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Josh Jacobs’ pass-catching prowess can be key factor for Packers’ offense vs 49ers

Paul Bretl | 11/21/2024

GREEN BAY, Wis. — A former rushing leader and among the most productive ball carriers in football this season, Packers’ running back Josh Jacobs’ ability in the passing game could prove to be an important element for the offense against the San Francisco defense.

Jacobs’ resume as a ball carrier speaks for itself now six seasons into his NFL career. But when the Packers acquired the running back in free agency, they were also excited to bring in his ability as a pass-catcher, an at times, underutilized aspect of Jacobs’ game during his time with Las Vegas.

“There’s not a route, I would say, that he can’t run,” said passing game coordinator Jason Vrable during training camp. “I would say the most impressive thing above everything has been his hands. They’ve been exceptional. He’s a hands catcher for a running back and he has a big catch radius. He’s one of those guys who knows the route tree and can kinda do anything that we need him to do.”

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On the season, Jacobs has been a reliable target out of the backfield for Jordan Love, catching 23-of-27 targets and averaging 8.1 yards per reception with a touchdown. Against Chicago this past Sunday, Jacobs averaged over 14 yards per reception and was tied for first on the team in receptions and was second in yards.

Jacobs’ understanding of route concepts allows the Packers to get him involved in the passing game in a variety of ways–he doesn’t only have to get the ball dumped down to him out of the backfield. His soft hands make him a reliable target, and his ability in space makes him a really difficult matchup for the defense.

At a minimum, with Jacobs, there is the opportunity to move the chains on offense, but when in space, there also becomes the potential for an explosive play.

“I think with him, it’s also the fact that he has really soft hands and can adjust to the football,” said running backs coach Ben Sirmans. “He’s hard to bring down, so now when he’s catching the ball in space, now defenders have to try to defend him in space, so it’s like handing him the ball with the defender five, six yards away from him and say, ‘go tackle that guy.’

“So he’s been really good out of the backfield. It’s one of the things that we talk about, catching the ball out of the backfield is an opportunity to keep the chains moving, which gives us more opportunities. So he’s been great for us from that standpoint.”

As a receiver specifically, Jacobs ranks 10th in average yards per catch among all running backs. As a ball carrier in general, he’s one of the most difficult players to bring down, ranking fifth in average yards after contact and seventh in missed tackles force. The end result is a back who is among the best at generating explosive plays.

“For me, man, it’s just not giving up on a play,” said Jacobs. “It’s trying to go out there and give everything that I have and never feeling like I didn’t try. Me being a vet in this locker room, me trying to be the leader that I want to be, I hold myself to certain standards, to a certain level of accountability, and I wouldn’t be able to come in here and look these guys in the eye if I feel like I didn’t get everything that I had, and I feel like I couldn’t ask that out of them if I wasn’t showing it or giving it.”

Against an all-around stout 49ers’ defense that is coming to Lambeau Field on Sunday, Jacobs’ pass catching abilities may end up being a key factor for the Packers’ offense.

Although dealing with some injuries, this is a Niners’ defense that ranks ninth against the run in yards per rush, is sixth in yards per pass attempt surrendered, and features a defensive front with Nick Bosa, who, of note, did not practice on Wednesday with an oblique injury.

The run game, of course, can’t be forgotten about. Struggling to pick up yards in the ground game will put Green Bay behind the sticks and in obvious passing situations against the 49ers’ pass rush that ranks 11th in win rate and a stingy secondary. Becoming one-dimensional and pass-heavy isn’t a recipe for success.

But with that said, utilizing Jacobs in the passing game can act as a pseudo-run game if yards between the tackles are hard to come by as it is a way to get him the ball in space.

Similarly to what we saw this past Sunday in Chicago where Jacobs was heavily targeted, if the pass rush is closing in on Love or there isn’t anyone open downfield, he can provide an outlet option.

“He’s one of those guys that you want to have the ball in his hands,” said Love about Jacobs. “He does really good things when he has it, and I think it just comes down to – like I said before – what defenses are doing. Anytime we can get the ball in Josh’s hands with five yards between him and the next defender, good things are going to happen. So just trying to keep getting him the ball, but he makes you right when you get him the ball.”

If Jacobs is able to create in the passing game, there is the potential for a positive trickle-down effect to the rest of the offense. Defenders in the secondary could start to creep up, possibly opening up opportunities downfield, and in general, it’s more space that the 49ers’ defense will have to account for, which can help spread them out–although San Francisco does have the ultimate eraser in Fred Warner at linebacker.

“I think that the challenge is you just never know who’s going to get the ball,” said LaFleur of Jacobs’ impact in the run game. “And I think when you’re trying to push the ball down the field, and if they do a good job of getting depth in the coverage, and then the check downs are there, those check downs, especially when you’re checking it down to a guy like Josh, tend to go for more yards. So I think it adds a level of that, a dimension to our offense that you really have to account for.”

Against this 49ers defense, there is no magic wand a team can wave to find success. It’s going to take a complementary effort from both the run and passing games, but Jacobs’ impact in the passing game could provide the offense with something to lean on through the ebbs and flows of Sunday’s game.

Packers’ CB depth continues to be tested with Jaire Alexander working through injury

Paul Bretl | 11/21/2024

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Packers cornerback depth will continue to be tested as Jaire Alexander navigates a knee injury that he’s been working through.

Late in the Packers’ matchup with Jacksonville, Alexander landed awkwardly, suffering the knee injury. The specific injury that he’s working through hasn’t been reported, but the Packers didn’t believe it was long-term. After missing the Detroit game and then having the bye week, Alexander attempted to play on a pinch count, however, he exited early with his knee not responding how he had hoped.

“That’s always a risk,” said Matt LaFleur of activating a player when unsure about an injury. “I knew that going into it. He was on a pitch count regardless, and those other guys were well aware that they were going to have to play. But we just felt like it was better to have him for a limited period. Now, we were hoping we could get through it and keep him on a pitch count and then pull him. It didn’t work out that way.”

With Alexander available versus not having him, there’s a very different feel to this Packers’ cornerback room. We all know the caliber of player that he is and so, of course, there’s a void when Alexander is sidelined. In seven games this season, Alexander is allowing a completion rate of 56 percent with two interceptions and three pass breakups.

