Fresh off their early-season bye, the Detroit Lions pick up where they left off against their first NFC North opponent: the Green Bay Packers.
We had the pleasure of connecting with Justis Mosqueda, the Team Community Producer for Acme Packing Company, to give us some insight into this Packers team ahead of this week’s matchup. We learned about Jordan Love’s wild mix of quick releases and deep shots amidst Green Bay’s pass-protection woes, the ongoing O-line carousel and Josh Jacobs’ potential impact on the run game, as well as Jonathan Gannon’s hyper-aggressive blitz scheme—plus much more.
1. Jordan Love’s numbers are the most fascinating thing to unpack with this Packers offense. He has the shortest time to throw in the NFL among 37 qualifying quarterbacks (2.48 seconds), yet he sports the sixth-highest average depth of target (9.5 yards) and according to Pro Football Focus, leads the league in big-time throws (15) and passing attempts of 20+ yards downfield (33).
Through six weeks of the season, what’s the story of Love between these numbers?
In short: Heroics. The offensive line performed poorly in the pass-protection game outside of Weeks 4 and 5. He has absolutely no running game to speak of. Love is taking a massive pounding week to week. It really is just the Kobe stan in Love coming out and willing the team to victory. The team also leads the NFL in drops over this time period, too, and a lot of those are on what would have been explosives and/or touchdowns. It’s incredibly frustrating to watch Love play at such a high level with the rest of the offense playing poorly around him.
2. Likely associated with Love’s performance this season is the offensive line and the running game. Injuries have thrown Green Bay’s offensive line into the centrifuge. Since the start of the season, they’ve acquired some familiar faces in Laken Tomlinson and Kevin Zeitler, and they’ve done their fair share of shuffling to figure out the best combination. Is this the week Zeitler makes his season debut? What’s your level of confidence in this line solidifying itself by the time these two teams meet again in January?
Meanwhile, the Packers have one of the worst rushing attacks in the league–but Josh Jacobs did come off the Commissioner’s Exempt List on Monday. How much do you anticipate Jacobs playing in this game based on Matt LaFleur’s comments this week, and do you think he’s the kind of difference maker who can single handedly get this run game out of the basement?
I really think it could be. The running game has been bad all year, but at least Week 4 and 5 were games where the offensive line could at least protect Love. Last week, the Packers went into five-man protections for most of the game for the first time all season. This ended up exposing both guards a little more than anyone seemed to expect (Jacob Monk and Donovan Jennings started the year at guard before the team transitioned to Travis Glover and Laken Tomlinson). As of Thursday’s practice, the Packers were repping seven players to get ready for this game: the starting center (Sean Rhyan), the two tackles (Anthony Belton and Jordan Morgan) and four guard options (Glover, Tomlinson, Aaron Banks and Kevin Zeitler). I would not be shocked at all if we get Banks at left guard and Zeitler at right guard this week. If the Packers want to make that change before Week 9, they kind of have to do it now, because they have a short week against the Carolina Panthers after this.
I 100 percent think Jacobs is going to play this week. LaFleur has really backed him at every opportunity to do so. The team has very much been in the business of getting Jacobs back on the field, even prior to the legal process playing out. They said he’s been working out with the team and in meetings the entire time. He just hasn’t been able to practice with them. They have three open roster spots on the 53-man roster that they’re keeping open right now, and two of those (Jacobs and PUP player Jordan Riley) are probably already filled in their minds. I think Jacobs can help turn some of those -2 runs into +2 runs, but I don’t think he’s just going to come into the lineup and fix all of Green Bay’s running game issues himself.
3. Former defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley left for a head coaching gig with the Miami Dolphins, and the Packers brought in Jonathan Gannon to replace him. What are some of the most notable differences you’ve noticed between the two coordinators, have said differences been mostly positive, negative or somewhere in between, and do you feel like the eventual return of Micah Parsons will end up making all the difference?
