Green Bay Packers: Week 3 MVP and other fun awards

The Green Bay Packers took a victory over the Saints to improve to 3-0 on the season, so it’s time to hand out some awards.

Offensive MVP – Allen Lazard

With Davante Adams out, someone had to step up and be the Green Bay Packers’ number one receiver. Allen Lazard did that in a big way Sunday night, finishing with six catches on eight targets for 146 yards and a touchdown. He showed he’s not just a great possession receiver and third-down target, but a deep threat too, connecting with Aaron Rodgers on catches of 48 and 72 yards.

The Packers are now sitting at 3-0, and with Davante Adams still recovering from his injury, they’ll look for another big game like this from Lazard against the Falcons in week four. Being able to win games while Adams takes the time to recover fully is very impressive and crucial to trying to get the number one seed and the only playoff bye available. Considering how bad the Falcons defense has been recently, Lazard should carve them up next week and maybe give Adams another week to get himself up to 100 percent health.

Defensive MVP – Kingsley Keke

Well, at the risk of you having deja vu to what you just read; with Kenny Clark out, someone had to step up and be the Green Bay Packers number one defensive lineman. Kingsley Keke did that in a big way Sunday night, recording two huge sacks and a forced fumble.

Keke is in his second year after being chosen in the fifth round last summer and hadn’t really done anything of note in a regular-season game up to this point. With all the struggles of Tyler Lancaster, Dean Lowry, and Montravius Adams, many people were clamoring for more snaps for the young defensive lineman. He took advantage of his playing time and made some big plays that should net him even more snaps next week.

Unlike Lazard, I do not expect him to replicate this next week. Lazard has been a proven talent in the past, but this could have just been a fluke performance from Keke. I’d love to see him build on this, and he may play well, but expecting multiple sacks again is a high bar. He still is inconsistent as a run-stopper and didn’t make a single other tackle than the two sacks, and he was often in the middle of a defense that gave up 6.1 yards per carry Sunday night, so there’s quite a bit of improvement to be made. Still, this was extremely encouraging from the second-year lineman, and I’ll be watching him intently next week.

Decision Validation – Packers Front Office

A few years ago, the Packers had a quarterback in camp that you may or may not remember named Taysom Hill. Regardless of if you knew him then, you almost definitely know his name now as the decision to let him go has been highly scrutinized after the Saints picked him up and started using him as a special teams piece and then more regularly as a gadget piece, tight end, and occasionally even quarterback. This offseason, they even signed him to a two-year deal with $16 million of guaranteed money.

On Sunday, that decision by the Saints looked bad, and the choice from the Packers to let him walk a few years ago looked just fine. For starters, Mike McCarthy never would have used Hill in the creative ways Sean Payton did, but that’s another story. Sunday was about Hill’s ineffectiveness.

He had one catch for one yard, two carries for six yards, a fumble that turned the tide of the game and was called for offensive pass interference. Stat lines can’t look much uglier than that, and if anyone in the Packers front office does look at people on social media lamenting what could have been with Hill, I’m sure they took a nice breath of fresh air knowing that they won’t hear it for a while – or at least until next week when he scores on some gimmick play.

Captain Checkdown – Drew Brees (Assisted by Mike Pettine)

After this week, Drew Brees has officially taken this title from Tom Brady. You heard it here first, and it is now a universal truth. Brees’ average intended air yards was 4.6 yards per pass. That was second-lowest in the league, right behind Teddy Bridgewater’s 4.5. Only eight quarterbacks had average intended air yards under seven this week. Of course, most of Brees’ short passes were to Alvin Kamara.

With Michael Thomas out, Alvin Kamara was easily the Saints’ biggest weapon, and the Green Bay Packers’ defensive scheme didn’t really do anything to stop him. This is where Mike Pettine comes in. Drew Brees has shown so far this season that he can’t push the ball downfield very well anymore at 41 years old, yet they played soft zones and used linebackers to cover Kamara most of the game.

Kamara caught 13 passes and was allowed to work in space where he is most comfortable, often making multiple guys miss, an issue that boiled over on his 52-yard touchdown reception. Pettine’s gameplan played right into Brees’ and the Saints’ strengths. Thankfully, the offense was good enough that 30 points on the board for the Saints wasn’t enough.

Celebration of the Week – Defense Soul Train Line

After the aforementioned Taysom Hill fumble, which was caused and recovered by Za’Darius Smith, he then led the entire defense down to the end zone, where they paid homage to the show Soul Train, which began in the 1970s. I can’t help but believe that this was another brainchild of Smith, who is a celebration connoisseur and appeared on the prestigious celebration leaderboard four times last season.

Personally, I’m a big fan of the celebrations that call back to something else. They’re creative and add some flair that you just don’t get from the basic dances, spikes, and Lambeau Leaps. That’s why this one will take the top spot for now. You can watch an original Soul Train Line here and then take a look at the Green Bay Packers’ version and see how you think they did.

Celebration of the Year Leaderboard:

1. Soul Train Line
2. Chandon Sullivan Lambeau Leap