series after that and the Packers got two short field goals to extend their lead to 16 points, putting the game out of reach for a 35-25 final. But for Kraft, the play capped off a career game, which unfortunately was his last big performance of the season before he tore his ACL the following Sunday.
Notably, this play got a #1 ranking from our Tyler Brooke, who also recently broke down Kraft’s other touchdown from this game on his Youtube channel, Best Available.
