Green Bay Packers: 3 Matchups to Watch in Week 16
By Kenny Jilek
Packers Run Defense vs. Derrick Henry
This is the big one that Green Bay Packers’ fans everywhere have been dreading for weeks. The run defense for Green Bay has been a talking point ever since Mike Pettine came to town, was amplified to an extreme in the NFC Championship Game last year, and has been scrutinized highly ever since.
Meanwhile, Derrick Henry has shown himself to be one of the best pure running backs in the league. Every week, there’s a new highlight of him burying a defender with a stiff arm, and hopefully, we don’t see that happen this week. His 1679 rushing yards lead the league and are over 100 more than second-place Dalvin Cook. He also leads the league in runs of 20 yards or more at 13.
The Packers are 20th in the league in yards per carry at 4.5, which makes it seem like we’re all overreacting when lamenting their struggles stopping the run, but that doesn’t get to the real heart of the problem. The problem is that a below-average run defense keeps the Packers’ offense off of the field. We saw it in the Vikings game this year when the aforementioned Cook ran wild and took control of the clock, keeping Aaron Rodgers and the offense on the sidelines.
This Titans’ defense is 29th in the league in pass yards given up. Rodgers is locked and loaded, ready to absolutely shred this defense when he gets the ball in his hands. They need to be able to get stops and get him the ball back so he can cook. Green Bay can win a shootout, but they can’t win if they rarely get the ball.