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Beyond Alexander’s individual performances, his presence on the field can alter the gameplan, specifically what other defenders are asked to do. For example, with the confidence that the team has in Alexander to handle one-on-one matchups, that could free up Xavier McKinney with additional freedom to roam the field or provide help elsewhere.

“A lot better,” said McKinney of the Packers’ defense with Alexander. “Obviously, he adds a lot to our team, he adds a lot to our defense. But we understand he’s injured, so he’s going to do the things that he has to do to try to get back, and then the guys that are behind him are always going to have to be prepared.”

Without Alexander, however, the depth of this cornerback room, which the Packers still very much believe in, does seem to come into question. Keisean Nixon continues to start on the boundary as he has when Alexander is out there, but last week we saw a change with Carrington Valentine dominating the defensive snaps, while Eric Stokes was on the sidelines.

On the season, Valentine has allowed six completions on eight targets but has limited opponents to 11.2 yards per catch with a pass breakup. The Packers did seem to be encouraged by his play against Chicago, and continued to speak to the confidence they have in him, although up until recently, Valentine was stuck behind Stokes on the depth chart.

“I think he did a nice job,” said LaFleur of Valentine. “I thought there were a couple of instances where he was able to cracker plays and make some tackles. And so we’re excited about him, and I think he’s got a huge upside.”

With Nixon, it is a similar story–he’s giving up completions on 66 percent of his targets but has a few pass breakups and is holding pass-catchers to under 10 yards per reception. Overall, this is a Packers secondary that hasn’t given up many downfield plays this season, but with the cornerbacks surrendering relatively high completion rates, even at nine or 10 yards per catch, that’s enough to pick up a first down and keep the drive going for the opposing offense.

While I don’t believe that the cornerback position is a big red flag without Alexander, this does seem to become a position that is, at the very least, vulnerable.

“I’ve been saying this from the very jump,” added McKinney, “everybody has to be on their P’s and Q’s because you never know when you’re going to get called. I think our guys here have done a great job of making sure that they’re always ready, and I think it’s shown a lot about our unit as a secondary and a lot about our team.”

Alexander did not practice on Wednesday, and as he often does, LaFleur said they will see how he progresses through the week and make a decision about his availability for Sunday from there.

Awaiting the Packers this week is the high-powered and unpredictable San Francisco 49ers’ offense. Coming off of their performance in Chicago, the Green Bay defense has a lot to clean up and that task becomes all the more challenging if they are without Alexander.

“You’re talking about an elite player at his position,” LaFleur said of Alexander. “So it definitely is tough when, when he’s not out there, but that is for, that’s, that’s the case for a lot of teams in this league, missing players, and you’ve got to have the next guy step up, be ready to go, and can never let that standard slip.”

Packers defense with a lot to clean up before matchup vs. 49ers

Paul Bretl | 11/20/2024

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Struggling out of the bye week against what was a stagnant Chicago Bears offense, the Packers’ defense must correct and adjust quickly, with the San Francisco 49ers’ offense awaiting them on Sunday.

While previously, the Green Bay defense has often been a key contributor to many of the Packers’ victories, against the Bears, the Packers won in spite of that unit.

“The thing I make out of that is we’ve got to be better,” said Matt LaFleur on Monday. “Just after watching the tape with the guys, I would say we’re all in agreement with that. There were opportunities to get off the grass, and for one reason or another, we didn’t make the plays. It’s a credit to them, I thought they had a good plan.”

This was a Bears’ offense that entered Sunday’s matchup on a three-game losing streak. Offensively, they had totaled just 27 points during that three game span, which included 241 yards of total offense in Week 9 against Arizona and 142 total yards last week against New England.

These struggles prompted head coach Matt Eberflus to make a change at coordinator early in the week prior to the Packers game, firing Shane Waldron and promoting passing game coordinator Thomas Brown.

However, the Bears would go on to produce nearly 400 yards of offense, more than their previous two games combined, and found the end zone twice after not scoring a touchdown in the previous two weeks either.

This success for Chicago started in the run game. With Brown as the play-caller, the Bears utilized more designed quarterback runs, which Kenny Clark and Xavier McKinney acknowledged after the game, caught them off guard. Green Bay also didn’t seem to have any answers for the quick passing game either.

The trickle-down effect of moving the ball on the ground keeps the offense ahead of the sticks and in manageable down-and-distances, helping the Bears convert nine of their 16 third down attempts.

The run game can also open up opportunities in the passing game, which Caleb Williams was able to take advantage of, particularly in man coverage, and the long drives allowed the Bears to control the time of possession, holding the ball for nearly 13 more minutes than the Packers and running 25 additional plays.

“We’ve just got to clean it up, man,” said Xavier McKinney after the game. “It’s tough because I think that we can play way better ball than what we did today but it’s hard to win in this league. When you do win, you’ve got to be somewhat happy about the win because it’s hard to win. But also, you’ve got to know that there’s a lot of things to improve on and we’ve got to do that moving forward.”

So if the Bears can surprise this Green Bay defense, what could the 49ers do? Awaiting the Packers this week will be Christian McCaffrey and an unpredictable 49ers’ passing game with Kyle Shanahan and Brock Purdy at the helm.

Everything begins with the ground game for the 49ers. Even without McCaffrey for much of the season, San Francisco is still averaging 5.0 yards per rush as a team–the fourth-best mark in football–and included 2022 undrafted rookie Jordan Mason coming out of nowhere to produce over 700 rushing yards in only 10 games.

McCaffrey has now been back in the mix the past two games and is coming off a 1,700-yard MVP season in 2023.

Moving the ball successfully on the ground then sets up the passing game for Purdy. As already described, staying ahead of the sticks gives the offense the advantage. The entire playbook is open to them at that point, forcing the defense to spread out and keeping them off-balanced, oftentimes not knowing whether its a run or pass play that’s coming.

The utilization of play-action off of that run game success and the marrying of the running and passing games through run-actions and similar play designs only further complicates things for a defense as they try to decipher what the offense is going to do.

“The motions, the misdirections, the things that they try to disguise in that offense,” said Javon Bullard of the 49ers. “They just make you dial in on alignments, like very critical, you bump too far against this team, they can take it 75 yards. Everything got to be critical.”

Couple that element with a bevy of versatile players, which includes McCaffrey, George Kittle, and Deebo Samuel, all of whom can fill a variety of roles from where they are asked to line up to what their responsibility is on a given play, and it’s easy to see how this 49ers’ offense continues to put up points and yards, even as they’ve navigated injuries on the offensive side of the ball this season.

“You gotta know where everybody at all the time,” Bullard added. “Like I said, those guys can be in different spots at any moment. You see Deebo out-wide, you see him in the backfield, same thing with McCaffrey. So you just gotta be dialed in to where those guys are, just being able to call that out and not being blind to the fact that they can be at any place and can take it at any time.”

If containing the San Francisco run game is step No. 1 for the Packers’ defense, then step No. 2 is getting after Purdy on passing plays. While not an easy task against the 49ers offensive line, it is a defense’s best chance of disrupting a potent passing game that averages 8.5 yards per pass by forcing Purdy off his spot, thus impacting the timing and rhythm of the play, hopefully resulting in off-target throws, or even better, sacks.

“I think he’s a damn good quarterback,” said LaFleur of Purdy. “You don’t put up the kind of numbers that they’re able to put up offensively without a quarterback that can go out there and do it. And I think the one thing that makes him so special, just studying him over the last couple years is just, I think he’s got a great feel in the pocket of when to escape or when to hang in there, because if, if the rush is a non-factor, he’s going to hang in the pocket until he can’t.

“I think he does a great job buying time. And he’s, he’s deceptive in terms of his ability to get out of the pocket and beat you with his legs as well. So I’ve been really impressed with him, his ability to throw on time, and he, he looks like a really decisive quarterback, and he’s got some really good weapons to throw to as well.”

Coming into Sunday’s game, Purdy is dealing with right shoulder soreness and is “day to day,” as Shanahan put it, although LaFleur said he fully expects him to play. McCaffrey, meanwhile, is averaging just 3.7 yards per rush in his two appearances this season, while Kittle missed last week’s game with a hamstring injury. Brandon Aiyuk is also out for the season with an ACL injury.

At 5-5 on the season, perhaps this hasn’t been the same juggernaut Niners team that the Packers have run into during past seasons, but as the numbers show, they can still very much hurt opposing defenses. And if Green Bay is unable to clean up the issues that plagued them for four quarters in Chicago, well, the 49ers are one of the best in football at taking advantage of those miscues.

“They got a lot of playmakers,” Bullard said. “A lot of guys they can get the ball to. A lot of guys that are dangerous with the ball in their hands. Nice O-line, nice physical O-line. They’re a complete football team.”

Through ups and downs, Packers WR Dontayvion Wicks remains confident and ready

Paul Bretl | 11/20/2024

GREEN BAY, Wis. — It’s been an up-and-down season, to say the least, for Packers’ second-year wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks up to this point. But for this offense to be at its best, that includes getting Wicks involved, so going away from him shouldn’t be an option at this time.

On the season, Wicks has six dropped passes, according to Pro Football Focus, and a drop rate of 27.3 percent, which has contributed to his low overall completion rate when targeted of just 37.2 percent, with Wicks catching only 16 of his 43 passes.

For some context, Wicks’ six dropped passes are the second-most in football this season, and that drop rate is the highest by over four percent.

“Working with the quarterback, really, just focusing on eyes to hands, concentration, because most of the drops come from me looking away too quick,” said Wicks of the dropped passes.

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Wicks has dealt with dropped passes before. During his final season at Virginia, he dealt with the drops that season as well, totaling nine in the nine games that he played. However, that wasn’t going to stop the Packers from drafting him because, as now passing game coordinator Jason Vrable described last spring, a lot of those drops were the product of Wicks trying to turn and make a play before he caught it.

It would seem to be a relatively simple fix that requires going back to the fundamentals. The drops Wicks has had this season seem to be of a similar ilk. However, now over halfway through the season, it’s still been a problem, so how does one go about fixing it?

“You go back and are like, ‘All right, what’s your weekly process with how you warm up, how you train your hands, what are you doing? And you’ve just got to make tweaks,” said Adam Stenavich. “And we’ve done that. and hopefully we see the results from that moving forward. But I have a ton of confidence in Tay and I know whatever issued we have with the catching, we’ll get those resolved and I’m excited about that.”

While ultimately, it’s up to the receiver to make the play, not all drops are created equal when it comes to where the blame lies. A few of those throws from Jordan Love to Wicks could have been better placed. One example of this came in the Detroit game with Green Bay in the red zone. As Love rolled to his right, Wicks ran wide open over the middle. Love let it rip but the pass was behind Wicks and went through his hands as he reached back for it.

Would you like to see Wicks make that play? For sure. Did Love need to put it in a better spot? Absolutely. Both things can be true.

Leading up to the Bears game, Love was a full participant in all three practices that week–something that hasn’t happened often this season as he’s navigated two different lower body injuries. Those additional practice reps moving forward, along with Love just generally being healthier, which can lead to improved mechanics and accuracy, can be a key factor in the quarterback-receiver duo regaining that chemistry we saw last season and even in training camp.

“Practice matters for sure,” said Wicks. “Because you work on the stuff you’re going to do in the game. There’s preparation, you’ve already seen it. It helps you be more comfortable and confident, and it helps you play faster, too. You’re doing stuff during the week that’s going to happen in the game. But he’s had a little time out of practice. We’re going to get it right.”

However, despite the drops and inconsistent play from Wicks, he is still third on the team in targets with 43, and he’s second in touchdowns with four. The reason being he’s a well-refined route runner, with a diverse release package at the line of scrimmage, who knows how to create separation, allowing him to win at all levels of the field.

To illustrate this, PFF has a metric called separation percentage, which tracks how often a receiver gets open by beating the coverage rather than benefitting from how the defense defends the play. So far this season, Wicks ranks second among all receivers in this category, creating separation on 74.5 percent of his routes.

“I mean, most of the time I’m out there, I feel like I’m open,” said Wicks. “I’ve got confidence in my routes, what I can do. I’ve got confidence in my catching. It just ain’t working how we want it right now, and that happens. So just keep working, outwork what’s going on right now and I feel like I’ll see the light at the end.”

Matt LaFleur says that the team remains confident in Wicks. The reason is that they see him make these receptions in practice, and when the practice preparation is consistently done correctly, then that should carry over to Sundays.

