Photo by Evan Siegle, packers.com
Aaron Jones Sept. 19, 2021
For the first half on Monday night, the Green Bay Packers looked like they learned nothing since their disappointing half against the Saints, but some savvy halftime adjustments, and a career day from Aaron Jones righted the ship, and led to a convincing win over the rebuilding Lions.
Last week the Saints managed to stymie Aaron Rodgers with a combination of a consistent two-safety look, a slow pace, and most importantly, getting out to a lead. The best way to break a Cover-2 look is simply to run the ball to force a safety up, but Green Bay was unable (or unwilling) to do so last week because they were trailing. This week, they trusted Aaron Jones to great effect, as his rushing was integral to moving the ball between the twenties, and his receiving and ability to create yards after the catch allowed Rodgers to finish off drives with theee short touchdown receptions. While the Lions went into halftime with a three-point lead after getting touchdowns from former Badger Quintez Cephus and tight end TJ Hockenson, the body shots from Jones would open up knock-out punches from Aaron Rodgers in the second.
At half-time, Rodgers was averaging only three air yards per attempt. Almost every first half pass was a safe checkdown under the Lions’ cover-2 shell. In the second half, Rodgers let it fly, averaging 13.2 air yards per pass, kicked off by a 50-yard bomb to Davante Adams, and a 22 yard dart to Robert Tonyan for a score. Rodgers seemed like a different player once he connected with Adams, which also coincided with the Lions losing their only decent corner, Ifeatu Melifonwu, to injury. Adams would finish the game with 121 yards on eight catches, with Randall Cobb chipping in three catches for 26 yards in his first extended action back with the team.
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Defense Still Struggles
While the offense took a big step forward, the defense still struggled at times. Even though they pitched a shutout in the second half, and forced two turnovers, they were aided by the poor weather, and a few fumbled snaps from center by the Lions, which may not have happened under more ideal circumstances. The Packers also recorded their first sack of the season, though it was awarded not to an individual player, but to the team as a whole because Goff fumbled on his own before any contact was made by a Packer.
The Packers have now gone two games without an individual player recording a sack, only the fifth time a team has opened the season without a player doing so since 2010. With Za’Darius Smith on IR and less than stellar play from the defensive line as a whole, it’s not a problem with a quick fix. Pass rush will be a problem all season, and the Packers only started getting more pressure on Goff due to a halftime adjustment from Matt LaFleur, who ordered new defensive coordinator Joe Barry to bring more rushers. Blitzing will likely be necessary, but blitzing comes with a cost, especially against elite quarterbacks as it puts extra pressure on the secondary to cover without an additional man.
On that front, the Packer defense may have a solution in rookie Eric Stokes. Stokes did not play much in the preseason, indicating he would be a big part of the secondary, but he also didn’t see much time against the Saints as Kevin King maintained his starting spot. Against Detroit, however, Stokes played on 77% of snaps and led the team in passes defended and looked outstanding. Over the first two games, Kevin King has allowed five completions on six targets for 133 yards. Stokes, on the other hand, has allowed a single completion on five targets for just five yards. The scouting agrees with the stats as Stokes’ coverage grade at Pro Football Focus (76.4, an elite number on their scale) is even higher than Jaire Alexander’s, and much better than Kevin King’s 47.1 grade.
If Stokes can be above average or better opposite Alexander, it gives Joe Barry greater freedom in dialing up blitzes to compensate for the lack of pass rushers and may allow for this defense to at least be above average.
Finally, the Packers added inside linebacker De’Vondre Campbell in the offseason, and while he may not be a superstar, he is clearly better than any Packer inside linebacker of the recent past. He was stout against the run despite a poor effort by the defensive line in front of him and made a nice interception late in the 4th quarter in pass coverage. Campbell is exactly the type of solid, smart player that could have made a huge difference on previous Packer defenses. Getting him was a savvy move by the front office, and while it wasn’t the flashiest acquisition, it’s nice to see the team adding useful veteran depth.
