Three Overreactions From Packers’ Win at Steelers

The Green Bay Packers shook off a lackluster first half to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 35-25 on Sunday night.

By dominating the second half to earn their third consecutive victory, the Packers remain the No. 1 team in the NFC North and the NFC overall. Following their best performance since Week 2, here are this week’s Overreactions.

1. Tucker Kraft: Best Tight End In NFL

Tucker Kraft probably never will be considered the best tight end in football. The production simply isn’t going to be there in Green Bay’s deep and diverse offense. Last year as a rookie, for instance, the Raiders’ Brock Bowers caught 112 passes. That’s more catches than Kraft has in his two-and-a-half seasons.

Nonetheless, what Kraft did on Sunday night, when he destroyed the Steelers with seven receptions for 143 yards and two touchdowns, should have the rest of the football world taking notice.

“He was a beast. He was a man possessed,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “You’ve got to find ways to get him the ball.”

Kraft is a stud. He is, to borrow a term from the Hall of Fame general manager Ron Wolf, a field-tilting player.

Thanks to cranked-up production the last two weeks, Kraft among NFL tight ends ranks 11th with 37 targets and ninth with 30 catches, according to Pro Football Focus. What he does better than any other tight end in the league is maximize those opportunities.

He is second with 469 receiving yards, behind only Colts rookie Tyler Warren, who has 492 yards. Because Warren has played in eight games to Kraft’s seven, Kraft leads all tight ends in yards per game.

While he doesn’t have the breakaway speed of an elite running back, Kraft is one of the most dangerous open-field players in the NFL. Steelers defensive backs bounced off him like a June bug trying to fly through a screen door to get to the light.

Stathead has yards-after-catch data dating to 2016. Kraft’s 128 YAC was the third-most by a tight end over that decade, behind only the Chiefs’ Travis Kelce (138 yards on 11 catches vs. Denver in 2016) and the 49ers’ George Kittle (136 yards on seven catches vs. the Broncos in 2018).

Before Sunday, only three players had 100 YAC in a game this season, led by Bucs running back Bucky Irving’s 106 against the Eagles in Week 4. Kraft’s 128 YAC obliterated that number.

The Packers’ previous high for YAC over the past decade belonged to Aaron Jones, who had 125 against the Chiefs in 2019.

What he’s doing is preposterous, really. Kraft is averaging 11.3 YAC per catch. The Colts’ Warren is second among tight ends with 8.1. The YAC scoreboard is usually dominated by running backs, who benefit from checkdowns and screens. Kraft is fourth overall in YAC per catch and the only non-running back averaging more than 10.0.

Because he’s a downfield threat, too, Kraft is ninth in the NFL with 15.6 yards per catch. Not among tight ends. Among all players.

Kraft’s 143 yards vs. Pittsburgh almost set the franchise record by a tight end. Highlighted by the game-winning Hail Mary, Richard Rodgers caught eight passes for 146 yards at Detroit in 2015. Kraft joined Paul Coffman (six catches for 124 yards and two touchdowns in the famous 1983 Monday night game vs. Washington) as the only tight ends in franchise history with 100-plus receiving yards and two-plus receiving touchdowns in a game.

Kraft is on pace to catch 73 passes for 1,139 yards and 14 touchdowns. The Packers’ tight ends records are 61 catches (Jermichael Finley, 2012), 814 yards (Coffman, 1983) and 11 touchdowns (Coffman, 1983; Robert Tonyan, 2020).

All of that production comes in the all-around package of a player who relishes his role as a blocker.

With Kelce in the twilight of his career and Kittle having turned 32 a couple weeks ago, Kraft might be the standard bearer of the next wave of elite tight ends.

Heck, he might be the best tight end in the NFL and is well on his way to becoming the best tight end in Packers history.

2. Jordan Love and Coach Aaron Rodgers