NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Malik Willis did things to the Tennessee Titans on Sunday that he could never do for them, which is why he was traded to the Green Bay Packers less than a month ago.

And he did so to the astonishment of virtually everyone in the dressing room of the victorious visitors, who could not have imagined that Willis would join his new team so soon after joining on August 26.

Willis wouldn’t call it a revenge game, nor would he take much credit for Sunday’s 30-14 win over his old team in their own stadium. But others certainly did after he led the Packers to their second improbable win in a row without Jordan Love, who missed his second straight game because of the knee injury he suffered late in the season opener.

A month ago, coach Matt LaFleur had never coached Willis. Now his record with him as the backup starting quarterback is 2-0.

“I just can’t put into words what he accomplished in that short amount of time,” LaFleur said. “People can’t comprehend it. I promise you, you don’t understand it. I know you think you understand it, but you don’t understand it. What he accomplished, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Willis had plenty of help thanks to one of the most dominant performances by a Packers defense in years with eight sacks (their most in a game since 2005) and three more turnovers (giving them nine this season, their most in three games since 2009). Safety Xavier McKinney caught his third interception in as many games to start the season and Jaire Alexander’s pick-six on Titans quarterback Will Levis in the first quarter helped Willis play from the top for the second straight week. Preston Smith and Devonte Wyatt also had two sacks each.

But after a run-heavy schedule last week against the Colts, it was immediately clear Sunday that LaFleur had more in mind for Willis against the Titans. On the first play of the game, Willis hit receiver Jayden Reed on a crossing route for 30 yards. Three plays later, Willis checked out of a play based on the Titans’ defensive lineup and threw a 30-yard ball to Christian Watson that led to a 5-yard touchdown run by Willis.

Overall, Willis threw for more yards than ever before in an NFL game (202, completing 13 of 19 passes for a touchdown) and rushed for more yards (73 on six attempts) than ever before. In three starts with the Titans in 2022, he did not reach 100 passing yards in any of them. His rushing total was the second-highest by a Packers quarterback in a game since 1970, only better than Don Majkowski’s 88 rushing yards against the Lions in 1990.

The fact that he managed to do this against the team that signed him with a third-round pick in 2022 but then traded him for a seventh-round pick from the Packers did not faze him. At least not publicly.

“I think all wins count equally,” Willis said afterwards.

That wasn’t the case in the Packers’ locker room.

“When I hear him talk about his situation and everything — I talked to other wideouts earlier in the game — I don’t care if he thinks it’s a revenge game, I’m going out there and playing for him,” said Watson, who led the Packers with 67 receiving yards on two catches. “I want him to go out there and win the thing considering his situation. I know he’s always going to stay humble and stay his character.”

A week after the Packers ran 53 times and threw 14 times, the balance was not quite so out of whack. Against the Titans, they ran 37 times for 188 yards and threw 19 times. LaFleur declined to say when he knew Willis would start for the second straight game; Love, who practiced only limitedly last week and was listed as questionable on the latest injury report, completed an extensive pregame workout before being declared inactive 90 minutes before kickoff.

Whether Love will return next Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings (3-0) remains to be seen, but the emotional boost that the Packers (2-1) got from winning 2-0 without him was clearly felt.

“I think that can motivate our team,” LaFleur said. “We needed everyone.”