The idea is simple: Get the ball to your best players, and good things happen. Just look at Aaron Jones and the Green Bay Packers.
Jones turned his 22 touches on Sunday against the Washington Redskins into 192 yards, helping the Packers improve to 4-0 in 2019 when Jones handles 20 or more touches in a game.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers said last month that the Packers want Jones to get 15-20 touches a game. And when the offense has achieved the upper end of that goal, the Packers have been tough to beat.
Oftentimes, the correlation doesn’t equal causation when talking about running back touches. Good teams get leads, and teams run more when they’re winning.
But in all four games, Jones has been the driving force of the leads, and his touches after getting ahead have either cemented those leads or expanded them.
He is the difference-maker on the Packers offense.
In his four games with at least 20 touches, Jones averaged 187.5 total yards.
| Opponent | Score | Att | Yards | Rec | Yards | Touches | Total yards |
| Vikings | 21-16 | 23 | 116 | 4 | 34 | 27 | 150 |
| Cowboys | 34-24 | 19 | 107 | 7 | 75 | 26 | 182 |
| Chiefs | 31-24 | 13 | 67 | 7 | 159 | 20 | 226 |
| Redskins | 20-15 | 16 | 134 | 6 | 58 | 22 | 192 |
The Packers are 6-3 in games when Jones doesn’t handle 20 or more touches, so the offense has still found ways to play winning football without Jones being the driving force.
Also, Jones has produced over 800 total yards and scored 14 of his 15 touchdowns with the Packers in the lead this season.
However, in the Packers’ three losses, Jones averaged 14 touches and 41.7 total yards.
The Packers will host the Chicago Bears on Sunday at Lambeau Field. Jones has never received 20 or more touches in his four career games against the Bears. In fact, he still doesn’t have a game with over 50 total yards against the Packers’ top rival.
Sunday’s visit from a tough Bears defense might be the opportunity to test the theory, especially given the Packers’ continued struggles throwing the football.