Five Overreactions: Packers Beat Jaguars; Trouble Looms vs. Lions

The Green Bay Packers survived the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, but what they put on tape doesn’t bode well for this week’s showdown against the Detroit Lions.

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) powers through seemingly the entire Green Bay Packers defense for a touchdown. / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers were terrible in the red zone, couldn’t tackle and were destroyed for a series of big plays on Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Oh, and they lost their mistake-prone franchise quarterback to a groin injury.

Here are five takeaways from the Packers’ victory and what they mean for this week’s NFC North showdown against the Detroit Lions.

1. Too Many Big Plays

The Jaguars’ passing attack is good. Brian Thomas, Christian Kirk and Evan Engram provide a gifted trio for quarterback Trevor Lawrence, whose demise has been greatly exaggerated. Thomas is going to dominate the NFL for a long time, Kirk is an established playmaker and Engram caught the second-most passes for a tight end in NFL history last year.

Lawrence destroyed the Packers on Sunday. It’s not just that he threw for 308 yards even with Kirk and Thomas dropping out with injuries. It’s the barrage of big plays. The Jaguars had eight completions of 20-plus yards. And that was with Jaire Alexander in the lineup; PFF charged Alexander with one completion for 2 yards on Sunday but he limped off the field following the Jaguars’ final touchdown.

Lions quarterback Jared Goff the past four games has thrown 10 touchdown passes and 13 incompletions. Yes, that is correct. He is one of three quarterbacks in NFL history with four consecutive games with a 125-plus passer rating. He ranks first in the NFL in yards per attempt and second in passer rating.

The Packers have allowed 26 completions of 20-plus yards this season, sixth-most in the league. Even while playing one fewer game than some quarterbacks, Goff is eighth in 20-yard completions and first in 20-yard touchdowns.

Ultimately, Green Bay beat the Jaguars because Jeff Hafley’s defense forced two more turnovers, with Xavier McKinney’s interception and Edgerrin Cooper’s sack/strip getting cashed in for short-field touchdowns.

“That’s a good football team,” coach Matt LaFleur said of the Jaguars. “They’ve got a lot of playmakers. They’ve got three really good receivers, they’ve got a stud running back, a stud quarterback and stud tight end. We knew they were going to get their shots in. It was just about staying resilient.

“Obviously, the sequence where we had the sack/fumble and the recovery on the 5-yard line and our ability to go in and score, you could argue that was the difference in the game. Twice our defense set us up with great field position, and we were able to capitalize, which was big time.”

The Lions, however, have only five giveaways all season. Goff hasn’t been intercepted since the third quarter of Week 3 and the Lions have just one turnover the last four games. The Packers better figure things out. Quickly.

2. Terrible Tackling

Green Bay’s tackling has been OK all season. Not problematic but not exceptional.

It was terrible against the Jaguars.

By our unofficial count, the Packers missed 19 tackles – eight more than their previous season high. Isaiah McDuffie, Edgerrin Cooper and Javon Bullard had three each. They couldn’t tackle the appropriately named Tank Bigsby. They couldn’t bring down Thomas. On Lawrence’s touchdown run, Packers defenders rolled off the quarterback like rain on a freshly waxed car. Green Bay missed eight tackles on that drive alone.

The Lions are renowned for their physicality.

Their thunder-and-lightning backfield of powerful David Montgomery and electric Jahmyr Gibbs are two of the best at breaking tackles – a combined 50, according to PFF – and gaining yards after contact on running plays. Plus, they’re 10th and 11th, respectively, in yards after the catch per catch.

At tight end, only Green Bay’s Tucker Kraft is averaging more YAC than Detroit’s Sam LaPorta. At receiver, Amon-Ra St. Brown is a bulldog who ranks among the leaders in missed tackles and Kalif Raymond is third in YAC per catch among receivers with at least 10 catches.

With playmakers everywhere he looks and a creative offensive coordinator in Ben Johnson to get the ball into space, Goff is the second-biggest beneficiary from YAC.

