Love strong in second half as Packers edge Rams

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Green Bay's Jordan Love could have wallowed in self doubt after throwing the first pick-6 of his career during the second quarter against the Los Angeles Rams. Instead, it ended up motivating the quarterback and his Packers teammates.

Love completed nine straight passes after the interception, including a pair of touchdown passes to Tucker Kraft in the second half as the Packers rallied for a 24-19 victory Sunday.

“The pick, it was a bad decision and it’s tough. But it's all about how you respond and bounce back,” said Love, who completed 15 of 26 passes for 224 yards in his second start since missing two games with a knee injury.

The Packers trailed 13-7 late in the second quarter after Jaylen McCollough intercepted Love's off-balance attempt to throw the ball away and ran it in from 4 yards. But Love, a California native who grew up in Bakersfield, led Green Bay (3-2) to points on its next three drives and benefited from a pair of turnovers to beat the Rams (1-4) for the ninth time in their last 10 regular-season meetings.

“I think that drive, when you throw a pick-6, that’s never fun. But to be able to take us down there in the 2-minute drive and get some critical points when points were really tough to come by, I just think that’s what he’s all about,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “And when you get a bunch of tough-minded guys I think that kind of just manifests itself and it’s contagious.”

Kraft had four receptions for a career-best 88 yards. Two plays after Xavier McKinney recovered a fumble by Rams running back Kyren Williams and returned it 7 yards to the Green Bay 30, Love connected with Kraft for a 66-yard touchdown to give the Packers a 17-13 lead.

Kraft caught the ball at the Rams 49, stiff-armed Rams cornerback Darious Williams at the 30 and eluded a diving tackle attempt near the left sideline by Quentin Lake at the 20 before reaching the end zone.

“Excellent play call. We had that set up when we were coming in for our second-half adjustments,” Kraft said. “We liked the defense they were giving us in second-and-medium. We dialed it up and we executed.”

After McKinney became the first player since the 1970 merger with an interception in each of his first five games with a team, Kraft completed a seven-play drive when he scored from 7 yards out for the first two-TD game of his career.

“Those were plays that we need and that’s complementary football. And we did that very well today. I'm glad the offense went down and was able to score,” McKinney said about the turnovers.

Josh Jacobs had 19 carries for 73 yards and scored his first TD with the Packers in the first quarter on a 2-yard run around right end.

The Rams are off to their worst start since moving to Los Angeles in 2016. The last time they dropped four of their first five to start the season was when they were in St. Louis in 2014.

“I think we’ve got to be able to finish games and play consistently throughout. I mean, you look at it, we’re a 1-4 football team," coach Sean McVay said. "Three of those four losses come down to one-possession games. ... But this is football, this is where we’re at.”

Kyren Williams had 102 yards rushing on 22 carries and scored for the eighth straight game when he plowed in from 1 yard in the second quarter to even it at 7. Williams has the longest TD streak by a Rams running back since Greg Bell scored in 10 straight during the 1988 and ’89 seasons.

Matthew Stafford’s 1-yard touchdown pass to Demarcus Robinson — the 2-point conversion attempt failed — with 3:30 remaining pulled the Rams within 24-19.

Los Angeles forced Green Bay to punt on the ensuing possession and took over on their own 29 with 2:57 remaining. The Rams drove to the Packers 38, but Stafford was unable to connect with Colby Parkinson on fourth-and-5 with 1:01 remaining.

“I thought our defense did a great job stepping up in the second half, made some plays to give us chances to get the ball back late in the game. We just didn’t do quite enough with it,” said Stafford, who was 29 of 45 for 260 yards with a touchdown and interception.

Crazy pick

Love's first pick-6 came on his 761st pass. On third-and-12 at the Packers 8, Love was flushed out of the pocket when Byron Young came in unblocked on a blitz. Love scrambled to the back of the end zone and was knocked off balance when he tried to throw it away.

Instead, McCollough was able to intercept the desperation throw and scored. Joshua Karty's extra-point attempt was blocked, which kept it at 13-7.

“All week, we were scheming on their chipper protection, we seen that a lot," McCullough said. "So it was just a great play by B.Y., great pursuit by the D-line, and I was just in the right place at the right time.”

Love said he was trying to throw it out of bounds and should have just aimed for the ground.

“Try and get it past the line of scrimmage, just not put it in harm's way. Not try and make a bad play worse,” he said. “But, looking back on it, a safety is definitely better than a pick-6.”

Amazing catch

Jacobs’ score was set up one play earlier when Love and Reed combined for a highlight-reel play. On second-and-10 at the Packers 45, Love completed a 53-yard pass to Reed in a tight window near the left sideline. Reed hauled it in despite three Rams defenders in the vicinity, including Lake all over Reed’s back.

Up next

Packers: Host Arizona next Sunday.

Rams: On their bye next week before hosting Las Vegas on Oct. 20.

___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl