On Sunday against the Washington Redskins, Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones produced a game with over 180 total yards for the third time this season.
Unsurprisingly, the Packers are now 3-0 in those games.
Jones carried 16 times for a season-high 134 rushing yards and a touchdown and caught six passes for a team-high 58 yards, including a crucial 25-yard catch in the fourth quarter to help the Packers escape with a 20-15 win over the Redskins.
While the offense sputtered overall, Jones kept everything moving in the right direction. He had four touches on the opening touchdown drive, which he capped off with a 4-yard scoring run. In the fourth quarter, his 25-yard catch got the Packers out of a hole and set up a scoring drive of over seven minutes, which helped put the game away late.
It was a dysfunctional performance from the offense overall, especially considering the Packers’ dominance in field position, but Jones was once again a star.
“We’ve just got to keep getting the ball to our playmakers and figure out what’s going to work that week, and today was getting the ball to Aaron (Jones) in the run game,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said afterward.
Jones joined Christian McCaffrey, Dalvin Cook and Mike Evans as the only four players with three or more games with at least 180 yards from scrimmage this season. He previously produced 180 or more yards against the Dallas Cowboys (182) and Kansas City Chiefs (226).
The Packers went up 14-0 in the first quarter but scored just six points the rest of the way. At times in the second half, the Packers ignored Jones and instead leaned on an inconsistent passing game that struggled to find any sense of flow on Sunday.
The Packers produced nothing more than a pair of field goals during the second half. They were 5-of-13 on third down and finished with just 167 net passing yards.
Rodgers said he wasn’t worried about the number of touches for Jones, who he believes is best suited to handle 20-25 a game. Jones had 22 on Sunday.
Winning ugly isn’t fun, but the Packers were fortunate to have Jones power the way to a 10th win in 13 tries.
“Definitely, and I feel like good teams always find a way to win no matter the style points, how good it is or how ugly it is,” Jones said. “They find a way to win and they’re thankful for those wins and go back and work on it.”
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