Green Bay Packers v. Falcons: 7 Quick Observations from Monday Night

With some time to digest last night’s performance, here are seven quick observations from the Green Bay Packers’ win over Atlanta.

With concerns surrounding the Green Bay Packers beaten up wide receiver corps, the offense once again put on a show as they cruised to an easy win over the Atlanta Falcons. We even saw the defense have their best performance of the year against what is an explosive Atlanta offense.

As is the new tradition here following game day, I’ve put together some quick observations that I’ve made from the Packers’ performance. So let’s not waste any more time and dive on in.

Jaire Island was on Lockdown

Calvin Ridley entered Monday’s game as the only receiver in the NFL with 100 or more receiving yards in all three games; he was also averaging nearly 17 yards per catch while totaling four touchdowns. For Jaire Alexander, who is off to an All-Pro caliber start in 2020, this was an excellent test, and it’s a test that Jaire aced. Ridley had no receptions on five targets last night with Alexander in his hip pocket for much of the evening.

Big Bob Tonyan has arrived

Credit to the Green Bay Packers’ organization for seeing something in Robert Tonyan a few years back and signing him to the practice squad. As a former college receiver at Indiana State, the transition to the NFL and the tight end position was going to take some time, and that’s what the Packers gave him.

Now their patience is paying off as Tonyan is making contested catches and has become a favorite red-zone target of Aaron Rodgers. Oh, and did I mention that he leads all tight ends in touchdown receptions with five? These are the moves that good organizations make.

Is the run defense actually improving?

The Green Bay Packers’ run defense has struggled this season, but in Kenny Clark’s absence, we’ve seen flashes from Kingsley Keke as well as Montravius Adams. While through the first three games, the run defense received some serious help from the offense, giving them a few multiple score leads to work with, the Packers opponents have still been efficient running the ball even if the total yardage isn’t eye-popping.

However, in the second half against New Orleans, we saw them slow that Saints rushing attack, and last night against Atlanta, they held the Falcons to only 3.1 yards per rush. The Packers’ run defense will likely never dominate, but if they can be average, this unit will be dangerous.

Plenty of Pass Catchers

Understandably, there were concerns about not having Davante Adams or Allen Lazard on the field, but as I said earlier in the week, this team is well equipped to handle not having two of their top receivers. While the receiving corps was battling injuries, in the Matt LaFleur offense, there were still plenty of pass-catchers between the receivers, running backs, and tight ends.

This season, Aaron Rodgers has completed at least one pass to 12 different players, with only five of them being true receivers. And of the six players who have caught touchdowns this year, once again, just three of them are receivers. When discussing this offense, don’t worry about the term “receiver,” pass catchers is a more accurate description.

Rodgers for MVP and LaFleur for COY

We are only through Week 4, but these discussions need to start taking place. Behind Rodgers and LaFleur, the Green Bay Packers have one of, if not the most potent offense in the NFL this season.  Rodgers is completing over 70 percent of his passes, and he’s on pace for nearly 5,000 yards, 52 touchdowns, and of course, no turnovers.

Meanwhile, LaFleur just keeps on winning as a Head Coach, and his abilities as a play-caller and play designer are really shining through. With a wide variety of personnel usage, defenses have no idea what’s coming, and that makes life easier for everyone on offense, including Rodgers.

LaFleur’s personnel usage

Speaking of Matt LaFleur’s personnel usage, he is throwing everything at defenses presnap, and as you can see from the games, they have no idea what’s coming. This is creating that “illusion of complexity” that LaFleur desires, which simply means the Packers are running similar-looking plays from a wide variety of looks.

Below, Ben Fennell of The Athletic breaks down the Packers plays last night by personnel. As I mentioned, if you’re a defender, how the heck do you have any idea of what this offense is going to do?

Za’Darius Smith is tied for first in sacks

I have to admit, this one snuck up on me. But after what was Za’Darius Smith’s most dominating performance of the year, his five total sacks are tied for the most in the NFL through four weeks with Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns.