The Green Bay Packers struggling rushing attack faces a difficult task this week going up against a Detroit Lions defense that has been very good at slowing their opponent’s on the ground through three games.
Detroit has currently allowed just 3.2 yards per rush this season, which is the fourth-lowest mark in the NFL. That includes holding the Atlanta Falcons to only 2.2 yards per carry on Sunday and Bijan Robinson to only 33 rushing yards on 10 carries.
Yeah, that same Atlanta Falcons team that dominated the game on the ground and rushed for 200-plus yards against the Packers.
“They’re very similar to New Orleans as far as their structure,” said offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich on Monday. “Their linebackers are very aggressive, and I think they’re very instinctual players. But their interior guys do a very good job just getting off blocks and things like that.”
In Week 1, the Lions held Kansas City to only 3.5 yards per rush and in Week 2, Seattle averaged only 3.3 yards on the ground.
“They’re very disruptive. So that and a combination of always trying to have an extra hat in the box with the safety, (No.) 32. They’re a pretty aggressive bunch, and they did a nice job against Atlanta.”
The Packers, meanwhile, have struggled to find any sort of consistent success in the ground game. Their 3.4 yards per attempt through three games ranks 26th in the NFL. By ESPN’s run-block win rate metric, the Packers rank 25th. AJ Dillon is currently averaging just 2.7 yards per carry.
Of course, not having Aaron Jones for the last two weeks hasn’t helped things, but even when he was on the field against Chicago in Week 1, it’s not as if there were these huge running lanes for him to work with.
In Jones’ absence, Dillon has struggled to get going, in part due to a lack of effective vision, burst, and sometimes balance with the ball in his hands, but the offensive line also hasn’t done him a ton of favors either, with Dillon often being contacted in the backfield or very few running lanes to work with. Neither Patrick Taylor nor Emanuel Wilson have had any success either.
While often in the run game, all eyes are on the ball carrier or a particular player along the offensive line, if the Packers are going to find consistency in this area, it’s going to all 11 players on offense being on the same page and all 11 players performing better.
“It’s across the board with our run game,” said Matt LaFleur following the Atlanta game. “It’s our aiming points, whether you’re an offensive lineman, tight end, running back. We’ve got to be more physical at the point of attack. There’s so much that goes into it, so it’s never just on one person.”
The negative trickle-down effect of struggling on the ground can then bleed over to the passing game. Being ineffective on early downs leads to the offense being put in predictable passing situations where the defense is able to get into favorable matchups and are the ones doing the dictating. On the flip side, success on the ground opens up opportunities in the passing game, especially off of play-action.
If the Green Bay offense as a whole is going to find more consistency, being able to move the ball on the ground is going to have to be a part of that equation. Through three weeks, it has been tough sledding for this unit on the ground, and things aren’t going to get any easier this week with the Lions on the schedule.