Packers’ best plays of 2023 #4: Jayden Reed breaks a slump with a toe-tapping score

If you read anything about potential Packers’ breakout players in 2024, Jayden Reed’s name is bound to come up.

From a national media perspective, that might be fair. After all, until their late surge, the Packers were essentially afterthoughts for most of the season. Through nine games they were just 3-6, and the disjointed, fits-and-starts brand of football they were playing doesn’t lend itself to much national media attention.

But if you follow the Packers closely (and you do), you know that Jayden Reed doesn’t need to break out because Jayden Reed has already arrived.

A 2023 second-round pick, Reed had an excellent rookie season, setting numerous records en route to his 64-catch, 793-yard, eight-touchdown receiving performance. Oh, and for good measure he added another 119 yards on 11 carries for two more scores on the ground.

But in the month heading into our #4 play of the 2023 season, Reed was in a bit of a slump. Over the Packers’ previous four games, Reed had managed just 123 yards on 20 catches, finding the end zone just once. For comparison, over the same span, Reed actually had a higher average per carry than per catch over the same span, compiling 100 yards on just nine carries and finding the end zone once.

Against the Buccaneers in Week 15, though, Reed found his footing, figuratively and literally, and put up one of his best plays of the year.

The Play

The Packers welcomed the Buccaneers to Lambeau Field on a short week, having failed to take care of business against the New York Giants on Monday Night Football. And with Baker Mayfield running the show for the Buccaneers, the Packers defense (spoiler alert) was not up to the challenge, allowing Mayfield and company to march up and down the field at will. Mayfield put together a passing performance for the ages, completing 21 of 28 passes for 381 yards and four touchdowns — and a perfect 158.3 passer rating.

In stark contrast to the defense, the offense did their best to hold up their end of the bargain. It only amounted to 20 points, but the Packers moved the ball fairly well, and but for one Jordan Love fumble, managed to avoid the sort of major disaster the defense knew all too well.

Trailing 20-10 in the third quarter, the Packers put together their best drive of the day, capping it off with one of the plays of the year. Virtually all of the drive was powered by Jordan Love, who completed passes to Aaron Jones, Dontayvion Wicks, Malik Heath, and Bo Melton to set the Packers up with a first down from the Buccaneers’ 13-yard line.

However, their next two plays went nowhere and got there fast. A dump-off to Patrick Taylor lost three yards on first down, and the same play lost the Packers another yard on second. Facing a third and fourteen, the Packers emptied the backfield and let Love get to work.

With no one immediately open, Love held fast in the pocket, eventually stepping up and escaping to his right. Approaching the line of scrimmage with Malik Heath in position a short way downfield, Love seemed to briefly consider tucking and running, but then pulled back and fired a laser on the move to the right sideline in the end zone. Meeting the pass right at the line was Jayden Reed, who had shaken loose from defensive back Zyon McCollum as he worked along the back line of the end zone. Reed trapped the ball to his chest, tapped both feet and earned the Packers six points.

A PAT from Anders Carlson cut the margin to three points, but a 20-17 deficit was as good as it would get for the Packers in the second half. Mayfield and the Buccaneers made easy work of the Packers' defense on their next drive, sauntering 75 yards for a touchdown on 10 plays. A Packers field goal cut the lead a bit, but the Buccaneers went right back down the field for another touchdown as soon as they got the ball back, ending the scoring at 34-20.

The result of the game was a disappointment, a second stumble in as many weeks that threatened to end a resurgent run by the young Packers before it even really got started. But Love’s connection to Reed showed exactly what the pairing was capable of, and the two helped save the Packers in their final two games with some of their best games of the season. A single, however great, throw from Love may not have been the only portent of things to come, but it sure looked great then and looks like it could be the first step toward bigger things to come in 2024.