The Green Bay Packers bounced back on Sunday night, coming away with a 27-10 victory over the Chicago Bears.
As always, it’s time to go Behind the Numbers with the stats and figures you need to know from Green Bay’s performance.
13
Last season, Aaron Jones was among the best running backs in picking up yards after contact, and we saw that on full display against the Bears. According to PFF, Jones forced 13 total missed tackles and averaged 5.67 yards after contact. For some context, the league high in this category in 2021 was 4.52 yards.
Jones is a hard runner, but he also has excellent vision as well as balance, and a quick burst. All of which makes him difficult to bring down.
37
One week after Jones and AJ Dillon had just 23 total touches, including only eight for Jones, the Packer running backs were the focal point of the offense. Combined, Jones and Dillon touched the ball 37 times, with Jones totaling 132 rushing yards.
All week, both Aaron Rodgers and Matt LaFleur made it clear that these two needed to be more involved, which led to a much more balanced attack, with Rodgers passing the ball 25 times compared to 33 rush attempts for Jones and Dillon. The running and passing games were able to play off of each other well, with the Bears spending a lot of time in cover-2 to prevent any big passing plays, which then opened things up in the run game. Rodgers was also very efficient off play-action, and he was able to lean on the run game while, admittedly, struggling as a passer. This level of balance also opens up the playbook for LaFleur.
9
No longer will we see the days of one player having 15-plus targets. Instead, it’s going to take a group effort in the passing game. Against the Bears, nine different players had at least one target, and no player had more than four. Spreading the ball around in this capacity, coupled with leaning on Jones and Dillon, along with a balanced attack, is the identity that I’m guessing many of us expected the Packers to have this season.
6.7
The Packers’ defense was able to bottle up the Bears’ offense for much of the night, but the run defense would really struggle, with Chicago averaging a whopping 6.7 yards per carry. The Green Bay defenders struggled to get off of blocks and missed 10 tackles of their own. Through two games, the Packers have PFF’s second-worst tackling grade.
As a defensive coordinator, Joe Barry’s M.O. is to take away the passing game first, which means playing with light boxes quite often. So even with their personnel, this may never be a dominant run-stopping team, but with that said, the Packers’ tackling ability has to improve, and hopefully, it will as the season progresses.
47.5%
Justin Fields only had 19 dropbacks, but he was under pressure nearly half the time at 47.5%. This is a Chicago offensive line that is very inexperienced and a matchup that the Packers should have dominated. Both Preston Smith and Rashan Gary did a very good job of setting a strong edge, which helped keep Fields in the pocket so that the interior rush could get to him. That also kept Fields from being able to extend plays, which is where he found some success in Week 1. Overall, Fields was 7 for 11 as a passer, totaling 70 yards and an interception.
14
Two opening possessions for the opponent have resulted in two very easy touchdowns. Both Minnesota and Chicago marched down the field on their first drive to put up seven points with little resistance. However, following that possession, and despite taking some lumps, the Packers have done well at keeping the Vikings and Bears out of the end zone following that opening drive. As Zach Kruse pointed out, Green Bay has allowed only 19 points on their other 17 possessions, with only one other touchdown. The Bears, at one point, had four consecutive punts, and overall, were 1/8 on third and fourth downs. So far, this Packers defense has been the definition of bend but don’t break.
The concern about allowing those opening scores is that it puts the Packers’ offense behind early. For a unit still trying to find its way, overcoming an early deficit may be more of a challenge than what it was in past seasons, while falling behind could result in Rodgers and LaFleur getting a little pass-happy and away from that balanced attack described above.
3
Early on, it was clear that Elgton Jenkins had some rust to shake off – and understandably so. As a team, the Packers only allowed six pressures, but Jenkins had three of them. However, despite this not being his best performance from a film or statistical perspective, both LaFleur and Rodgers had high praise for Jenkins following the game, with LaFleur saying that they don’t win that game without him.
From a pure confidence standpoint, you could see how having Jenkins on the field affected the Packers. Rodgers was much more confident maneuvering around the pocket, while Jones and Dillon were both aggressive in hitting their running lanes, fully expecting there to be an opening.
10
Jones and Dillon were on the field together for 10 snaps against Chicago. The previous week, they had seven snaps, which, combined, is already more than what they totaled a season ago. Earlier in the week, LaFleur said that they had to be “mindful” of how often they utilized Jones and Dillon together, but when they do, it not only gives them more opportunities but it helps open up the passing game for Rodgers and the other Green Bay pass-catchers. Following the game, Rodgers said that “there’s a lot left in the bag,” referencing the play packages they can run with Jones and Dillon.