Review: Jets 27; Packers 10~ following up from last week’s article title “Run. The. Ball.” The Packers, well, they um…did not run the ball. In the 69 total plays run by Green Bay, Aaron Jones + A.J. Dillon combined for 26 touches (38%). That simply won’t get it done, evidenced by the loss to the Jets.

The defense did great, until it didn’t. On the first 8 possessions by New York, the Packers relinquished 3 points, over 76 yards, on 31 plays. That’s incredible. Unfortunately, Green Bay’s offense mustered the same production vs. the Jets’ defense, which ranked 19th in scoring defense coming in. The Jets found a way to break through and blocked their own punt and scored off it, Green Bay did nothing with theirs. Felt like a January game at Lambeau…The main issue is the offensive line couldn’t block Quinnen Williams and the Jets copied the Giants’ plan of double-teaming Kenny Clark and chipping Rashan Gary and won the line of scrimmage, which typically dictates the outcome of the game.

Preview: (3-3) Packers @ (2-4) Commanders~ Washington finds itself in the toughest division in the NFL, the NFC East. Not only are they in last place, but the 3 other teams are 6-0 Phi, 5-1 NYG, and 4-2 Dal. The Commanders are without their starting quarterback, Carson Wentz, whom had finger surgery and is out at least the next 4 games. The backup, Taylor Heinicke has quite a bit of experience and had a fairly good showing in his playoff start in the 2020 Playoffs vs. the eventual champion, Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Including that postseason loss, Heinicke is 7-10 as a starter with a career QB rating of 83.6. Not terrible, considering Rodgers’ QB rating this season is 94.2, that’s a competitive player. He’s also an athlete that isn’t afraid to try to win the game, which puts additional pressure on the opposing team’s defense…and offense.

Matchup~

	GB D	(rank)	vs.	Was O	(rank)
Rush	135.2	27		95.5	24
Pass	164.0	1		224.8	17
Total	299.2	5		320.3	24
Pts	20.5	15		17.0	29th
	GB O			Was D
Rush	122.3	13		131.7	25
Pass	225.8	16		221.5	16
Total	348.2	15		352.2	18
Pts	17.8	24		22.5	18
T/O
Takeaways	4	T-28th		3	T-31st
Giveaways	8	T-14th		8	T-14th
Diff.	(4)	27th		(5)	T-28th

While the Packers are the best against the pass, they’re awful vs. the run, which may have to do with why teams don’t pass and still succeed vs. them after 60 minutes. Washington doesn’t run all that well, but they do have capable backs to produce. The 2 to watch are: Antonio Gibson (#24); Brian Robinson Jr. (#8). You’ll hear a lot about Robinson as he returned from being shot this summer, but he’s a good runner and one should fully expect him to get quite a bit of touches vs. this Packers’ defense. This could be a sloppy game too as both teams give the ball away, and struggle at taking it away from their opponents. This will likely be a tight matchup with the Commanders beating teams like the Jaguars and Bears, where the Packers have beaten the Bears, Buccaneers, and Patriots.

How can anyone pick the Packers to beat anybody as of right now. Green Bay should have to prove they can win before anyone thinks they can, at this point.

Packers 20 (-4.5)
Commanders 24

Season: 2-4
Overall: 83-46