Packer Central

Packers’ Defense Must Rebound vs. Prolific Lions

The Detroit Lions’ offense is on a historic hot streak. So is quarterback Jared Goff. The Green Bay Packers’ defense, on the other hand, took a step back in Sunday’s win at Jacksonville.

Bill Huber

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) did not face much pressure from the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.
Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) did not face much pressure from the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. / Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers are coming off their worst defensive performance of the season with the best offense in the NFL ready to invade Lambeau Field.

The Detroit Lions have the hottest offense in the league. The last four games, they’ve scored 172 points. That’s the most for a team in a four-game stretch since the Baltimore Ravens also scored 172 points in 2019.

Green Bay’s defense had been the talk of the NFL, but they were torn apart by the Jaguars on Sunday. While Green Bay won 30-27, the Jaguars scored on five of their final eight drives.

Trevor Lawrence led the way with eight completions of 20-plus yards, with six during the final 30 minutes and 30 seconds.

“Yeah, there was a lot,” coach Matt LaFleur said.

What happened?

“There were some things that from a technique standpoint we didn’t execute,” LaFleur said. “We had one blatant busted coverage, and there was some poor tackling, too. They were hitting checkdowns into Cover-2, which usually that’s what you’re enticing the offense to throw, and it’s catch-tackle. And they were going for 20-plus yards.”

The Jaguars entered the game ranked 10th with 21 completions of 20-plus yards. The Packers were a decent 13th with 18 completions of 20-plus yards allowed. They allowed one just a week ago against Houston and one a week earlier against Arizona.

“We’ve got to tackle better, we’ve got to communicate better, we’ve got to execute better, just the techniques we’re asking our guys to do out there,” LaFleur said.

In games against quality quarterbacks with elite receivers, the Packers allowed four 20-yard completions in the Week 1 loss to the Eagles and four in the Week 4 loss to the Vikings.

The Jaguars’ Lawrence had five in the second half alone. He was 5-of-8 on passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield, according to Pro Football Focus.

It won’t get any easier against Detroit, especially if cornerback Jaire Alexander and/or safety Evan Williams are out or limited.

If the season were to end today, a good argument could be made for Jared Goff to win NFL MVP.

In a bizarre game against Tennessee on Sunday, the Lions won 52-14. Goff was 12-of-15 for just 85 yards. They scored touchdowns on a 70-yard run and 90-yard punt return. A 72-yard kickoff return, a 64-yard punt return and three takeaways set up five touchdown drives of 26 yards or less.

So, Goff didn’t get a chance to pad his big-play stats. He did, however, post his fourth consecutive game with a passer rating of at least 125, just the third time that’s happened in NFL history. During that stretch, he’s thrown 10 touchdown passes vs. 13 incomplete passes.

Going a week further, Goff completed 83.0 percent of his passes the last five games – the best stretch in NFL history.

According to PFF, Goff has the best passer rating in the NFL on passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield. At the same time, only Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa is a bigger beneficiary of yards after the catch.

Compounding Green Bay’s problems was its terrible tackling. By our count, the Packers missed 19 – eight more than their previous season high.

Jacksonville’s offense is filled with tough-to-tackle playmakers, but LaFleur wouldn’t use that as an excuse.

“I always put it on us,” he said.

The Lions are one of the best teams in the NFL at breaking tackles and creating yards after contact. With the physicality of running back David Montgomery, the elusiveness of running back Jahmyr Gibbs, the power of the offensive line, the toughness of receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and tight end Sam LaPorta, and the accuracy of Goff, the red-hot Lions will present the biggest challenge of the season.

“They’re really, really good. And we knew that,” LaFleur said. “We knew that going into the year, and it’s not shocking to me. It’s a team we’re obviously very familiar with and we’re going to have to play at our best. And it all starts with the preparation. We’re going to have to have a great week of practice.”

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.