Jones, Dillon Need Ball, Especially in Big Moments

The Green Bay Packers blew Sunday’s game in London against the New York Giants. Offensively, the ball must get in the hands of Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon are two of the Green Bay Packers’ best playmakers. Actually, they are their best playmakers.

And yet, with the game on the line on Sunday in London against the Giants, coach Matt LaFleur and quarterback Aaron Rodgers ignored their best players. For the sake of the season, the long flight back to Green Bay better serve as the smack-in-the-face reminder.

Trailing 27-20 in the final moments, the Packers faced what officially was a third-and-1 from the 6 but was closer to third-and-2. Rodgers’ pass to Cobb, who was open, was deflected at the line of scrimmage, hung in the air for what seemed like endless seconds and fell incomplete. On fourth down, Rodgers fired a “big-body ball” to Allen Lazard, who had positioning in the end zone, but the pass was thrown into the face of blitzing safety Xavier McKinney and batted down.

Why not give the ball to Jones or Dillon on at least one of those plays? Combined, they carried the ball 17 times. Their shortest runs of the day went for 2 yards. Jones, who leads all NFL running backs in yards per carry, just had runs of 7 and 2 yards to set up the pivotal situation.

“I’d put my money on if you give me and AJ two downs to get 2 yards, I’d put my money on it,” Jones told WLUK-TV’s Cody Krupp.

Remember, it was third-and-1 from the 6, not third-and-goal from the 6. They didn’t need all the yards. They only needed a couple. Moreover, there was 1:11 on the clock. A running play would have either burned some of the remaining 71 seconds off the clock or forced the Giants into using their final two timeouts.

“I liked the calls,” Rodgers said. On third down, “We had Cobby on the left side; I was trying to fit it through the sea of arms there. Felt like we might’ve had a chance on the in-breaker. And then fourth down, was trying to find kind of a big-body ball to Allen. Maybe should’ve adjusted AJ to block that guy off the edge. Probably could have thrown the ball to Cobby on the left sideline.”

That Doubs was open on the fourth-down play for the first down, and perhaps the touchdown, is neither here nor there. This isn’t about dissecting Rodgers’ decisions on where to throw the ball, it’s about questioning the decision to throw the football at all.

From LaFleur’s perspective, the play-calling decisions were about numbers. The Giants had more defenders in the box than the Packers had blockers. It’s simple football, really. You go where you have the numerical advantage. Like water, you take the path of least resistance.

“We had a run-pass option on and they loaded the box and went Cover-0, and we figured that’s what they were going to do,” LaFleur said. “Unfortunately, had two batted passes.”

On third down, the Packers had six blockers (including tight end Robert Tonyan) to block seven. On fourth down, the Packers had six blockers (including tight end Marcedes Lewis) to block eight.

Green Bay went by the numbers and put the ball in the hands of the two-time MVP. From that perspective, it’s hard to argue with the approach. However, Rodgers doesn’t have Davante Adams to get open. He does have one of the best one-two running back punches in the league, though, and they hadn’t been stopped all day. And, as LaFleur pointed out after the Tampa Bay game, just because you’re running into a numerical disadvantage doesn’t mean you can’t run the ball or shouldn’t run the ball.

“It’s a major challenge but I think it’s important,” LaFleur said of running the ball a day after that 14-12 win. “First of all, you’re talking about two of our most explosive playmakers. You want to give them opportunities. … We’ve got to give those guys opportunities.”

The series prior, with the Giants having just tied the score 20-20 and the defense exhausted and needing to find some answers, the Packers again ignored Jones and Dillon. Rodgers threw three consecutive incomplete passes, the defense staggered back on the field and gave up the decisive touchdown.

By game’s end, Jones had 13 carries. That’s as many targets as Randall Cobb. He wasn't even on the field for the fateful final plays. Dillon had a season-low six carries. With that, the Packers returned to Green Bay having snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

But, hey, at least they’ll be fresh to face the Jets.

“They played a lot of single-high and manned us up,” LaFleur said. “It’s do you want to run into a loaded box or do you want to try and get it through the air? Unfortunately, that didn’t work for us. So, give credit, Wink’s a guy I totally, I’ve got a lot of respect for and he outcoached us in the second half and they outplayed us.”

This seems to be an offense teetering over that mucky middle of being the pass-heavy attack of yesteryear, driven by a great quarterback and a great receiver, and needing to adjust to the new reality that the best players are the running backs. Against the Giants, the Packers didn’t give the ball often enough to their top playmakers. To get this offense running at peak efficiency, Jones and Dillon need to be at the forefront of every call, not an afterthought.

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