With all of the talent that the Packers have at the receiver position, getting consistent opportunities isn’t always going to come easy. Oftentimes, it’s the gameplan given the opponent that is going to dictate on a week-to-week basis where the opportunities may lie and that can even be thrown off by how the defense defends each play and where the read takes Love as he goes through his progressions.

So, for that reason, there are instances where snaps and targets can ebb and flow more so with this Packers offense than perhaps with other teams. This past Sunday against Chicago, Wicks was on the field for only 16 of the offense’s 46 total snaps, working as the fourth receiver on the team from a playing time perspective.

Given how the season has unfolded, I don’t think anyone would argue about Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, and Jayden Reed seeing more snaps than Wicks. But having said that, even through the ups and downs, the Packers can’t forget about Wicks either–and there is not indication that’s the case.

As Brian Gutekunst discussed during the bye week, one of the goals each season is for the team to be peaking at the right time and playing its best football come the playoffs. In order for the Packers to be at their best, that means having Wicks playing at the level that he’s shown he’s capable of because when that’s happening, there isn’t a situation where he can’t be on the field. When a receiver can separate like Wicks, the down, the distance, and the time of the game don’t matter–he can win regardless.

“My confidence ain’t going nowhere,” Wicks said. “I’m still confident in my hands, I know what I can do. It’s just, it’s going to turn. I’m just waiting on my time.”

Improved decision-making and mobility from Packers QB Jordan Love vs Bears

Paul Bretl | 11/19/2024

GREEN BAY, Wis. — It wasn’t the Packers’ best performance on offense this past Sunday against the Chicago Bears, but it was a game in which Jordan Love looked more like Jordan Love after navigating a knee and groin injury during the first half of the season.

Watching this game unfold live, it felt like a bit of a clunky performance from the Packers’ offense–and certainly, at times, that was true. But after taking a step back and rewatching the game, the play of Love and the offense as a whole looked more crisp.

With the Chicago offense moving the ball on the ground, that allowed them to control the time of possession. When it was all said and done, the Bears would hold the ball for almost 13 more minutes than Green Bay and run 25 more plays than what the Packers did.

So because of this, opportunities for the Packers’ offense were limited. Excluding a kneel-down before halftime, the Packers had just six possessions in the game. However, it turns out they were quite efficient in moving the ball. On five of those possessions, they made it all the way to the Chicago red zone. Green Bay also averaged 8.5 yards per play, which to put into context, Baltimore leads the NFL through 11 weeks in that category, averaging 7.0 yards per play this season.

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Josh Jacobs provided the offense with stability, totaling 132 yards between 18 rushes and four receptions. Christian Watson, meanwhile, provided the often-needed spark, with 150 receiving yards on just four receptions. And there was Love, who played a “pretty solid game,” as Matt LaFleur put it on Monday.

With only six possessions, Love passed the ball just 17 times but completed 13 of those attempts for 261 yards, generating several explosive plays on passes to Watson, along with Jacobs adding a 23 yard catch and run completion as well. Love’s 15.4 yards per attempt were the most in football in Week 11, and again, for more context, the season lead in that category is Jared Goff at 9.2 yards per attempt.

But going beyond the numbers, Love looked more so like his old self now feeling healthier coming out of the bye week. Coming into this game, he was a full participant in practice all three days, which hasn’t been the norm this season as he worked through the aforementioned lower body injuries.

The impact of this is that, one, he is getting important practice reps as he prepares for the game, in addition to the improved mobility. This allowed for more under center snaps from Love, and a greater usage of play-action, two key elements to the LaFleur offense.

Love being able to move around better also helped facilitate his 13-yard run to the pylon that set up his one-yard rushing touchdown on the next play. But also important, that improved mobility was on display in how Love moved about and manipulated the pocket.

“There was one of the third and longs in the first half where he hit Christian Watson,” said LaFleur. “Just the ability to hang in the pocket and have those subtle movements that we always look for, for that pocket manipulation, and then throwing a strike to Christian Watson. So, I thought all in all, like I said, I thought he played a pretty solid game.”

Now, having said all of that, it certainly wasn’t a perfect performance by any means. I’m going to guess the red zone interception left a sour taste for many. But unlike several of Love’s previous interceptions, the decision-making that resulted in the throw was sound. It was just an off-target throw, which obviously has to get cleaned up, but it’s also more so an isolated incident versus some concerning trend.

“It was a good decision,” said LaFleur of the throw. “That’s where the ball, that’s where the play was designed to go. It’s third-and-10. We needed Tuck to drop-step and get what he can to set up either a first down or a fourth-and-short, where now you have a decision to make. The ball sailed on him. It is what it is. I’m not going to get bent out of shape about it. We’ll look at just the drop mechanics, all that. He knows. It happens sometimes.”

Even on the downfield pass to Watson in double-coverage, you can look back and see Tucker Kraft running open on an intermediate route, and hindsight being 20/20 you’d say that’s where the ball should go. But from a process standpoint and the calculus that went into that decision, Love was again sound in how he got to the end result, which was choosing to throw to Watson over Kraft–the safety just made a good play, although Watson negated that by making an excellent play of his own.

“When I started moving, the safety was kind of playing both Christian and Tucker,” Love said, “and I saw Christian put his hand up that he was going deep and I thought he was beyond the safety and I think the safety did a good job as I was throwing of turning his hips and taking Christian. But anytime the ball’s in the air you love it when a receiver can go up and make that play and make you right.”

That decision-making component was also on display in Love’s willingness to dump the ball off to Jacobs, who led the team in targets with five, was tied with Watson in receptions, and was second on the team in receiving yards. Quarterbacks coach Tom Clements has said that a pivotal part of Love’s turnaround in 2023 was knowing when to take the checkdown and when to push the ball downfield. Against Chicago, we saw him strike that balance.

“He’s a smart guy,” said LaFleur of Love. “He’s intentional about his work. You know, that’s where we need him to play because there was a few instances – I thought all in all our offensive line did an outstanding job giving him the protection he needed but there were a couple times where we busted a protection and people got in there and there was no hesitation. It was like boom, I’m getting to the checkdown. I thought he did a great job.”

