Paul Bretl | 12/6/2024
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Josh Jacobs and the run game has been the catalyst for the Packers’ offense in recent games. Matt LaFleur had leaned heavily into that element against San Francisco and Miami, and it paid off by playing a key role in the offense’s red zone and on third down success during that two-game stretch.
However, the Detroit Lions, who are riddled with injuries within their front seven, weren’t going to let that happen. Their gameplan was clear: do not let Jacobs and the Packers’ run game get going.
Jacobs would finish the game carrying the ball 18 times–it’s not as if LaFleur abandoned the run by any means–but totaled just 66 yards, averaging only 3.7 yards per attempt. It certainly wasn’t the most crisp performance overall from the Packers’ offensive line, but the Lions didn’t make it easy either, oftentimes loading the box with the goal being to contain Jacobs.
According to NFL NextGen Stats, on Jacobs’ 18 carries, nine of them came against a loaded box. Jacobs would do his best to make the most of those opportunities forcing seven missed tackles with 48 of his 66 total yards coming after contact. But the results weren’t there. In addition to averaging under 4.0 yards per attempt, Jacobs had just one rush of 10-plus yards in this game.
“They’re a good football team that’s going to challenge you,” Matt LaFleur said of the Lions’ defense. “We knew that. They’re going to play a ton of man coverage, load the box. Those yards that our runners were able to get today were hard-earned yards. But that’s the style of play that they have, and it’s tough to go against. You’ve got to be really good. It forces you to make a lot of plays.”
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So, for the Packers’ offense, the pendulum had to swing back in the other direction toward the passing game. It was a slow start, to say the least, for this unit. Love finished the first half with only 31 yards through the air, and on Green Bay’s lone touchdown drive in the first half 10 of the 12 plays were rushes.
In part, it took some time for the offense to settle in. A big no-no against the Lions is getting off to a slow start, which the Packers did, running 10 total plays on their first three possessions, resulting in two punts and a fumble. From the jump, the offense, in particular, looked out of sync with the timing just not right.
Not helping the matter was that the Lions’ interior front was generating a steady push against Green Bay’s offensive line. This was particularly impressive when you consider all the injuries that the Lions are dealing with along their defensive front. Detroit also blitzed Jordan Love heavily, sending pressures on 15 of his dropbacks.
“Obviously didn’t start fast enough,” said Jordan Love post-game. “I think didn’t convert on those third downs, those crucial third downs early on and that’s something we’ve been trying to focus on the past couple of weeks and I think it’s something we’ve been better at but any time you can’t stay on the field right there, it’s not going to be good.”
But coming out of halftime, Love and the passing game began to find its groove. It started on the opening drive of the third quarter with a 59 yard completion to Christian Watson that led to a touchdown. The Packers then capitalized on a Detroit turnover with another quick score. Green Bay’s third touchdown of the half was set up by a fourth-down stop by the defense and a 21 yard catch and run to Tucker Kraft.
“We just needed something,” said Watson of his 59 yard catch. “We knew we were getting the leverage that we wanted to for it all game. It’s really something we knew we were going to get to eventually and we finally got the look for it.”
Overall, Love was 12-of-20 passing for 206 yards, however, in that second half, he was 9-for-13 for 175 yards at a hefty 13.5 yards per attempt with four completions of 20-plus yards. Watson finished the game with 114 yards on four receptions, Kraft continued to provide a YAC-heavy presence with 41 yards of his own with a score, while Dontayvion Wicks had his most steady performance in some time, catching four of his five targets for 49 yards.
As is their brand of ball, the Lions play aggressively on the back end of their defense, bringing a physical and man coverage-centric approach to the secondary. Once the Packers’ offensive line quite leaking oil, and Love had time, those one-on-one matchups are frequently going to favor Green Bay.
In fact, I think we could all agree that Dan Campbell’s decision to go for it on fourth down in the final minute was made because he didn’t want to give Love and the Packers’ offense the ball back.
“I felt like we got a rhythm,” said Josh Myers about the second half. “It felt like we hadn’t really found a rhythm (early on). We found ourselves early in some third and longs, passing situations where they were able to do what they like to do. So just gotta do a better job staying out of those early on and then when we are in them we’ve got to do a better job picking them up.”
Ultimately, while the Packers put themselves in a position to win the game in the second half, they came up short. In back-and-forth matchups such as this one, oftentimes, it is only a handful of plays that end up determining the outcome of a game. And in this instance, those crucial, game-deciding plays came on third and fourth downs, where Green Bay struggled to stay on the field while Detroit was extremely efficient.
But having said that, in previous games where it was the run game that provided the offense with a spark and helped create opportunities for the passing game, in this contest, it was the Packers’ passing game that lifted the entire unit.
While Green Bay’s aerial attack battled inconsistency for much of the first half of the season, with a healthy Love under center, this element is hitting its stride, which should allow LaFleur to lean more heavily into it, depending on what the gameplan calls for. This is where the Packers’ offense truly becomes its most dangerous with defenses having to essentially pick their poison–commit to slowing Jacobs and leave yourself short-handed in the secondary or provide addition help to the cornerbacks but now be lighter in the front seven.
I feel like we’re a very good offense,” added Love. “A very explosive offense and there’s going to be games where you’ve got to put up a lot of points and I think it just goes to show how dialed in you’ve got to be all game — how you’ve got to be able to start fast and execute early on and be able to put up those points that we weren’t putting up in that first half. So, second half, I liked the way we responded, but it just wasn’t good enough.”