Green Bay Packers: 9 Quick Observations from Win Over Eagles

After rewatching the Green Bay Packers win over the Philadelphia Eagles, here are nine quick observations from what we saw.

Things got a little dicey there in the fourth quarter after the Green Bay Packers’ defense allowed a fourth-down touchdown, and then a short while later, the special teams unit gave up the punt return for a touchdown, but the superior team won. And truthfully, despite the start of the game and a few minutes in the fourth quarter, they were in complete control.

As always, I’ve had a chance to go back and rewatch the TV copy of the game, and after doing so, I’ve come away with my nine quick observations for this week.

Pass-rush does its job against bad OL

This season, the Green Bay Packers’ pass rush has been very inconsistent, especially when compared to their production from 2019. However, when they’ve faced struggling offensive line units, as they should, they’ve played well. Their top four games in terms of pressures came against Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, and Jacksonville–all of whom rank in the bottom third of the NFL in pressures allowed.

Well, that trend continued Sunday against what many stats would consider the worst offensive line unit in football. The Packers totaled seven sacks, four of which came before halftime, along with 12 quarterback hits as well. When in the game, Carson Wentz was completely flustered, and it’s a big reason why for much of the game, the Philly offense couldn’t do a whole lot.

Aaron Jones TD run

This was the monster run that ended up putting the game away for the Green Bay Packers, but it’s a run that doesn’t happen without some incredible effort from players other than Jones. Look at the hustle from Marquez Valdes-Scantling and David Bakhtiari to get into position to throw some extra blocks that sprung Jones. This is the kind of effort that you LOVE to see.

My 3 concerns were handled well

Before the game, I mentioned that three concerns I had with Philadelphia were RB Miles Sanders, their tight ends over the middle of the field, as well as their defensive front. However, for the most part, the Green Bay Packers were able to contain these players.

Now sure, Dallas Goedert and Zach Ertz had a few big plays, and the Eagle defensive front made running the ball very difficult, but neither took over the game by any means, and that is what we were looking to avoid. Meanwhile, Sanders averaged only 3.1 yards per carry.

Davante Adams is so, so good

I mean, what adjectives are left to describe Davante Adams’ play? He’s been incredible. Having played in only 10 games this season, he has already eclipsed the 1,000-yard receiving mark, he’s caught 13 touchdowns, and he’s averaging over 100 receiving yards per game–the most in the NFL. It was also very fitting that he hauled in Aaron Rodgers’ 400th career touchdown pass; I couldn’t think of a more fitting player to do so.

Mike Pettine’s aggressiveness

If we are going to get after Mike Pettine when he plays that soft zone coverage or sends a 3-man rush, we need to give him props when he shows some aggressiveness, and that is what he did on Sunday. Against a poor Eagles OL, some less than dynamic WRs, and a struggling QB in Carson Wentz, as he should have, Pettine turned up the heat. We saw more blitzing, more press-man coverage, and more defenders in the box. And it was a beautiful sight to see.

Injuries

At one point the Green Bay Packers’ injury report was about a mile long, but it’s been significantly smaller these past few weeks, with only three players listed as questionable before Sunday’s game, and all three were active.

However, perhaps what was overshadowed given how the game finished was that several Packer players left with injuries and didn’t return. This group includes Tyler Ervin, Billy Winn, Jace Sternberger, Equanimeous St. Brown, and Raven Greene. As always, let’s hope it’s nothing too serious.

Matt LaFleur is a good coach

In his tweet below, CheeseheadTV’s Aaron Nagler summed it up well; Matt LaFleur is a good coach. Since his fumble in Indianapolis, Marquez Valdes-Scantling has only two targets, no receptions, and another brutal drop on a deep ball. But as LaFleur mentions, it’s all about the team, and Valdes-Scantling’s block on Aaron Jones’ run is “the epitome of team.”

Offensive Line shake-up

Even going back to training camp, Matt LaFleur has been a bit secretive about how he was going to construct the offensive line. And heading into Sunday’s game with no Corey Linsley, I think we all assumed that Elgton Jenkins would be the center and Jon Runyan would be the left guard. Well, that was kind of true. Jenkins was the center, but the left guard was Lucas Patrick, the right guard was then Billy Turner, and the right tackle was Rick Wagner.

But once again, no matter which grouping you put on the field, this unit plays at an extremely high-level. And it’s not as if they were up against a bad defensive front; the Eagles ranked seventh in pressure rate entering the game. Yet, you wouldn’t have known that based on all the time Aaron Rodgers had to throw.

Special teams blunders

It’s been a rough month and a half stretch for the special teams unit, to say the least. There was the blocked punt in Houston, the punt return against Jacksonville, the fumbled kick return in Indianapolis, J.K. Scott just hasn’t been good, and now another punt return allowed against Philadelphia. I apologize if I’ve missed anything else because I’m sure there were other blunders not mentioned. Hopefully, the addition of Tavon Austin can provide a spark to the return unit, but the coverage units still need some major work.