Breaking: Packers’ Defense Faces Strong Test Against High…
The Green Bay Packers are coming off their worst defensive performance of the season with the best offense in the NFL ready to invade Lambeau Field.
The Detroit Lions have the hottest offense in the league. The last four games, they’ve scored 172 points. That’s the most for a team in a four-game stretch since the Baltimore Ravens also scored 172 points in 2019.
Green Bay’s defense had been the talk of the NFL, but they were torn apart by the Jaguars on Sunday. While Green Bay won 30-27, the Jaguars scored on five of their final eight drives.
Trevor Lawrence led the way with eight completions of 20-plus yards, with six during the final 30 minutes and 30 seconds.
“Yeah, there was a lot,” coach Matt LaFleur said.
What happened?
“There were some things that from a technique standpoint we didn’t execute,” LaFleur said. “We had one blatant busted coverage, and there was some poor tackling, too. They were hitting checkdowns into Cover-2, which usually that’s what you’re enticing the offense to throw, and it’s catch-tackle. And they were going for 20-plus yards.”
The Jaguars entered the game ranked 10th with 21 completions of 20-plus yards. The Packers were a decent 13th with 18 completions of 20-plus yards allowed. They allowed one just a week ago against Houston and one a week earlier against Arizona.
In games against quality quarterbacks with elite receivers, the Packers allowed four 20-yard completions in the Week 1 loss to the Eagles and four in the Week 4 loss to the Vikings.
The Jaguars’ Lawrence had five in the second half alone. He was 5-of-8 on passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield, according to Pro Football Focus.
It won’t get any easier against Detroit, especially if cornerback Jaire Alexander and/or safety Evan Williams are out or limited.
If the season were to end today, a good argument could be made for Jared Goff to win NFL MVP.
In a bizarre game against Tennessee on Sunday, the Lions won 52-14. Goff was 12-of-15 for just 85 yards. They scored touchdowns on a 70-yard run and 90-yard punt return. A 72-yard kickoff return, a 64-yard punt return and three takeaways set up five touchdown drives of 26 yards or less.
So, Goff didn’t get a chance to pad his big-play stats. He did, however, post his fourth consecutive game with a passer rating of at least 125, just the third time that’s happened in NFL history. During that stretch, he’s thrown 10 touchdown passes vs. 13 incomplete passes.
Going a week further, Goff completed 83.0 percent of his passes the last five games – the best stretch in NFL history.
According to PFF, Goff has the best passer rating in the NFL on passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield. At the same time, only Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa is a bigger beneficiary of yards after the catch.
