The Packers’ ground game still looks stuck in neutral, and there’s not much in the recent evidence to suggest a quick fix is coming.
Josh Jacobs came back from his not-suspension against the Lions and managed only 36 yards on 11 carries. Ten of those yards came on one run, so outside of that burst he averaged just 2.6 yards per attempt.
The rest of the backfield hasn’t offered much help either. MarShawn Lloyd hasn’t gotten it going.
Chris Brooks hasn’t gotten it going. Pierre Strong hasn’t gotten it going.
Kaleb Johnson, despite the Packers giving up a draft pick to get him, was a healthy scratch this week.
Even when the Packers have lined up against some of the league’s weaker run defenses, the results haven’t changed much. Their high-water mark has been 86 rushing yards against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and that total included 58 yards from two carries by Kaleb Johnson and Chris Brooks. Without a few explosive runs, or at least one big one by accident, there isn’t much reason to expect a breakthrough soon.
Maybe the answer arrives in a form nobody is expecting. Maybe Kevin Zeitler finally gets on the field and changes the feel of the unit.
Maybe Josh Jacobs finds something more. Maybe MarShawn Lloyd starts making sense of the space between the backfield and the line of scrimmage.
Maybe Jordan Love becomes a dual-threat force. A lot would have to go right, but this Packers season has already been unpredictable enough that nothing feels impossible.
Still, the current outlook is hard to trust. The problem doesn’t feel temporary, and it doesn’t feel especially close to being solved.
That uncertainty is part of the backdrop as the Packers prepare for another test, including a matchup with a run defense that has already worn the label of being the NFL’s worst before improving after facing Green Bay. The question is whether the Packers can do anything with that opportunity, or whether the running game stays where it has been: going nowhere fast.
There are other Packers notes floating around too. Mekhi Becton Sr. looks set to get his first game reps this week in some form.
Bob Harlan will be honored during Thursday night’s Packers-Panthers game, with his name going up on the Lambeau Field facade. And Xavier McKinney’s criticism of the officiating after the loss to the Lions on Sunday is expected to bring a financial consequence, because the league doesn’t take kindly to players publicly calling out its officials.
In Other News...
Packers Need More From Injury-Hit Front Seven After Van Ness Focus
The Packers front seven is trying to hold together through a stretch where the injury list has started to shape how opponents attack them. With Micah Parsons out and other defensive linemen and linebackers dealing with limited availability, Green Bay has had to lean on depth in a hurry, and that showed up in the recent loss to Detroit. Lukas Van Ness has been one of the players asked to carry more of the edge-rush load, but the Lions were clearly prepared for him and made sure he had to work for every bit of disruption he could find.
Detroits approach was a reminder that the attention Van Ness draws can cut both ways for Green Bay. Even when he was on the field, the Lions were comfortable accounting for him rather than letting him impact the game cleanly, which put even more pressure on the Packers backup defenders to win their matchups and keep the defense afloat. Until the front seven gets healthier, that kind of strain is likely to remain part of the week-to-week challenge. [Read more 🡒]
Micah Parsons Just Echoed Every Packers Fans Frustration
The frustration around Green Bays 20-17 loss to the Lions has lingered well beyond the final whistle, and Micah Parsons added his voice to it from the sideline. Detroits walk-off field goal finished off a game the Packers had put themselves in position to win, only for the final drive to turn into a familiar kind of postgame argument over how it was officiated.
Parsons took to social media to vent about the roughing the passer calls, a reaction that resonated with a fan base still stewing over the finish. The edge rusher remains out while recovering from a knee injury and is still weeks away from returning, leaving him to watch a bitter divisional loss unfold without being able to impact it on the field. [Read more 🡒]
Packers Interest In Jonathan Taylor Says Something Worse About This Offense
The Packers reported interest in Jonathan Taylor, as laid out by ESPNs Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport, is really a window into how much their rushing offense has sputtered. Bringing in an All-Pro back would certainly grab attention, but it also underscores a broader problem for Green Bay, one that goes beyond simply finding a more explosive runner and into the quality of the blocking in front of him.
Sean Rhyans expected absence only sharpens that concern, because the line issues are not going away on their own in the short term. If Green Bay is going to make a meaningful move to help the ground game, the harder question may be whether the bigger need is a star in the backfield or a stabilizing force up front. [Read more 🡒]