GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Christian Watson just had to stay healthy. Matthew Golden simply required a few more targets.
Both are getting just what they needed, and it’s helped the Green Bay Packers duo develop into one of the NFL’s top receiving tandems.
Watson ranks fourth (97.7) and Golden eighth (87.0) in yards receiving per game, making them the only teammates in the top 10. Watson has 49 catches for 879 yards and seven touchdowns, while Golden has 53 receptions for 783 yards and five scores.
“Having a little bit more defined roles this season has allowed us to go out there and be who we are as players, as individuals,” Watson said. “We’re kind of just feeding off of each other.”
Watson and Golden are just the fifth set of NFL teammates to each have at least 45 catches, 775 yards and five touchdown receptions through the first nine games of a season. The others were San Diego’s John Jefferson and Kellen Winslow in 1980, Buffalo’s Eric Moulds and Peerless Price in 2002, Denver’s Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas in 2014 and Tampa Bay’s Mike Evans and Chris Godwin in 2019.
Their emergence has helped Packers quarterback Jordan Love gain MVP consideration. Green Bay ranks 12th in the league in scoring despite having the NFL’s lowest-ranked rushing attack.
“Those guys have been making play after play,” Love said.
Watson and Golden face a major test Sunday when the Packers host the Minnesota Vikings, who are allowing an NFL-low 14.5 points per game.
Golden had 10 receptions for 164 yards and a touchdown and Watson caught seven passes for 171 yards and a touchdown in a 45-27 victory at New England last weekend. That made them the fifth set of teammates in NFL history — and first since Miami’s Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle in 2022 — to each have at least seven catches for 160 yards and a touchdown in the same game.
“Whenever he gets going, I get going,” Golden said after that game. “It goes back and forth. I think when we’re on the same side of the ball, it makes it even better. You’ve got to pick one.”
Benefiting from offseason moves
They’ve rewarded the leap of faith the Packers took this offseason by sacrificing depth to make Watson and Golden the clear top receiving options. Green Bay allowed Romeo Doubs to leave for New England in free agency and traded Dontayvion Wicks to Philadelphia.
“It was a crowded room last year,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said “It was hard to, I don’t want to say ‘keep everybody happy,’ but try to give everybody equal opportunities at the ball when you’ve got a bunch of guys that you can throw the ball to. And this year it’s been a little bit more centered — obviously — around Christian and MG.”
Those moves seemed risky at the time given the track records of Watson and Golden.
Watson has been productive when healthy, but the 2022 second-round pick dealt with hamstring injuries his first two seasons in the NFL and then tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the Packers’ 2024 regular-season finale. Golden, the first receiver the Packers have drafted in the first round since Javon Walker in 2002, had only 29 catches for 361 yards as a rookie last year.
The Packers decided both could be on the verge of breakthroughs.
Watson had 35 catches for 611 yards and six touchdowns last season despite playing just 10 games due to his ACL recovery. Golden showed plenty of potential in the Packers’ wild-card playoff loss at Chicago, catching four passes for 84 yards and scoring the only touchdown of his rookie season.
“I know me and him, we talked about it all offseason — we were going to come in, do this thing and take off with it,” Golden said.
That’s exactly what they’ve done.
Taking major steps forward
Watson already has career highs in catches and yards receiving and his seven touchdown catches match his career high. Seattle’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba is the only player with more touchdown catches this season.
Golden already has been targeted 92 times, more than doubling his 2025 total of 44. Golden has the most dropped passes of anyone in the league, but he also has produced four 100-yard games.
Watson and Golden are the first tandem to both have five-plus catches of 40-plus yards in the first nine games of a season since Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt did it for the St. Louis Rams in 2000.
“It just speaks about the confidence the coaches got in us, especially with Jordan,” Golden said. “It wasn’t just built now. It happened over time. We had to put the work in to get where we are now. If we continue to do that, it’s going to keep happening.”
NOTES: RB Josh Jacobs (finger), EDGE Micah Parsons (knee), C Sean Rhyan (ankle) and TE Josh Whyle (concussion) have been ruled out for Sunday’s game. LB Zaire Franklin (shin) is doubtful. RB Chris Brooks (ankle), DB Javon Bullard (ankle/knee), OL Travis Glover (knee), S Xavier McKinney (foot), WR Skyy Moore (ankle), EDGE Lukas Van Ness (back) and OG Kevin Zeitler (ankle/triceps) are questionable.
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Steve Megargee, The Associated Press