The Lions are really good. They’re going to move the ball. The Packers’ defenders, at least, have to get them to the ground.

“We didn’t play well enough today,” McKinney said “I think as a team, we didn’t play well enough, and we know that. We’re going to enjoy this one, but we got to get back in there tomorrow. We have a big game coming up. We got to be prepared for next week.”

3. Red-Zone Problems

The Packers gained 422 yards, were plus-1 in offense and won time of possession by more than 9 minutes. And yet they needed Malik Willis’ late strike to Jayden Reed to beat the Jaguars.

Why was it so difficult?

Easy.

The Packers found a dead zone in the red zone.

They were 1-of-4 in the first half, when they dominated the action but barely led 13-10, and finished 2-of-6. (Really, it was 2-of-5; the final red-zone failure was on the game-winning drive.)

After back-to-back punts to start the game, Green Bay drove from its 8 to Jacksonville’s 15. On second-and-11, Jordan Love threw his league-worst ninth interception. Maybe it was the groin injury that ultimately knocked him from the game, but his pass to Romeo Doubs didn’t have enough zip and was picked off.

McKinney gave Love another opportunity moments later with his sixth interception. A 21-yard penalty for pass interference on a pass to Doubs set up Josh Jacobs for the touchdown.

Next, Green Bay drove from its 20 to Jacksonville’s 9. An illegal shift by Christian Watson on first-and-goal put an end to that, with a give-up screen to Emanuel Wilson on third-and-goal going nowhere. The field goal made it 10-0.

After Jacksonville’s first touchdown, Green Bay started at its 30 and drove to Jacksonville’s 19. On third-and-6, Love’s deep shot to Watson took him well out of bounds for an incompletion. The field goal made it 13-3.

Early in the fourth quarter, Cooper’s forced fumble gave the offense the ball at the 5, and Willis hit Tucker Kraft for a 3-yard touchdown to make the score 27-17.

The Packers were fortunate to beat the Jaguars while wasting three red-zone opportunities. For the season, Green Bay’s red-zone success rate is 50.0 percent. Only five teams are worse. The Lions are eighth in red zone defense (47.4 percent) and third in goal-to-go (53.8 percent). That season-long issue must be solved quickly.

4. Pass Rush Goes AWOL

Usually, it’s “Three Overreactions” but let’s add two quick-hitters.

It goes without saying the Packers can’t mount another feeble pass rush against Goff. After dominating last week against Houston, Green Bay’s front generally got nowhere against Lawrence. The only sack was Cooper’s pivotal play. Lawrence was pressured on nine of 35 dropbacks.

Preston Smith had a quarterback hit on the first passing play; the Packers’ defensive front was nowhere to be seen for most of the rest of the game, though.

Worth noting: Goff’s clean-pocket passer rating this season is a top-ranked 123.9.

5. Josh Jacobs to the Rescue

Packers running back Josh Jacobs will get his own story but, again, it goes without saying that he was the driving force behind Sunday’s win.

He carried 25 times for 127 yards and two touchdowns. Jacobs always runs hard. The line always blocks hard. But there seems to be an understanding when Love is out that the running game must go from good to dominant.

That was the case against Jacksonville. Jacobs broke two tackles on the 38-yard touchdown run. He forced five on that drive and three on the next, a drive that stalled on Doubs’ drop of a potential big gain.

The Lions are 22nd with 4.66 yards allowed per carry. Some of that is the scoreboard – lopsided scores sometimes mean easy running yards – but the Packers will need Jacobs and their line to be at their physical best, regardless of who’s playing quarterback.

“I think we still left a lot on the table, man,” Jacobs said. “It’s been a couple runs I wish I could’ve gotten back. I wish I could’ve pressed it a little differently and things like that. I’m still chasing that, man. I’m definitely proud of what we’ve done as a team.”

More Green Bay Packers News 

Aaron Rodgers owned Chicago. That's nice, but Malik Willis owns the AFC South.

With a "high level of concern" over Jordan Love, it was Willis to the rescue (again) for the #Packers.https://t.co/psz45HmdGV

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) October 28, 2024

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