Josh Jacobs Brings Old-School Football Back to Packers

Only once in about a half-century have the Green Bay Packers run the football with the frequency they have this year. Everyone knows the plan tonight. Can the Dolphins stop it?

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs (8) celebrates after scoring his third rushing touchdown against the 49ers. / Tork Mason / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Matt LaFleur played quarterback at Saginaw Valley State, and he was quarterbacks coach for the Washington Redskins, Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Atlanta Falcons.

His history with quarterbacks is a big reason why he was named head coach of the Green Bay Packers in 2019.

Now in his sixth season in Green Bay, the Packers are 8-3 entering Thursday night’s game against the Miami Dolphins. They are a Super Bowl contender again, just like they were with Aaron Rodgers in 2019, 2020 and 2021 and Jordan Love in 2023.

This time, the Packers are a powerhouse not because of a prolific passing attack but because of the power running of Josh Jacobs.

Entering Week 13, Green Bay has run the ball almost 51 percent of the time. That’s the fifth-highest rate in the NFL and an enormous change in play-calling philosophy.

“I’m a quarterback guy by nature, so it can be a struggle at times to not want to drop back all the time,” LaFleur admitted on Tuesday.

Nobody will ever confuse LaFleur with Vince Lombardi, but this is a blast-from-the-past attack that seems to fit an old-school franchise.

Green Bay is running the football 31.5 times per game. That puts it on pace for 536 rushing attempts, which would be the fourth-most in franchise history.

Sure, but it’s a 17-game season, and that’s true. But even under the old 16-game format, that would be a pace for 505 rushes. The NFL went from 14 games to 16 in 1978. That would be the third-most carries in almost a half-century, behind the 550 in 1978 and the 507 with Ahman Green in 2003.

“It’s perfect,” center Josh Myers said.

LaFleur was always reluctant to rely too much on Aaron Jones. Jones was a great running back, as well, but he’s different than Jacobs, an old-school workhorse who is built to carry the load.

And carry it he has. He’s carried it this season and he’ll carry it on just a few days rest against the Dolphins.

“To me, all of it is mental,” Jacobs said immediately after Sunday’s win. “We’ll deal with the bumps and bruises later. So, I’m going to come in and I’m going to give it everything I’ve got.”

The Packers enter Thursday ranked third in the NFL with 151.6 rushing yards per game. That trails only the Philadelphia Eagles (193.4) and Baltimore Ravens (180.2), who have the extra advantage of athletic quarterbacks. Not that Love isn’t athletic but he’s typically not looking to run.

Jacobs, who needs 56 yards to reach 1,000 this season, carried the ball 26 times against San Francisco on Sunday, even with LaFleur knowing he’d have to line up four days later against the Dolphins.

“You always try to do whatever’s working,” LaFleur said.

With Jacobs topping 100 yards, Green Bay ran for 169. It was the team’s sixth game of 160-plus rushing yards this season. Only the Eagles (eight) and Ravens (seven) have more.

“It’s just how we best feel we can move the ball at times. I’ve still got a ton of confidence in our pass game,” LaFleur said.

But the more Jacobs gets the ball, the more successful the offense has been, which LaFleur seems to understand. With LaFleur calling 13 runs and three passes in the red zone last week, the Packers’ 27th-ranked red-zone offense scored five touchdowns on five possessions.

“I think you’ve got to do what you think is best,” LaFleur continued. “You always want to try, at least me, philosophically, I’d like to stay as balanced as possible. Certainly, some games you’re going to run it more. Some games, you might have to throw it more. A lot of that can be dictated by the circumstance in terms of what the score is, what are the conditions out. But, for me, personally, I think it’s best when you can stay as balanced as possible.”

LaFleur hasn’t really fielded a balanced offense until this season. The most run-heavy attack came in 2020, when the Packers won 13 games and earned the No. 1 seed with a run rate of 43.8 percent.

So, this season is a true change in philosophy.

“First and foremost, that’s because we’re running it effectively, which just stresses defenses out and forces them to start playing the run harder,” Myers said. “When you can do that, it opens things up in the pass game. It works together well.”

Of course, there have been a few dramatic changes in Green Bay. In 2022, former offensive line coach and former offensive lineman Adam Stenavich became offensive coordinator. Of course, the Packers traded Aaron Rodgers after the 2022 season. As much as LaFleur has bristled at the notion, he’s been able to run more of “his offense” with Love.

And this offseason, the team signed Jacobs, who was the 2022 NFL rushing champion, and released Jones.

“It’s great,” Stenavich said of the run-first approach. “Anytime you can establish the run game, it just opens everything in your offense. Makes the defense really have to screw down into the box and stop the run, which helps everybody.”

It takes everybody, too. It takes the offensive line and tight ends to clear a path and the running backs to turn something into something more; Jacobs is tied for fourth in the league in yards after contact per carry. And any explosive run requires the receivers to get involved.

“I’m proud of the guys, proud of the way we’re coming off the ball and how we’re fighting,” Stenavich said. “I think our wide receivers are doing an excellent job, kind of the unsung heroes of that, how they’re blocking the DBs down the field. It takes all 11 to run the ball. That’s one of our philosophies, so they’re doing a really good job.”

Running the football is a mindset. LaFleur has cranked up the creativity, to be sure, by forcing defenses to sort through the motions and misdirections and eye candy, but there’s a mentality involved in running the football when everybody knows you want to run the football.

“It’s a want to, for real,” left guard Elgton Jenkins said.

“Yeah, just check whoop ass,” tight end Tucker Kraft added. “You have to make a decision before the snap of the ball (that) the guy in front of you’s not going to win.”

There haven’t many explosive runs that haven’t involved Kraft, whether it’s winning at the point of attack or motioning across the formation.

“As a tight end,” he continued, “I take it personal when we’re playing a five-across team and they’re going to put a 300-pound 6-technique in front of me. I’ve been blocking those guys all year, winning my matchup on them all year, and that’s something that I’m going to continue to lean on. 

“I want the people making the decision calling the plays to continue to trust me in those situations to continually block guys that are 30, 40 pounds heavier than me.”

On Thursday, as winter finally descends on Green Bay and the famed Frozen Tundra actually freezes, the Packers will lean on that toughness and mentality again. The Dolphins have a good run defense. They know what’s coming.

Can they stop the Packers?

“It’s just who we are and who we want to be,” Stenavich said. “It’s just one of those things, you can see as the game goes on, you just keep pounding it, keep pounding it and you find those seams, and you’ve got a back like Josh who can really wear out defenses, wear out linebackers, secondary. He’s doing a great job making people miss, getting a lot of yards after contact, things like that.

“Yeah, we’re just playing good ball right now.”

Packers Run-Play Percentage

Here are the season-by-season run-play percentages for the Packers over the past decade. Entering Week 13, the Packers have the fifth-highest percentage of run plays. The 2014 season was the last time the Packers ranked in the top 10.

2024: 50.95 percent

2023: 42.98 percent

2022: 43.39 percent

2021: 41.39 percent

2020: 43.77 percent

2019: 40.19 percent (Matt LaFleur’s first season)

2018: 32.46 percent (Mike McCarthy/Joe Philbin

2017: 38.64 percent

2016: 35.32 percent

2015: 41.11 percent

2014: 43.64 percent

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Here are three reasons why the Packers will win:
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— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) November 28, 2024

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