Packers Top Plays of 2025, #5: Watson elevates to take a late lead vs the Giants
Our countdown of the 10 best plays of the Green Bay Packers’ 2025 season continues with a go-ahead touchdown to help the team earn a victory on the road. The Green Bay Packers came out of their Week 5 bye week by reeling off a three-game winning streak, defeating the Bengals, Cardinals and Steelers . The Week 8 Steelers game was one of the Packers’ best offensive performances of the season, with Jordan Love completing 20 straight passes in front of Aaron Rodgers : the man he sat behind for 3 years. (Love’s EPA in the Steelers game was +16.3, second only to his +21.7 performance against the Cowboys in Week 4.) After that high, the Packers dropped their next two, scoring a combined 20 points against the Panthers and the Eagles in Lambeau Field. So they packed up and headed to MetLife Stadium at 5-3-1 to face the 2-8 Giants . The Packers led for most of the game, but it was not a particularly pretty game. The Giants hung in and took advantage late, going on a 15 play, 85 yard drive touchdown drive to open the 4th quarter, taking a 20-19 lead in the process. The kickoff was a touchback, giving the Packers the ball on their own 35 with 7:22 remaining in the game. The Packers gained 48 yards on 7 plays (including a 33 yard pass to Savion Williams on a 3rd & 10), and now faced 2nd & 7 at the Giants 17 yard line. The Packers come out in 11 personnel (1 RB, 1 TE, 3 WR) in a 2×2 shotgun spread formation. On the right side, John FitzPatrick is on the outside while Christian Watson is in the slot. On the left, Romeo Doubs is the front man in a stack, with Matthew Golden underneath. On the left, they’re running a pick-play for Emanuel Wilson out of the backfield and a delayed in-cutter from Doubs. On the right, they’re running Smash Fade, with FitzPatrick running a quick-hitch and Watson running a deep fade over the top. The Giants are showing a single-high safety pre-snap. Given the fact that the Giants’ defense didn’t disguise their defense much last season, it’s safe to assume that they’ll be running a single-high defense post-snap. The fade to Watson is a good answer to that coverage, so that’s where Love is looking to go. The snap is high and to Love’s left, which causes him to double-catch the snap. Between the single-high look, the high snap and the pressure that had been in Love’s face all day (the 44.4% pressure rate was the second-highest rate Love faced up to that point in the season), Love knows he has to get rid of the ball quickly, but he still makes sure to check the coverage. The Giants stay in single-high coverage and the boundary defender widens with FitzPatrick, so Love takes the fade to Watson. The boundary defender is able to fall back under Watson, but the throw from Love is high-and-outside. Watson goes up over two defenders to bring in the pass and the go-ahead TD. The Packers get the two-point conversion to take a 27-20 lead with 4:02 remaining in the game. That touchdown ended up being the last score of the game for either team. The Giants put together a 10-play, 51-yard drive to get in the Packers red zone with less than a minute remaining, but an Evan Williams interception ended that drive. The Giants got the ball back on their own 35 with 10 seconds remaining, but Micah Parsons slammed the door. The Packers won this game 27-20, helping to kick off a four-game winning streak (after this they won games against the Vikings, Lions and Bears). Albums listened to: Noah Gundersen – Rites of Spring ; Rocket – R is for Rocket