The Green Bay Packers got two touchdown passes from Jordan Love, elite performances from Evan Williams and Edgerrin Cooper and a 58-yard field goal from Trey Smack to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.
Based on grades from Pro Football Focus, here are the best and worst players from the Packers’ Week 4 win over the Buccaneers (note: grades are subject to change based on review, per PFF):
Top 5 offense
- QB Jordan Love: 77.9
- TE Mark Redman: 74.5
- TE Jonnu Smith: 69.4
- RB Chris Brooks: 68.4
- C Sean Rhyan: 67.8
Love threw a pick, but he was mostly excellent from clean pockets, and he got the ball out of his hands quick to help the pass protection group. Redman was really good over 18 snaps as a run blocker, and he also caught a 25-yard pass off play-action. Smith caught one pass for 19 yards and looked open on several other snaps while
running nine routes in the passing game. He brings a dynamic element to 13 personnel. Brooks rushed four times for 30 yards, including a 27-yard run, and he caught a pass for five yards before exiting with an ankle injury. Rhyan gave up a pressure, but he was the offensive line's highest graded run blocker at 72.3, and he did not commit a penalty.
Top 5 defense
- LB Edgerrin Cooper: 90.5
- S Evan Williams: 85.3
- CB Keisean Nixon: 83.0
- DL Javon Hargrave: 79.7
- LB Isaiah McDuffie: 77.7
Cooper had a sack, an interception, a team-high four "stops," eight tackles without a miss and an elite 90.5 grade over 34 snaps before his injury. Williams created two crucial pressures late, and he also intercepted a pass and broke up another pass in coverage, and the three catches he allowed into his coverage gained only 24 yards. Nixon broke up two passes, allowed only five yards on five targets into his coverage and finished with three stops. Hargrave had a team-high four pressures, including a quarterback hit, and his pass-rush grade was the best of the front players. McDuffie had a pressure and two stops against the run, but he also missed a sack. His coverage grade was excellent (80.0, allowed only two catches for 15 yards).
Bottom 5 offense
- WR Bo Melton: 42.8
- LT Jordan Morgan: 43.1
- WR Skyy Moore: 43.4
- RB Kaleb Johnson: 45.0
- RB MarShawn Lloyd: 45.2
Melton couldn't bring in what should have been an explosive play on third down, costing the Packers points early. He did not have a catch while running six routes. Morgan gave up a team-high three pressures (all hurries), and he was by far the offensive line's worst run blocker, finishing with a 31.0 grade. Moore had a drop, and his only catch lost two yards. He ran 13 routes without a positive play. Johnson fumbled the ball away inside the 5-yard line, but he also forced two missed tackles and had a 31-yard run. Lloyd turned seven runs into only 13 yards, had a fumble and committed a penalty, but he did catch five passes for 36 yards and had a cool hurdle.
Bottom 5 defense
- LB Zaire Franklin: 36.8
- DL Chris McClellan: 39.5
- EDGE Lukas Van Ness: 42.6
- DL Jonathan Ford: 46.4
- EDGE Brenton Cox Jr.: 50.7
Franklin made nine tackles without a miss, but he gave up four catches into his coverage and had a poor coverage grade overall, and his eight pass-rushing snaps created only one pressure. McClellan was poor against the run, finishing with a 43.0 grade. Van Ness had three pressures and made two stops against the run, but he was credited with two missed tackles, and his 27 pass-rushing snaps did not create a hit or sack. Ford played nine run defense snaps but wasn't effective. Cox Jr. had three pressures and two hits on only 12 pass-rushing snaps, but he missed a tackle and finished with a poor run defense grade.
Special teams
Nick Niemann played a team-high 16 special teams snaps and had a team-high special teams grade of 70.9. Javon Bullard had the team's only tackle covering kicks or punts. Karl Brooks was penalized on the opening kickoff. Trey Smack made both extra points and a 58-yard field goal. Skyy Moore returned two kickoffs for 52 yards and two punts for 19 yards (with two fair catches). Daniel Whelan only averaged 45.0 yards per punt but did place three more punts inside the 20 (up to 12 this season).
Quarterback play
- Jordan Love: 77.9
By passing grade, Sunday was by far Love's best game of the season. He completed 20 of 26 passes -- including three drops -- and had an 86.5 grade from clean pockets. He was under pressure on only four of his 31 dropbacks, or 12.9 percent. A huge improvement. When not pressured, Love got the ball out of his hands in 2.10 seconds, highlighting how important the quick game was to the passing game. Love did throw an interception from a clean pocket. The Bucs blitzed him only 11 times, and he completed 10 of 11 passes against the blitz. Love was also 8-of-9 passing off playaction fakes. On throws of 20 or more yards downfield, Love was 1-of-5 for 25 yards and a pick.
Stat to know
The quick game was everything for the Packers offense. Jordan Love was pressured only four times, but he got the ball out of his hands on 2.20 seconds on average, and his average time to throw was 2.10 seconds when kept clean. The offensive line got help from a quarterback who played fast and on time. Matt LaFleur provided strong concepts that gave Love opportunities to throw to his first read, often off a boot action. Love was also willing to go to his checkdowns quick to avoid the rush. Things settled up front, but the Packers can't live this way in the passing game forever.
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Packers PFF grades: Best, worst players from Week 4 win over Buccaneers