What really hurt the Packers was their performance in those key, must-have-it situations, specifically third downs and in the red zone. Green Bay was just 1-for-5 on third down attempts and 2-for-4 in the red zone, which included leaving with no points–not even a field goal–on two occasions.

This was always going to be a difficult matchup for the Packers coming into this game, with them having struggled situationally this season and the Bears’ defense being one of the best in both the red zone and on third downs.

“They’re really good,” Love said of the Bears’ defense. “I think we had some opps and obviously I think we left a couple plays out there but like I said they’re very good in the red zone and third down. We knew that coming into the game. Obviously red zone, you want to put up more points. You want to finish a drive with touchdowns. Obviously the interception in the red zone did not help us. Like I said they do a good job in the red zone.”

Many of the Packers’ issues in these situations stem from first-down struggles, whether it be a penalty, dropped pass, off-target throw, or whatever it may be that puts them behind the sticks and in predictable passing situations. Even for the best offenses, spending too much time in these get-back-on-track situations is a tough way to live in the NFL, with the offense being at such a disadvantage compared to the defense when forced to become one-dimensional.

Without question, there is plenty that has to get cleaned up coming out of this game. But as Brian Gutekunst discussed during the bye week, one of the goals each season is for the team to be peaking at the right time. No one is going to say that the Packers have reached that point, and truthfully, it’s only Week 12, so you don’t necessarily want them to just yet either. But the overall play from Love in Chicago was a step in that direction.

Packers DE Brenton Cox takes advantage of larger role vs Bears

Paul Bretl | 11/19/2024

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Packers second-year defensive end Brenton Cox went from being a healthy scratch on Sundays in the first half of the season to playing a fairly significant role in Week 11 against the Bears, and he capitalized on the opportunity.

“It feels good,” said Cox after the game. “Just taking advantage of the opportunity. I knew I had a lot on my plate, so just going out there and playing hard.”

In his debut, Cox was a key member of the Packers’ defensive end rotation. While, as expected, Rashan Gary and JJ Enagbare led the way in playing time with 46 and 41 snaps, respectively, Cox’s 22 snaps were only two fewer than what Lukas Van Ness saw and twice as many as Arron Mosby’s 10 snaps.

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Cox would finish the game with two pressures, according to PFF, and a sack, where he few into the backfield, not concerned about the run-action component on the play as he made a bee-line for Caleb Williams. Cox also recorded three tackles in the run game, two of which were for a loss.

“I thought he played really well,” said Matt LaFleur on Monday. “Obviously was impactful in the game and not only on defense. He had the play on we-fense where he drew a personal foul. He kicked the guy’s butt in front of him, drove him back, the guy got frustrated, head butted him and then he didn’t respond.

“He kept his poise, and that’s something that we talked about. Gotta give him a lot of credit because that’s not always easy to do in the heat of the battle, so I was really happy with his play and happy for him.”

From the outside looking in, Cox’s emergence may have seemingly come out of nowhere, to a degree. As already stated, he went from not playing at all to recording multiple pressures and tackles for loss. But inside the building, the coaching staff could see this coming. The momentum that Cox built during training camp has carried over into the regular season, specifically during team practices, where he continued to pop up on the film each week.

“I think there’s a string of two practices where Cox, I just thought, he looked like he was ready to go,” said Jeff Hafley last Thursday. “What’s really cool to see when guys earn their opportunity and I think he’s a really good example of that. And I am really, really excited for him.”

As an undrafted rookie in 2023 out of Florida, Cox’s ability to get after the quarterback and intriguing upside earned him a roster spot last season–although he played only five defensive snaps. He is a power rusher who wins with heavy and violent hands. There was one pass rush rep from Cox early on in training camp where the pop of his hands hitting the offensive tackle’s pads echoed throughout Ray Nitschke field and drove the tackle into the backfield.

Like many NFL players entering their sophomore season, Cox benefits from having a full offseason to work on his craft rather than training for the NFL combine and doing interviews. There is also the added comfortability that comes from the experience gained over the last year and knowing what it takes to be a professional day in and day out.

It’s for these reasons and others that we often hear about a Year 2 leap for many successful NFL players. But in addition to the experience that Cox has gained over the last 18 months since he joined the Packers, this is a defensive system under Hafley that suits Cox’s play-style well, and it’s one that he has “embraced,” as LaFleur said over the summer, where the primary objective of the defensive front is to get off the ball and get into the backfield as quickly as possible.

“Every opportunity when I’m on the field is an opportunity for me to get better and show what I can do,” said Cox. “Just going in there with that confidence, whether it’s on scout team or when I’m getting reps with the defense, just looking to win every rep. That’s how I never get tired of it. That’s how I keep it fun and keep my motivation going by just trying to win.”

On the flip side, a significant increase in playing time for Cox, meant relatively fewer opportunities for Lukas Van Ness, although he still remains an important part of the rotation.

Over 151 pass-rush snaps this season, Van Ness has totaled only seven pressures and one sack. By PFF’s pass-rush win rate metric, which as the name suggests, measures how often a pass-rusher wins his one-on-one matchup, he ranks 99th out of 119 eligible defensive ends this season.

“I think he’s had flashes,” Hafley said last week of Van Ness. “Certainly, in the run game, I think he’s playing really well. We’re playing pretty good run defense overall, and he’s a huge part of that. And then there’s moments when he’s had some nice rushes and good plays in the pass game. It’s just going to be about being consistent and keep working at, which he’s done.”

Cox is a former five-star recruit coming out of high school who then produced in the SEC–the talent was always there for him to be successful. But like just about any young player, refining his game and navigating the learning curve that comes with making the jump from college to the NFL was always going to be a part of his NFL journey. It’s a process that Cox has fully embraced with how he attacks each day, and the payoff is the opportunity to be a key member of Green Bay’s defensive end rotation.

“I would expect to see more of him and hopefully he’ll continue to grow as a player,” added LaFleur. “But I think it all starts with approach, how he attacks it, how he comes into the building. He’s had to earn everything he’s gotten up to this point, but I am excited about him and I think there’s going to be more out there for him.”

Packers’ defense struggles to contain Caleb Williams and Bears run game

Paul Bretl | 11/18/2024

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Chicago Bears offense came into this Week 11 matchup with the Packers struggling mightily, but on Sunday, they totaled nearly 400 yards of offense, and a lot of that success started with their run game, specifically, quarterback Caleb Williams.

