Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones ran through the defense of the Chicago Bears like a hot knife through butter on Sunday night at Lambeau Field.
According to Pro Football Focus, Jones forced a career-high 13 total missed tackles on just 18 touches during the 27-10 win over the Bears.
Jones, who finished with 170 total yards, created 11 missed tackles on 15 carries in the run game and two more missed tackles on three catches in the passing game.
His previous career-high for missed tackles forced as a runner (carries only) was eight.
Thanks to his elusiveness, Jones produced 85 yards after first contact and 33 yards after the catch during the dominant individual performance.
Rarely did the first defender get No. 33 to the ground.
“Every time I’d think he was going down he’d somehow find a way to squirt his way through,” coach Matt LaFleur said.
Here was one such example of Jones making cornerback Kyler Gordon and safety Jaquan Brisker – the Bears’ top two draft picks in 2022 – miss on the same play:
Some of the worst tackling effort you'll see. pic.twitter.com/OOfn74coEs
— Tyler Brooke (@TylerDBrooke) September 19, 2022
Gordon and Brisker missed six tackle attempts against Jones on Sunday night, and the Bears missed 17 total tackles on defense.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers complimented Jones on his elusiveness “in and through contact,” a rare trait on full display against the Bears on Sunday night. While not a big running back, Jones has terrific balance and core strength, allowing him to bounce off tacklers and stay on his feet even against bigger defenders at the second level.
Last season, Jones forced 39 missed tackles as a runner over 15 games, or roughly 2.5 per game – which helps put into context the 11 he forced on Sunday night. His career-high is 48, and Jones is already at 13 as a runner through two games in 2022.
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