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Red zone.
Dead zone.
The Green Bay Packers rank just 27th in red zone offense this season, scoring touchdowns on a paltry 48.7% of their trips inside the 20-yard line.
This is nothing new for a Matt LaFleur team either.
Green Bay finished 17th in red zone offense in 2023 (53.4%), 23rd in 2022 (51.8%) and 18th in 2021 (57.5%). In fact the Packers have gotten worse in red zone offense every year since 2020 under LaFleur, and this marks Green Bay’s poorest season of the six-year LaFleur-era.
“We just have to do a better job,” said LaFleur, whose Packers host San Francisco Sunday at 3:25 p.m. CST. “That’s the emphasis and we’re working hard at it. It’s just we haven’t gotten the results that we’d like right now.”
LaFleur has tried several things when Green Bay’s gets inside the 20, with largely subpar results. So it’s time he tries something — or someone — new.
Malik Willis.
Willis, of course, is the Packers’ No. 2 quarterback who went 2-0 starting for an injured Jordan Love earlier this season. Willis also replaced an injured Love and led the Packers to a 30-27 win over Jacksonville in Week 8.
Willis doesn’t have the passing skills of a player like Love. But Willis is one of the NFL’s premier dual threat quarterbacks and would provide a run/pass option inside the 20 that isn’t always there with Love.
“You can always count on him picking up yardage with his legs,” LaFleur said of Willis on Oct. 28. “He does a great job, he’s super athletic, and explosive.”
At 6-0 ½”, 219 pounds, Willis is built more like a running back than a quarterback. Willis didn’t participate at the NFL Combine in 2022, but he was timed at 4.37 in the 40-yard dash during his sophomore season at Auburn in 2019. Love, on the other hand, ran a 4.74 40-yard dash at the 2020 NFL Combine.
Former Virginia Tech standout Michael Vick holds the fastest time ever by a quarterback at the NFL Combine at 4.33 seconds. Lamar Jackson didn’t run at the Combine in 2018, but did post a 4.34 at his Louisville Pro Day that year.
Not only does Willis rank among the fastest quarterbacks the game has ever seen, he’s typically one of the fastest players on the field — regardless of position. And when you’re operating in tight quarters inside the 20, speed most certainly kills.
Right now, those speedy legs are wasting away on Green Bay’s bench.
In the 10 quarters Willis played earlier this year, he averaged 8.6 yards per attempt on his 16 carries and had one rushing touchdown. For his career, Willis is averaging 5.9 yards per rush on 48 carries.
What make Willis an intriguing goal line option, though, is how far he’s come as a passer.
Willis struggled mightily throwing the ball his first two years in the league with Tennessee, where he had just a 49.4 passer rating. This season, though, Willis has completed 29-of-39 passes for 380 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions and has posted a 130.3 passer rating.
Teams would be forced to respect Willis’ arm every bit as much as his legs, giving defenses a much different look than the one Love presents. Think of Willis as Green Bay’s version of Taysom Hill, who has made a career out of being a Swiss-army knife for the New Orleans Saints.
Willis could be just the jolt Green Bay’s inept red zone off needs.
“We’ve really got to focus on finishing, whether it’s the third downs or in the red zone, finishing with touchdowns or at field goals at least,” Packers offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said. “We’ve just got to be better in those situations for sure.”
Without Willis subbing admirably for Love earlier this season, there’s virtually no way Green Bay would be 7-3 today.
Willis completed 12-of-14 passes for 122 yards and threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Dontayvion Wicks in a 16-10 win over Indianapolis in Week 2. Willis also had six carries for 41 yards and didn’t throw an interception that day.
Willis was 13-of-19 for 202 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions in a 30-14 rout of Tennessee the following week. Willis also ran for a team-high 73 yards and a TD that day and finished with a passer rating of 120.9.
Then in Green Bay’s Week 8 win over Jacksonville, Willis hit Jayden Reed for 51 yards to set up the eventual game-winning field goal from Brandon McManus.
“I mean we’ve been blessed with having a backup that can come in and really be the guy in there, really be able to create things like that,” Packers running back Josh Jacobs said of Willis.
Now, LaFleur should start letting Willis create inside the red zone.
By no means would this be an indictment of Love. Although Love has struggled at times in his second season as a starter, he remains one of the more promising young quarterbacks in the game.
And LaFleur wouldn’t need to swap quarterbacks every trip inside the 20 — just a couple times a game to give defenses something else to prepare for.
Might this be a blow to Love’s ego? Perhaps.
But LaFleur’s job is to find ways to win, and if that means massaging egos along the way, so be it.
As former Green Bay general manager Ted Thompson was fond of saying: “It’s a big boy league.”
Right now, LaFleur should heed that advice and do whatever he deems necessary to fix Green Bay’s ongoing red zone woes.