Chicago entered this game on a three-game losing streak. Offensively, they had totaled just 27 points during that three game span, which included 241 yards of total offense in Week 9 against Arizona and 142 total yards last week against New England.

While the move was made to provide a spark, it’s not as if there were going to be sweeping changes to the Bears’ playbook either–in the middle of the season with a game against Green Bay just days away, there simply isn’t enough time for that.

However, where things could–and did–differ under Brown as the new play-caller were in what plays he called in certain situations or if there were parts of the playbook that were under-utilized with Waldron that he wanted to emphasize. We saw the latter against Green Bay with Williams’ usage in the running game.

“During the bye week,” said Jeff Hafley this past Thursday, “you study a bunch of the Bears’ tendencies and you get these thoughts based on what they’ve called, when they’ve called ’em, down and distance, certain tendencies on formations. And a lot of that’s kinda gonna be thrown out now.

“It’s a different mind calling the game. Could it be the same plays, the same players, a lot of the same scheme, which, I’m sure he’ll have some wrinkles. A lot of the tendencies now, you’re gonna just have to get a feel throughout the game, right? Different guy calling the plays.”

The Bears finished this game totaling 179 yards on the ground at 5.3 yards per rush. D’Andre Swift was responsible for 71 of those yards, with 39 coming one touchdown run. However, Chicago’s most efficient ball carrier was Williams, who tallied 70 yards on the ground at 7.8 yards per rush attempt.

Some of that damage was done with Williams going off-script and leaving the pocket when there wasn’t anywhere to go with the ball in the passing game. But oftentimes, with Brown at the play-calling helm, it was designed runs with Williams that hurt the Packers–something that Chicago hadn’t put on tape much under previous offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.

“It was a lot,” said Xavier McKinney of Williams’ success in the run game. “They had a lot of QB runs, QB-designed runs. I said before the game he’s able to extend plays on his feet and he did that well today. I was surprised by how much designed runs there were, but that comes with having a new OC. There were some new things that we didn’t know that they were going to do and they did. So, it is what it is. We know now. Going into the next game, we’ll be better.”

Williams’ ability to make defenders miss is one thing, but you could tell those designed runs caught the Packers off-guard with how undisciplined they were on the edges at times and with the poor angles they took to Williams, which allowed him to get outside and opened up running lanes for him.

It’s not as if the Packers had been a bad rushing defense this season. They entered Week 11 allowing 4.2 yards per carry, which was the eighth-lowest mark in football. They had also done well previously at containing mobile quarterbacks in Jalen Hurts and Anthony Richardson.

But the big difference between those performances and this one is that Green Bay didn’t expect Williams to carry the ball as often or in the manner that he did, and for a unit that has been so good at making adjustments on the fly this season, they were unable to drum up very few answers when it came to containing Williams.

“They hadn’t run a lot of quarterback runs,” said Kenny Clark. “They got a lot of their runs off of, a lot of their explosives off quarterback runs. Kind of surprised us a little bit. But that’s the thing with a new offensive coordinator on the middle of the week. We didn’t really prepare for that I would say.”

The trickle-down effect that this had on the rest of the game was that with success on the ground, the Bears controlled the clock. Chicago held the ball for nearly 13 more minutes than the Packers and ran 25 more plays on offense. This severely limited the number of possessions and opportunities that Green Bay had. Excluding the Packers’ kneel-down before halftime, they had only six possessions the entire game.

For the Bears, a steady running game helped keep them ahead of the sticks and in manageable down-and-distance situations. Chicago finished the game an impressive 9-for-16 on third downs.

As that metric illustrates, staying out of long and predictable passing situations is an advantageous spot for an offense to be working from with the entire playbook open to them in those second and third-and-short scenarios. The defense then has to defend the entire field, being prepared either a run or a passing play, and that can help open up opportunities in the passing game, which Williams took advantage of, completing 23-of-31 passes for 231 yards.

“We got poor with our rush lanes and he (Williams) was running right up the middle and we gotta be better than that,” Matt LaFleur said post-game. “He is an athletic quarterback and you saw it right there at the end of the game on 3rd-and-19, we got a sack, we fly over the top of him, it sets up a 4th-and-3 and then he makes a good throw versus man coverage.

We’ve seen on several occasions this season where the defense has come through late to help the offense secure the win. But on Sunday in Chicago, it was the defense who needed some saving. A late touchdown from the Jordan Love-led offense and a blocked field goal by Karl Brooks allowed Green Bay to escape with a crucial win.

Christian Watson sparks multiple Packers’ scoring drives vs Bears

Paul Bretl | 11/17/2024

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The opportunities were limited for the Packers’ offense on Sunday against the Bears, but when a spark was needed, it was Christian Watson who came through.

On the team’s third possession, facing a 2nd-and-10 and their own 23-yard line. A 17 yard completion to Watson got that drive started for the offense and eventually led to a red zone visit.

Coming out of halftime, Jordan Love found Watson for a 25-yard gain that put the Packers at the Bears’ seven-yard line. Green Bay would then score on the next play.

On the following possession, as Love is rolling to his right go buy time, he heaves the ball downfield to Watson, who in double-coverage, made an excellent adjustment to come down with the catch.

“When I started moving, the safety was kind of playing both Christian and Tucker,” said Jordan Love post-game, “and I saw Christian put his hand up that he was going deep and I thought he was beyond the safety and I think the safety did a good job as I was throwing of turning his hips and taking Christian. But anytime the ball’s in the air you love it when a receiver can go up and make that play and make you right.”

Then on the Packers final’ drive on offense, in a 2nd-and-6 from their own 26-yard line, Love completed a pass to a diving Watson over the middle. Untouched, Watson gets up and runs all the way to the Chicago 14 yard line for what ends up being a 60-yard reception.

“Phenomenal play,” said Love. “Phenomenal catch by Christian, and then just obviously the awareness to get up not being touched and to go put together a huge run, I think Christian made some big-time plays in the game, had a couple big-time catches and I’m proud of the way he balled out.”

When it was all said and done, Watson finished the game with four receptions for a hefty 150 receiving yards, averaging 37.5 yards per catch. The raw numbers themselves are impressive, but in a game where the Packers’ offense had few possessions, those receptions from Watson often helped Green Bay make the most of the opportunities they had.

Excluding the Packers kneel down before halftime, the offense had only six possessions in the entire game. While watching the game unfold it may have felt like things were clunky for the offense, and at times they were, the Packers did reach the red zone five times. Watson was responsible for putting the Packers in the red zone on three of those occasions.

“I think it was a focus for us coming into this week was to try to keep getting him the ball,” Love added, “getting him some touches, definitely a guy that we feel like we can keep trying to get him the ball and give him some of those opps down the field and obviously when we do, he had a really big catch, a contested catch, and went up and made a play. So I think it was a big time day for him.”

While the targets and opportunities were there for Watson on Sunday, that hasn’t always been the case this season. Watson entered Sunday’s game with 27 targets on the year, which is the fifth-most just on this Packers team and only four ahead of running back Josh Jacobs.

With Watson’s combination of size and speed, he is a difficult matchup for opposing defenses. And while known for his downfield ability, as we saw on that 60-yard catch and run, he can create space and win at different levels of the field.

However, even when the ball isn’t coming Watson’s way, he’s still impacting the game. Like the other Green Bay receivers, he is a relentless and very good blocker in the run game. Not to mention that with that speed he possesses, he has a gravity about him that attracts the attention of defenders, which can open up opportunities for other pass catchers, whether that be though one-on-ones or the spacing underneath Watson helps create.

Or, in short, defenses defend the Packers differently when Watson is on the field versus when he isn’t.

“I mean, it’s been a little tough just in terms of me and my individual goals, but I mean as cliché as it sounds, I’m always going to put the team goals first,” said Watson after the game. “We played some good football and some not-so-good football at times but we’re right where we want to be at as a team, so I’m just going to continue to do my part and if it’s opportunities like today, I’m going try to my best to make those plays. If it’s opportunities elsewhere, in the run game or whatnot, I’m going to make those plays, too.”

With all of the options that the Packers have in the passing game, getting everyone steadily involved is a difficult task, and perhaps an impossible one. Instead, oftentimes, it’s the gameplan given the opponent that is going to dictate on a week-to-week basis where the opportunities may lie and that can even be thrown off by how the defense defends each play and where the read takes Love as he goes through his progressions.

But for Watson, while he can’t completely control whether the ball comes his way or not, his approach each week remains the same, and whatever is needed to help the team win, he’s more than willing to do. Then, when it was his turn on Sunday, and the opportunities came Watson’s way against the Bears, he made sure to make the most of those targets, sparking several red zone trips and scoring drives for the Packers’ offense.

“I thought Christian Watson, I can’t say enough about him,” said Matt LaFleur. “Obviously, not everything has gone his way here, but he is a resilient dude. He shows up to work every day, right mentality, great work ethic. I love the guy. I love being around him.”

Karl Brooks wipes away Packers miscues with blocked field goal attempt

Paul Bretl | 11/17/2024

GREEN BAY, Wis. — A blocked field goal attempt by Packers’ defensive tackle Karl Brooks as time expired was massive, to say the least. The blocked field goal secured the win and prevented Green Bay from falling to 6-4 on the season, 0-3 in the NFC North, and it kept their now 11-game winning streak against the Bears alive.

“It was just an unbelievable feeling,” said Karl Brooks in the locker room afterward. “At first when I touched it, I didn’t think I got enough of it and it fell short and that’s when I really celebrated, so it was fun, though, for sure. It was cool. It was a good experience.”

Blocking a field goal attempt is very rare. During the entire 2023 NFL season, only 19 attempts were blocked the entire season. Blocking a field goal attempt to win the game is an even more rare feat. However, while blocking a field goal may not have been probable for the Packers, the odds may have been more so in their favor given the matchup this week.

During the post-game press conference, head coach Matt LaFleur noted that special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia told the team on Saturday night that he would “not understand” if the Packers went through the entire game against Chicago without a blocked field goal or extra point.

“I’m visualizing myself blocking the kick,” said Brooks. “And like I said, I just wanted it more. I just fired off the ball and wanted to get a win.”

So why did Bisaccia, and in turn his players, feel so confident about that?

“We were going to block it,” said Kenny Clark on what he was thinking. “We talked about TJ (Slaton) or KB (Brooks) blocking the kick all week. They’ve got holes in their field goal protection and a couple of them they got close. So we’ve been talking about that all week. It was a problem, so, coach Rich has been telling them all week and we ended up getting one.”

Throughout the game, the Packers offense was provided sparks by Josh Jacobs and Christian Watson, but oftentimes that didn’t correlate into points with the Bears defense outperforming Green Bay situationally. The Packers entered Sunday’s game ranked in the bottom-third of the NFL in third down success rate and 29th in red zone success. On the other side of the ball, meanwhile, was a Bears defense that ranked top-10 in both of those categories.

Unfortunately, for Green Bay, the game would play out that way as well. Oftentimes doomed by early down woes that put the offense in predictable long down-and-distance situations, the Packers would finish the game just 1-for-5 on third downs and 3-for-5 in the red zone, including two trips where they didn’t even leave with a field goal.

“They’re really good,” said Jordan Love of the Bears’ red zone defense. “I think we had some opps and obviously I think we left a couple plays out there but like I said they’re very good in the red zone and third down. We knew that coming into the game. Obviously red zone, you want to put up more points. You want to finish a drive with touchdowns. Obviously the interception in the red zone did not help us. Like I said they do a good job in the red zone.”

Excluding the kneel down before halftime, the Packers’ offense had only six possessions in this game. That magnified their struggles on third down and in the red zone because there were so few opportunities.

A key contributor to the lack of possessions was the defensive struggles for Green Bay against quarterback Caleb Williams and the Chicago running game. Williams would rush for 70 yards on his own, averaging almost 8.0 yards per carry. Running back D’Andre Swift totaled 71 yards on 14 carries, including a long of 39 yards that went for a touchdown.

The trickle-down effect of having that kind of success on the ground is that it can keep an offense ahead of the sticks. The Bears were an efficient 9-of-16 on third downs in this game, in part due to being in favorable down-and-distances often. Moving the ball in the run game also allowed them to control the clock, holding the ball for almost 13 minutes more than the Packers and running an additional 25 plays.

The Packers’ pass rush was frequently negated by the quick passing game, and the ability to pick up yards on the ground helped create opportunities through the air, along with Williams’ able to go off-script and extend plays.

“We got poor with our rush lanes and he was running right up the middle and we gotta be better than that,” said Matt LaFleur. “He is an athletic quarterback and you saw it right there at the end of the game on 3rd-and-19, we got a sack, we fly over the top of him, it sets up a 4th-and-3 and then he makes a good throw versus man coverage.

“I thought he did a nice job today. When we played man coverage, going to the right areas, getting to the right guys and their receivers that’s a good group. They’re a really talented receiving core and they made some plays today. So we gotta get better in a lot of areas but I thought mostly his ability to use his legs, he had 70 yards rushing, or whatever, that definitely hurt us today.”

However, even with so many things going against the Packers, which includes both tipping your cap to the Bears and acknowledging that Green Bay made things difficult on themselves at times, they still found a way to win. The gap between being 7-3 versus 6-4 and 1-2 in the division versus 0-3 feels larger than the Grand Canyon, while in reality the difference was just the tip of Brooks’ left middle finger.

Without question, there are things that have to get cleaned up and that the team must improve upon moving forward. But the margin for winning and losing in the NFL is razor-thin, and regardless of how it looked for those 60 minutes, you aren’t going to catch the Packers apologizing for winning.

“I thought there were some good performances,” added LaFleur, “and I thought there was a lot of stuff we’ve got to get better at, mainly in situational football–third down and in the red zone and really on both sides of the football. So I told our guys we’ll never ever apologize for winning and we’ll take it and we’re going to learn from this.”

Packers need more from play-action game in second-half of season

Paul Bretl | 11/16/2024

GREEN BAY, Wis. — As the Packers offense searches for more consistency in the second half of the season, their play-action game can be an important part of that equation.

The marrying of the run and passing games is an important element of the Matt LaFleur offense and helps create that ‘illusion of complexity’ that we’ve heard him refer to in the past. In short, this keeps defenses off-balanced and guessing by running like-plays–or plays that start the same but end up quite different–along with being able to run a variety of plays from just a few personnel packages.

However, through the first half of the season, we haven’t seen the Packers find the same effectiveness that they did in 2023 when utilizing play-action. According to PFF, Jordan Love’s completion percentage off play-action is actually 3.5 percent lower than his overall hit rate, which ranks 38th out of 41 quarterbacks. In terms of usage rate, Love went from ranking 11th last season in percent of dropbacks being play-action throws to now being 28th in that category.

So what goes into making a play-action pass successful?

That obviously begins with a good run game that forces the defenders to bite on the run-action component of the play, helping to open up those opportunities in the passing game.

“Just getting our run game started,” said Sean Rhyan of being effective off of play-action. “It’s all predicated off of that and once you get the run game started it opens up your whole playbook because then if the other team knows you can run the ball on them, obviously they’re more aware about stopping the run. We could always drop back to pass all day, but to run the ball well in this league is hard.”

For the offensive line, there is some selling that takes place. While the run-action part of the play is unfolding, depending on the play-call and how the linebackers respond, the line wants to give the impression that they are run-blocking and trying to move the defender, rather than letting the defenders come to them as if they were pass protecting.

“We want to, depending off our play-action and how the linebackers play,” added Rhyan, “we want to sell it a little bit more than we normally would. But we also say don’t sacrifice run sell for protection. If you’re going to put yourself in a compromising position just to get a run sell don’t do it because at the end of the day you still have to keep the pocket and let J-Love throw.”

Once the run-action is complete, it’s about forming that pocket around the quarterback, just like on any other passing play. As already mentioned, if effective, a defender or two may have creeped up thinking a running play was unfolding. From a route running standpoint, there will often be a deep route or two as part of the play-design to either catch the safety off-guard and playing the run, or to at least create space underneath for the short and intermediate routes to operate in.

“Obviously the run game but then you’ve got your protections, always starts there,” said Adam Stenavich on play-action. “And then just having the receivers to stretch the field and create that space between the second and third levels, with whatever you’re trying to do.

“And a lot of times you’re not going to get the premier look that you want, so just checking it down to your playmakers whether that be Josh (Jacobs) or Tucker (Kraft), you’ve seen those guys make a ton of plays when they just catch a short underneath route and make an explosive gain off of that.”

So when it comes being successful off of play-action, it would seem that the Packers have the recipe to do just that. We all know they have a very dynamic group of pass catchers. Protection-wise, the offensive line ranks sixth in PFF’s pass-blocking efficiency metric, and led by Josh Jacobs, the Packers are averaging 5.0 yards per rush and have generated the second-most explosive runs this season.

However, there have been limiting factors for the Packers as well when it comes to usage and the potential effectiveness.

One is the pre-snap penalties. These have often put the Packers behind the sticks and in more obvious passing situations. Even with a strong run game, play-action doesn’t exactly have the same effectiveness when ran in a 2nd-and-15 situation–to put it simply, the defense doesn’t really care if you run the ball in that scenario.

Another limiting factor has been Love’s health. With Love dealing with two separate lower body injuries this season, that has taken away at times the Packers’ ability to line up under center where play-action is going to be utilized.

“I just think every week’s a little bit different in terms of the type of schemes you’re going against,” said LaFleur of the Packers’ play-action, game. “The type of run schemes you’re implementing, you always want to be kind of cognizant and aware of what you put on tape and try to marry it up as best you can.”

Then generally speaking, the passing game as a whole, whether running play-action or not, has been very boom-or-bust this season. The Packers can create big plays with the best of them, but off-target throws, drops, and turnovers–along with those aforementioned penalties–have been difficult to overcome as well.

But having said that, having a healthier version of Love coming off the bye week will play an important role in that phase of the game finding stability, which, in theory, should trickle-down to the play-action game its effectiveness.

The play-action game was a weapon for this offense in 2023. Love completed 72 percent of his throws at almost 10 yards per attempt with 12 touchdowns to just three interceptions. This season, however, that hasn’t been the case, and with play-action being such an important element of the LaFleur offense, when it comes to this unit reaching its ceiling, taking advantage of those opportunities when they arise is crucial.

Like we said, the formula for success certainly seems to exist, but as always, not it comes down to execution.