How often have you watched a game and seen the starting Quarterback go down with an injury, and the backup Quarterback comes in and still leads the team to victory? It can be a rarity. But lately, in the NFL, it's become more common. Jake Browning kept the Bengals in playoff contention with Joe Burrow going down with seven games left in the season, Josh Dobbs had an improbable situation leading the Vikings to victory in 2023 five days after being traded, and one of my recent favorites is Tyler Huntley during his time with the Ravens who always seemed to give Baltimore a chance to win despite Lamar Jackson going down. Given the Green Bay Packers backup QB history, these dependable number two's always made me gaze longingly at the TV wishing I could have that type of confidence if my QB ever went down. 

Graham Harrell, Tim Boyle, DeShone Kizer, and Scott Tolzien are a few backup quarterbacks that Packer fans have endured in the last 10 years. None of them gave even a prayer of confidence entering a game if the starter went down. Some of them even did have to take over for Aaron Rodgers a time or two and the results weren't pretty at all. Outside of Jordan Love's drafting in 2020 and a few years of Matt Flynn, the Packers' backup QB situation was pretty dismal during Aaron Rodgers' tenure. The idea of Aaron Rodgers having to sit out even a series or two was a nightmare. The joke "What's Matt Flynn up to?" would always pop up on social media if Rodgers got hurt following Flynn's final departure after the 2014 season. Then in the 2024 season, with no confidence in Sean Clifford or rookie Michael Pratt to be QB2, the Packers made possibly the best trade of the season so far sending a 7th round pick to Tennessee for Malik Willis.

Barely being with the team two weeks, Willis was thrown into the fire having to start for the Packers in week 2 against the Indianapolis Colts. He finished the game 12 of 14 for 122 yards and a touchdown with zero interceptions and 41 yards rushing. But most of all, a victory. The next week, 13 of 19, 202 yards and a touchdown, zero interceptions, and 73 yards rushing with a touchdown. Suddenly Malik Willis was practically a legend despite being in Green Bay for only a month. Some even teased whether or not he should start over Jordan Love when Love was healthy enough to return. Then a month after Love returned, Willis was called in to relieve Love once again entering the game with 12 minutes left in the 3rd quarter and the Packers up 13-10. Willis was victorious again, this time winning the game with a clutch 51-yard pass to Jayden Reed to put the Packers in field goal range to win in the final seconds 30-27. 

Suddenly, the Packers have a backup Quarterback that fans can trust to win them games.

Changing the Offense to bring out the best

One thing is for sure when Malik Willis is in the game, the offensive gameplan changes. Matt LaFleur definitely switches things up to focus on running the football more often. This seems like it would be common sense for putting in a backup QB right? Run the football to take the pressure off the backup and hopefully open up the pass a bit with defenses stacking the box. Well, in the case of Malik Willis, this can work to his strengths as well. Being a mobile Quarterback, Willis can take the ball on RPOs and do some damage with his legs. In three games, Willis has 137 yards rushing and a touchdown on 16 attempts. It's pretty handy to have a Quarterback that averages 8.5 yards per carry. 

Handing the ball to running backs, keeping it on RPOs, don't forget Willis can still throw the ball too. Once that defense starts catching on to the ball staying on the ground, it's the perfect time to run a perfectly executed play-action and put the ball over their heads. This was evident in Willis' 51-yard play-action pass to Jayden Reed that put the Packers in field goal range to win against the Jaguars. Jacksonville had a safety lined up next to the linebackers and one safety deep, once the ball was snapped, eight defenders bit on the play-action stepping up until they got wise to Watson and Doubs running routes and turned around completely ignoring Jayden Reed running a leak wheel route right under their noses and ending up wide open for the big play. That's the power of the play-action with a dynamic QB like Malik Willis.

REEEEEEEEED!#GBvsJAX pic.twitter.com/oGewT53OaM

— Green Bay Packers (@packers) October 27, 2024

In all honesty, I wish they would lean on the running game sometimes the same with Jordan Love as they do with Malik Willis.

If Jordan Love is unable to play this Sunday, it won't be an easy task for Malik Willis to dethrone a team as talented as Detroit is. But if there's one positive to the way the offense is called when Willis is on the field, it's that the game is slowed down and it would result in keeping Detroit's dynamic offense off the field. It also gives the defense plenty of rest time. If the Packers' defense can steal a possession or two and Willis can put some points on the board, the Packers may still have a chance against Detroit. That's well more than we've ever said about our other backup Quarterbacks over the years. 

Willis is under contract through the 2025 season. Unless a team comes knocking at the end of this year offering the Packers a nice trade package for the backup QB, Willis will get the chance to spend an offseason sharpening his skills with Packers' QB whisperer Tom Clements. After a rough start to his career, Willis may have a very bright future. Hopefully, he spends at least another year of that future with the Packers as the beneficiary.