INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Green Bay’s Jordan Love could have wallowed in self-doubt after throwing the first pick-6 of his career in the second quarter against the Los Angeles Rams. Instead, it ultimately motivated the quarterback and his Packers teammates.

Love completed nine straight passes after the interception, including two touchdown passes to Tucker Kraft in the second half as the Packers cruised to a 24-19 victory on Sunday.

“The election was a bad decision and it’s tough. But it’s all about how you react and recover,” said Love, who completed 15 of 26 passes for 224 yards in his second start after missing two games with a knee injury.

The Packers trailed 13-7 late in the second quarter after Jaylen McCollough intercepted Love’s off-balance attempt to throw the ball away and fired it home from 4 yards. But Love, a California native who grew up in Bakersfield, led Green Bay (3-2) to points on its next three drives and capitalized on two turnovers to beat the Rams (1-4) for the ninth time in their last game beat 10 regular season meets.

“I think that drive when you throw a pick-6 is never fun. But I think that’s what he’s all about, getting us there in the two-minute drive and scoring some crucial points when it was really difficult to score points,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “And when you meet a bunch of tough guys, I think it just manifests itself and it’s contagious.”

Kraft had four receptions for a career-best 88 yards. Two plays after Xavier McKinney recovered a fumble by Rams running back Kyren Williams and returned it 7 yards to the Green Bay 30, Love connected with Kraft for a 66-yard touchdown to give the Packers a 17-13 lead.

Kraft caught the ball at the Rams’ 49, stiff-armed Rams cornerback Darious Williams at the 30, and evaded a diving tackle attempt by Quentin Lake near the left sideline at the 20 before reaching the end zone.

“Excellent game call. “We had that prepared when we started making adjustments in the second half,” Kraft said. “We liked the defense they gave us in the secondary and middle midfield. We called it and executed it.”

After McKinney was the first player since the merger in 1970 With an interception in each of his first five games with a team, Kraft completed a seven-play drive when he scored two touchdowns from seven yards in the first game of his career.

“Those were moves that we needed and that’s complementary football.” And we did that very well today. I’m glad the offense slowed down and was able to score,” McKinney said of the turnovers.

Josh Jacobs had 19 carries for 73 yards and scored his first touchdown with the Packers in the first quarter on a 2-yard run around right end.

The Rams are off to their worst start since moving to Los Angeles in 2016. The last time they lost four of their first five players early in the season was in 2014 in St. Louis.

“I think we need to be able to finish games and be consistent throughout. I mean, look at it, we’re a 1-4 football team,” coach Sean McVay said. “Three of those four losses came in one-possession games. … But this is football, this is where we are.”

Kyren Williams rushed for 102 yards on 22 carries and scored for the eighth straight time as he plowed in from 1 meter away in the second quarter to tie it at 7. Williams has the longest TD streak by a Rams running back since Greg Bell scored 10 straight in the 1988 and 1989 seasons.

Matthew Stafford 1-yard touchdown pass to Demarcus Robinson – the 2-point conversion attempt failed – with 3:30 left, the Rams pulled within 24:19.

Los Angeles forced Green Bay to punt on the ensuing possession and took the lead on their own with 2:57 minutes left. The Rams drove to the Packers 38, but Stafford failed to connect with Colby Parkinson on fourth-and-5 with 1:01 left.

“I thought our defense did a great job in the second half and made some plays to give us chances late in the game to get the ball back. We just didn’t do enough with it,” said Stafford, who was 29 of 45 for 260 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Crazy choice

Love’s first pick-6 came on his 761st pass. On third-and-12 from the Packers 8, Love was flushed out of the pocket when Byron Young came in on an unblocked blitz. Love scrambled to the back of the end zone and lost his balance while trying to throw it away.

Instead, McCollough was able to intercept the desperation throw and score. Joshua Karty’s attempt at an extra point was blocked, leaving the score at 13-7.

“All week we’ve been working on their chipper protection, we’ve seen that a lot,” McCullough said. “So it was just a great play by BY, a great pursuit by the D-line, and I was in the right place at the right time.”

Love said he tried to throw it out of bounds and should have just aimed it at the ground.

“Try to cross the border, but don’t put it in danger. Don’t try to make a bad game worse,” he said. “But looking back, a safety is definitely better than a pick-6.”

Amazing catch

Jacobs’ score was set one play earlier than Love and Reed combined for a highlight reel. On second-and-10 at the Packers 45, Love completed a 53-yard pass to Reed in a tight window near the left sideline. Reed made it despite three Rams defenders nearby, including Lake on Reed’s back.

Next

Packers: Host Arizona next Sunday.

Rams: They have a bye next week before hosting Las Vegas on October 20th.

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