Green Bay Packers: 10 Quick Observations from Week 15 Win

After rewatching the game, here are 10 quick observations from the Green Bay Packers Week 15 win over Carolina.

Wow, talk about a tale of two halves. The Green Bay Packers would score on their first three possessions to take a commanding 21-3 lead, but from the final minutes of the second quarter all the way until the clock hit zero, the offense couldn’t do much of anything.

However, while in many games this season, the offense has picked up the defense, in this game, it was the other way around as the Packers’ defensive unit had one of their better all-around games of the season. The second half wasn’t pretty, but a win is a win, and Green Bay moves to 11-3 and still in control of the NFC’s No. 1 seed.

I’ve had the opportunity to go back and watch the television copy of the game and have come away with 10 observations from this week’s performance. Let’s take a look.

Green Bay Packers Defense

I just gave the defense some love, so let’s start off with them as my first observation. Upon rewatching the game, my initial thought is that this was their best all-around performance of the season. Sure, there are always mistakes to clean up, and Kevin King is someone who didn’t play well at all — we will get to that shortly — but overall, I thought the unit performed quite well.

The Green Bay pass-rush forced three sacks and six quarterback hits, they came away with a crucial turnover at the goal line, and they were very good in the red zone. On top of that, Krys Barnes looked very comfortable as ILB1, and it showed in his play; the run defense held Carolina to just 4.3 yards per rush, and I thought the secondary did a fantastic job at limiting a good Panthers’ receiving corps.

Red Zone Efficiency was the Difference

In a one-score game, a major difference in the outcome was how each offense performed in the red zone. This is an area that the Green Bay Packers’ defense hasn’t been nearly as good in as they were a year ago. But against Carolina, the Panthers scored a touchdown on only one of their five red zone trips, and as I mentioned above, Krys Barnes forced a turnover at the goal line as well.

On the flip side, the Packer offense continued to dominate in the red zone, scoring three touchdowns on three trips.

Packer passing game

Most weeks this season, Aaron Rodgers, Davante Adams, or both have litten up the stat sheets. However, that wasn’t the case against Carolina. In fact, it was a pretty underwhelming performance. Although efficient, Rodgers would throw for only 141 yards at 4.9 yards per attempt. His average in those two categories this season is 283 yards and 8.23 yards per attempt.

Credit to Carolina, they made things incredibly difficult and did what very few teams have done, and that is to take Adams out of the game. When it was all said and done, Adams had seven receptions for only 42 yards, and he was unable to find the end zone.

When you take away the yardage lost via Rodgers’ five sacks, the Packers finished with 96 net passing yards. Ninety-six. That’s not easy to do in today’s NFL, and let alone still finding a way to win. I wouldn’t read too much into this performance, however. Rather, it was likely just a blip on the radar.

The Carolina Defense

Well, this is as good of a time as any to discuss the Panthers’ defense, who played very well from the final minutes of the second quarter on. This past week, both Rodgers and Matt LaFleur discussed the challenges of facing the Panthers’ unique 3-3-5 defensive scheme, and we saw that on Sunday.

As I touched on above, the Carolina secondary did a great job of locking down Green Bay’s receivers. They took away just about any shots downfield and limited the quick passing game as well. We also saw them do what really only Tampa Bay has done this season, and that is pressure, Rodgers. Rodgers was sacked five times and under pressure numerous other times.

Coming into the game, this was a unit that wasn’t ranked very highly, but they have a lot of young talent, and we saw that on full display—credit to the Carolina defense.

This Panthers team is tough

Maybe you did, maybe you didn’t, but it can be easy to overlook a team that is just 4-9 and won just one of their last seven games. But this is a talented team under Matt Rhule and a well-coached one as well.

Before you get too upset about how this game turned out, keep in mind that the Chiefs beat the Panthers by only two, the Saints beat them by only three, and Carolina did beat Arizona, who is the seventh seed in the NFC. Of their now 10 losses, eight of them have come by just one score.

A rare dud from Green Bay Packers OL

By just about any metric you want to look at, this Green Bay Packers’ offensive line has been the best in football this season. Their only real blip on the radar came against Tampa. Well, that was until last night. Carolina sacked Rodgers a season-high five times and recorded five quarterback hits as well. Two of those sacks came from Brian Burns, which I’m sure will make Packer fans thrilled.

It felt like he was under pressure just about any time he dropped back in the second half. And again, some of this is a credit to the Panther secondary as well.

Aaron Jones is going to get paid

On the same week Aaron Jones switched agents, he has one of his best performances of the season. Jones totaled 145 rushing yards at over seven yards per carry with a touchdown. He also added 13 yards in the passing game as well. Now, there is zero correlation between Jones getting a new agent and this performance, but it reaffirmed why he is going to get paid this offseason. However, it won’t be here in Green Bay.

I am confused by AJ Dillon’s usage

When both Jones and Jamaal Williams are healthy, I get why AJ Dillon doesn’t see the field. Both Jones and Williams should be getting those snaps. But on Saturday night, Williams left with an injury, leaving Jones to handle the workload, which, once again, he should get the bulk of it. But in Williams’ absence, I am surprised that Dillon was limited to only one carry, and on that carry, he picked up 18 yards. Green Bay has a plan; I’m just not sure what that plan is.

CB is going to be a top priority this offseason

For the second time in three weeks, Josh Jackson was a healthy scratch, and Kevin King struggled big time for the second week in a row. When you couple his recent play with his injury history and the fact that he’s a free agent during an offseason with a shrinking salary cap, there is certainly a possibility that King goes elsewhere. And in Jackson’s case, he just might not even make the team.

That leaves a major hole to fill at cornerback. Chandon Sullivan is primarily a nickel defender, and we haven’t seen much playing time from anyone else on the roster. Once again, I’m sure receiver will draw a lot of attention, as will other positions, but as of now, cornerback should be a top priority.

Krys Barnes looked very good as ILB1

Unfortunately, Chrisitan Kirksey doesn’t appear to have regained some of that old form prior to his injuries, and the Green Bay Packers are left with sub-par play once again at ILB. However, against Carolina, they gave the green dot to Krys Barnes, who took over as ILB1 and looked very comfortable in the role.

He came away with six tackles, one of which was for a loss, and as I’ve already mentioned, he forced the fumble on the goal line. He was a factor in the run game, and at first glance, he appeared solid in the passing game as well. Between him and Kamal Martin, it looks like the Packers may have found something at the ILB position.