Green Bay Packers at Saints: 5 Big Questions Heading into Week 3
By Paul Bretl
Can the Green Bay Packers’ defense take away the easy passes?
We all saw it on Monday night, while by no means should the Packers be underestimating Drew Brees and this Saints’ offense, throwing the ball downfield looked incredibly challenging for him. This isn’t really new either as Brees had these issues at the end of last season as well.
This season Brees is averaging a mere 4.82 air yards per pass and appears to have a reluctance to throwing it downfield, instead, choosing the check-down or short pass. Well, the Green Bay Packers need to take that away. Force Brees to make those downfield throws and if at the end of the day that’s how the Saints win, then tip your cap to them. But don’t let him and this offense dink and dunk their way to the end zone.
Can Aaron Jones find success on the ground?
With his 168 yard performance against Detroit, Jones has 234 rushing yards through two games and is averaging a whopping 6.9 yards per carry with three touchdowns. But this week, he will be up against a Saints’ defense that has been very good against the run through the first two weeks.
On 54 rushing attempts, the Tampa Bay and Las Vegas running backs averaged just 3.41 yards per carry against New Orleans. From Football Outsiders, the defensive line’s 3.26 adjusted line yards, which takes into account several variables and measures the offensive line’s performance against the defensive line, ranks as the third-best in football. While their run-stuff rate of 30 percent is also the third-best.
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Even if Jones doesn’t touch the ball, his presence on the field makes this Green Bay offense better, and, of course, when he’s making plays, they’re incredibly tough to stop. Needless to say, it’s going to be a more challenging week for Jones and the rest of the Packer running backs than what it has been. However, he should still see plenty of touches in both the run and passing games.