It’s really difficult to believe that a player as accomplished as a running back as Packers star Josh Jacobs—in his sixth season, a former NFL rushing yardage leader, and a two-time Pro Bowl back– has gotten through his career with such a glaring hole on his resume.
Despite 208 career receptions and an impressive 47 career touchdowns as a running back, never in his NFL time have those two stats crossed paths. Yes, heading into the Packers’ Week 7 win over the Texans, Jacobs had never recorded a receiving touchdown, the second-longest such streak of catches without a touchdown in NFL history.
Ah, but after three catches on Sunday, the streak came to a merciful end, part of another excellent performance from Jacobs, who had 76 yards rushing on 12 carries. The big news was not the carries but the catches: Jacobs had five, including a key eight-yard screen in the third quarter that he converted for a touchdown, which put the Packers up, 21-19.
In doing so, he broke the streak.
After the game, Jacobs downplayed the quirk in his career stats. “It was long overdue,” he said. “But for me, I don’t know, I feel like other people put a lot more into it than I do. It felt good to finally get in the end zone and be able to do the Lambeau Leap.”
Packers Game Ball Went to Jordan Love
Indeed, his Packers teammates were among those who were putting more into the streak than Jacobs. One of those was quarterback Jordan Love, who now holds a special place in Jacobs’ career history. He spoke to reporters after the game.
“That was huge,” Love said of the Jacobs TD. “That was something we talked about all season, trying to get Josh that first receiving touchdown and we were able to do that. So, I am very happy for him, great little catch-and-run for him on the screen. Definitely something we’ve been wanting to do, and glad we were able to make that happen.”
But, again, Jacobs is not all that impressed with himself. After the game, he told reporters he wasn’t keeping the ball. As Ryan Wood of Packers Wire explained: “Josh Jacobs says he is not keeping the football from his first career TD catch. It was also Jordan Love’s 50th career TD pass. And there is only one ball. ‘I’m going to give it to Jordan,’ Jacobs says.”
Josh Jacobs Celebrated Around NFL
Around the NFL, though, Jacobs got a hearty round of applause. The NFL news hub run by Dov Kleiman wrote, “Packers RB Josh Jacobs just had his first-ever NFL touchdown reception. Absolutely Wild.”\
Bleacher Report’s Gridiron account posted, “JOSH JACOBS BEAT THE ALLEGATIONS HIS FIRST CAREER RECEIVING TD (via @packers)
The official NFL.com Twitter/X account wrote, “211 CAREER CATCHES LATER, JOSH JACOBS FINALLY HAS A RECEIVING TD!”
Eli Berkovits, one of the hosts of the “Pack-a-Day” podcast, posted, “Josh Jacobs has scored his first ever receiving TD in the NFL! What a moment!”
As StatMuse Football put it: “Josh Jacobs as a pass catcher: 212 Receptions. 1,564 Yards. 1 Touchdown. Finally.”
Finally, indeed.