The Hafley scheme was interesting, because it was mostly a scheme that disguised coverages, but didn’t do much on the pressure end, up until Micah Parsons came to town. When Parsons was on the field, teams obviously adjusted and ended up playing the Packers in more quick game and run game situations, which really forced Hafley to play more bland schemes—and Hafley went back to some “hidden” coverages once Parsons went down with an injury.
Gannon’s defense really has been about bringing pressure. He’ll send seven guys on the first play of the game without blinking, and the cornerbacks have been playing pretty well this year (all three safeties have been great). They’ve done some interesting things with individual teams’ pass-blocking rules to get free rushers. It’s not uncommon for Gannon to scheme up a pressure where there are seven blockers on four rushers, one of the rushers is a free rusher, and the Packers still have seven coverage players for just three route-runners.
The only time the defense hasn’t looked elite was against the Atlanta Falcons, which was a weird game. Bijan Robinson went crazy, and it seemed like everyone on both sides of the ball were slipping on the field that night other than Robinson. I think a lot of people are wondering if that was just a one-off or what the Packers’ defense looks like against a dynamic back. I think this week’s matchup will sort of answer that for us.
Hopefully, Micah Parsons will be a big addition down the line, yes. Please, God.
4. Green Bay lost Edgerrin Cooper for the season after he suffered a torn Achilles in Week 4. Who has Gannon called on to replace Cooper, and how have the Packers adjusted on defense since the injury? Have you noticed any shifting in personnel groupings/deployment without their star linebacker available?
EDITOR’S NOTE: This was asked and answered before Zaire Franklin suffered a mid-week injury and was declared out.
The Packers use their linebackers a lot on special teams, because LaFleur’s offensive players hardly play teams—outside of the return positions. So they have Zaire Franklin at the Mike position (he doesn’t play teams) and now the Will role (previously Cooper) is being split by Isaiah McDuffie and Ty’Ron Hopper. My guess is they’re rotating McDuffie and Hopper (they change every two series or so) so that they can keep their legs fresh on special teams. Behind them, Green Bay rosters two linebackers who are functionally special teams-only players in Nick Niemann and Kristian Welch, if you want to know how important those linebackers are for the Packers’ special teams unit. Last week, they also called up Arron Mosby (a hybrid edge-linebacker who is basically another full-time special teamer) against the Cowboys.
Both McDuffie and Hopper have played well, but the linebackers have never really been tested (outside of the run game against Atlanta) this entire season. No one is really throwing over the middle against us, in part because we’re sending blitzers so much. It’s sort of hard to evaluate the position right now. In the moments when you would expect linebackers to be stressed by the passing game, that’s when Gannon is sending linebackers to go after the quarterback.
There hasn’t been a major shift in the Packers’ personnel packages since the Cooper injury. They are 99.7 percent match rate for 11 personnel in nickel right now. In heavier looks (12/13/21/22), they play their base 3-4 defense around 76 percent of the time. So if you want to keep Javon Bullard off the field for an extra nose tackle, play a second tight end.
5. The Packers opened as 3.5-point underdogs heading into this Week 7 matchup with the Lions, but that line has moved Green Bay’s way (+3) over at FanDuel Sportsbook. What’s one thing you want to see, what’s one thing you need to see, and one thing you’re sure you’ll see happen in this matchup between the Lions and Packers on Sunday afternoon?
One thing I want to see? Please show signs of life on the offensive line. One thing I want to see? The defensive line not getting worn down (we’re only rostering four defensive linemen currently on the 53-man roster, and the Dallas Cowboys decided to not run the ball and stay in 11 personnel last week) against the Lions’ offense. One thing I’m sure will happen? Points. I’ve seen your guys’ defensive numbers. Our corners have looked good so far this year, but we haven’t had to cover the likes of ARSB, Jamo, Gibbs and LaPorta all at the same time, plus we’re an aggressive unit. I wouldn’t be surprised if this game was decided by explosive haymakers.