The Green Bay Packers are 3-1-1 after beating the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday at Lambeau Field, but the win wasn’t a cakewalk, even after Matt LaFleur’s team built a 10-0 lead at the half and led by at least 10 points at two different points in the second half. It took a big third-down conversion and a clutch field goal for the Packers to escape with a 27-18 victory.
A strong performance from the quarterback, the running back and the first-round pick propelled the offense, and the defense was good enough in the first half that a late flurry from Joe Flacco ended up not mattering to the outcome. The cherry on top? The Packers special teams didn’t have a big mistake and the new kicker was perfect on five tries.
Here are the studs and duds from the Packers’ Week 6 win:
Studs
WR Matthew Golden: The rookie dazzled, catching three passes for 86 yards — all on completions of 20 or more yards — and turning two rushing attempts into 16 yards. Every single touch produced positive impact. He caught a short hitch and turned it into a 20-yard gain, helping set up a field goal. He caught a 35-yard bomb down the sideline to convert 3rd-and-10 on a touchdown drive. Both of his runs converted first downs. And his 31-yard catch was the product of his speed and a smart route adjustment as Jordan Love went off schedule, and it converted the game’s biggest third down and allowed the Packers to go up two scores late. A star performance from the first-round pick.
RB Josh Jacobs: The Pro Bowl running back was battling an illness but didn’t play like a weakened player. He averaged a season-high 5.2 per carry, had four runs of 10 or more yards and caught five passes, including a 29-yarder setting up a touchdown. His 23 touches gained 150 yards and resulted in two scores. The run game is starting to show signs of life, and Jacobs is becoming an increasingly important target in the passing game.
QB Jordan Love: His interception while under pressure on an off-schedule play was a mistake to end the first drive, but Love was very good from that point on. He was once again terrific from clean pockets, averaging 11.0 yards per attempt when kept clean, and he hit four passes thrown over 20 yards in the air. With two healthy legs, Love’s accuracy and mobility are fully back. He completed a season high 73.1 percent of passes and scrambled five times, including twice for key first downs on third down.
OL Jordan Morgan: The Packers had Morgan focus primarily on right guard in practice, and it paid off. The 2024 first-round pick played 49 of the offense’s 61 snaps at right guard and produced one of the best games of his young career. He allowed only one pressure (a hurry) and delivered the key blocks on both of Josh Jacobs’ touchdown runs. Jacobs had four runs of 10 or more yards and all four were behind the right side of the offense live, a credit to Morgan’s ability to move people and get to the second level to create lanes.
K Lucas Havrisik: He hadn’t kicked in an NFL game since 2023 and only signed with the Packers on Saturday, but Havrisik was flawless in his 2025 debut, hitting field goals from 43 yards and 39 yards and all three extra points — creating nine points — in the 27-18 win. What more could one ask for in an emergency kicker? Late in the game, Havrisik was called on to turn a 6-point advantage into a 9-point lead, and he delivered in a stressful situation with no issue.
S Evan Williams: The second-year safety stuffed Ja’Marr Chase after a 4-yard catch on third down to end the first series, made a tackle covering a punt and had three stops on run plays gaining one yard or fewer, including a tackle for loss. Against his coverage, the Bengals produced nothing more than two completions for nine yards.
DE Lukas Van Ness: Over 22 snaps, Van Ness delivered a quarterback hit on a third-down incompletion and an impressive red-zone sack. The sack was one of the best plays in LVN’s career. He was explosive off the ball, beat the left tackle clean around the corner and took down Flacco, putting the Bengals into a 3rd-and-10 situation.
Duds
DL Karl Brooks: Not having Devonte Wyatt didn’t show up much against the run, but the Packers missed his interior pass-rush. Brooks got 41 pass-rushing snaps (second most on the defense) and produced only two hurries. His pass-rush win rate was a measly 5.1 percent. Brooks also didn’t have a tackle against the run.
CB Keisean Nixon: To be fair, most of his coverage — particularly against Ja’Marr Chase — was tight. But Nixon gave up five catches, including the fourth-down touchdown pass to Chase, and was flagged for three penalties. Nixon was highly competitive, consistently made tackles and even broke up a pass, but Chase got the best of him on a few big plays late. The Packers giving up 94 receiving yards on 12 targets to Chase feels like a minor win, all things considered.
DE Kingsley Enagbare: He didn’t have a pressure over 10 pass-rushing snaps, and he missed a tackle defending the run. The Packers will need more impact out of Enagbare as a rotational player if Lukas Van Ness (foot) has to miss time moving forward.
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Studs and duds from the Packers’ Week 6 win over Bengals
Reporting by Zach Kruse, Packers Wire / Packers Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
