Despite Injuries, Packers Offense Should Still be Productive on Monday

The Green Bay Packers will be without Allen Lazard and possibly Davante Adams as well. But this offense should still be productive on Monday.

After posting 146 yards on six receptions with a touchdown on Sunday night, we’ve recently learned that the Green Bay Packers will be without Allen Lazard for the foreseeable future. It was reported by Adam Schefter on Thursday night that the receiver had undergone core muscle surgery and would be out “indefinitely.”

Lazard’s injury comes on the heels of Davante Adams’ missing last week’s game with a hamstring injury. The silver lining in all of this is that Adams was back at practice, however, his status for Monday night is still up in the air.

This means that the Green Bay Packers could be without their top two receiving targets, which will certainly take away some of the shine from this offense that leads the NFL in scoring and ranks second overall by DVOA. Yet, that doesn’t mean this group still can’t be effective and put up points.

While there is no replacing Adams or Lazard, and life for Matt LaFleur and Aaron Rodgers is more difficult without them, this is an offense that can still move the ball. Unlike in year’s past where they were heavily reliant on one or two players, there are still plenty of pass-catching options available.

Against New Orleans, the Packer tight end group made up of Marcedes Lewis, Jace Sternberger, and Robert Tonyan, combined for nine receptions, 104 yards, and two touchdowns. Meanwhile, in addition to what they bring to the run game, Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams each have the ability to lineup out wide or in the slot and be weapons as pass-catchers.

Then there is Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who has still had some ups and downs this season but is looking much more consistent and confident than what he has in his first two years.

But most importantly, Rodgers is playing at an elite level, and LaFleur has been masterful with his play calling. With the presnap motions and similar looks, he is scheming pass-catchers open and giving Rodgers relatively easy throws while also capitalizing on the deep shots.

To simplify everything I just said, under LaFleur and with the offensive personnel that his Green Bay Packers team has, they are better equipped to handle not having their top receivers than what they would have been in previous years.

We also have to address the elephant in the room, which is the Atlanta defense that has struggled mightily this season. The 463.3 yards per game they are giving up ranks 31st, the 36 points per game is the most in the NFL, while they rank 28th by DVOA, have the fifth-highest explosive play rate among defenses, and allow red zone touchdowns 80 percent of the time, once again, the fifth-highest rate in the league.

While there are other numbers to look at, I think you get the idea. This is still a matchup that LaFleur and Rodgers should exploit even without some of their high-end talent.

So with all of that said, by no means is it going to be as easy, and I’ll say again, neither Adams nor Lazard are replaceable in this offense. But the Packers have a Hall of Fame quarterback, a creative play-caller, and the correct personnel for this offense to still put up points on what is one of the worst defenses in football through three weeks.

Losing Lazard definitely hurts, but my expectations for this week’s game remain relatively unchanged.