GREEN BAY, Wis. — — Malik Willis admits he wasn’t ready the last time he had to start an NFL game. The Green Bay Packers quarterback knew he would be better prepared the next time the opportunity arose.

With plenty of help from his new teammates, Willis proved he could do it on Sunday by helping the Packers beat the Indianapolis Colts 16-10.

Willis was acquired from Tennessee by Green Bay on August 27 and threw his first career touchdown pass to help the Packers cope with the absence of the injured Jordan Love.

“I don’t think you guys can appreciate or even understand the job that Malik Willis (had) to do,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “This guy got here three weeks ago.”

Love did not play after injuring his left medial collateral ligament on the final series of a 34-29 season-opening loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sept. 6 in Brazil. It was the first game Love missed since becoming Green Bay’s starting quarterback last year.

The Packers (1-1) relied on an all-around effort to win without Love. Josh Jacobs rushed for 151 yards on 32 carries to lead Green Bay’s 261-yard rushing attack. The defense hounded Anthony Richardson into three interceptions.

But without Willis’ tenacity, the Packers might not have won.

Willis had made three previous starts in his career – all in 2022 – and had not thrown for more than 100 yards in any of them. Tennessee dealt Willis a seventh-round pick after failing to beat out Mason Rudolph for the right to replace Titans starter Will Levis.

“I’m just thankful that God is giving me another opportunity somewhere else, a clean slate, just a chance to be around guys that have helped me learn as much as I can over the last three weeks,” Willis said.

Willis played efficiently, going 12 of 14 for 122 yards, including a 14-yard touchdown pass to Dontayvion Wicks. Brayden Narveson went 3 of 4 field-goal attempts to score the rest of Green Bay’s points.

Indianapolis’ Jonathan Taylor ran for 103 yards on 12 carries, but did not touch the ball in the fourth quarter. Richardson was 17 of 34 for 204 yards with one touchdown to go along with his three interceptions. Richardson also ran for 37 yards on four carries.

“We started off slow as a group, especially on offense,” Richardson said. “We absolutely can’t do that. We know we’re better than that.”

The Packers didn’t need Willis to throw the ball early, as they ran wild against the Colts’ porous defense, allowing them to take a 10-0 lead in the first quarter. That lead would grow to 13-0 early in the third quarter.

Green Bay ultimately managed to score 53 of 67 snaps.

The Packers had 164 yards rushing in the first quarter alone, the most first-quarter rushing yards for an NFL team since the Denver Broncos had 167 yards in the opening period of a 41–23 loss to the New England Patriots on December 18, 2011. By halftime, the Packers had 237 yards rushing on 34 carries.

“We knew we had to come out today and run the ball,” Jacobs said. “We knew we had to set that tone.”

Indianapolis (0-2) was coming off a 29-27 loss to the Houston Texans in which they allowed 213 yards rushing, the most any team had ever allowed in the opening week of the season.

“We’ve got to figure it out,” Colts coach Shane Steichen said. “It starts with me, I’m the head coach, and we’ve got to sit in that meeting room Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and figure it out. And that’s the core of it.”

Green Bay squandered a chance to break the game open early in the second quarter when Jacobs lost the ball on a first-and-goal from the 15-yard line. Zaire Franklin forced the fumble, which Laiatu Latu recovered in the end zone.

The Colts’ run defense got stronger in the second half, but they couldn’t quite come back as their offense couldn’t capitalize on opportunities. The Colts failed to score on three separate trips into Packers territory.

Indianapolis cut the Packers’ lead to 16-10 on a 4-yard touchdown pass from Richardson to Alec Pierce with 1:47 left, but Green Bay’s Evan Williams picked off the ensuing onside kick.

The Colts got the ball back at their own 5-yard line with 43 seconds left, but Williams intercepted a Hail Mary attempt from the Indianapolis 41-yard line to end the game.

INJURIES

Colts: DT DeForest Buckner was forced off the field in the third quarter. … Latu injured his hip in the second half. … The Colts played without S Julian Blackmon (shoulder) and WR Josh Downs (ankle).

Packers: G Jordan Morgan didn’t play the second half because of a shoulder injury. … RB MarShawn Lloyd injured his ankle.

NEXT

Colts: Host the Chicago Bears next Sunday.

Packers: Visit the Tennessee Titans next Sunday.

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This story has been corrected: Pierce’s first name has been changed from Antonio to Alec and Richardson threw 34 passes instead of 33.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl