Green Bay Packers: Week 16 MVP and Other Awards

The Green Bay Packers took a fantastic surprising 40-14 win against the Titans this week, so it’s time to celebrate and hand out some awards.

Offensive MVP – Davante Adams

The Aaron Rodgers to Davante Adams continues to be the best in the NFL, and they are now the best in Green Bay Packers’ history. They broke the Packer record for completions for a duo, passing a record held previously by Brett Favre and Donald Driver. Three of the eleven connections they made Sunday night were for touchdowns, and he finished with 142 yards, which isn’t even a strange stat line for Adams to have anymore.

Adams made multiple highlight plays against the Titans, including a diving catch on the sideline and multiple catches at the line of scrimmage, where he beat the corner to the edge for a big gain. Adams absolutely carried the passing game this week, as no one else had more than two catches or 21 yards receiving. Hopefully, in weeks to come, others will get more involved as the playoffs come, but Adams and Rodgers are the kind of connection that can win a playoff game on their own.

Defensive MVP – Darnell Savage

Darnell Savage has blossomed into a star in the second half of this season after a lackluster first few games. He added to that even more on Sunday night with an interception, another one that he dropped, and two more that he almost undercut. In total, he had three passes defended and also added five tackles.

Christian Kirksey mentioned in an interview that they emphasized flying around on defense this week, and Darnell Savage has been embodying that sentiment for the last few games. Kirksey had a nice game himself with a sack and an interception, earning him an honorable mention for this game. The entire Green Bay pass rush also earns honorable mention for their efforts pressuring Ryan Tannehill and making him uncomfortable, which led to the two interceptions and many incompletions.

Breakout Game – A.J. Dillon

A headline a lot of people thought that would be written coming into the game was, “Bruising running back takes control of the game.” That happened on Sunday night at Lambeau, but it was A.J. Dillon, not Derrick Henry, that made that headline come true. He constantly punished Titans’ defenders, running the ball 21 times, constantly wearing them down. He totaled 124 yards and two touchdowns in the game as the Packers’ primary back.

This was a great night for people that are hopeful for the Packers’ future and fans in the camp of not paying Aaron Jones this offseason. It was a pretty bad night for people looking to complain about this draft class and the pay Jones crowd. Dillon running through defenders in a snow game in December brings back big Eddie Lacy memories and shows that Dillon could be extremely valuable going forward to offset the passing attack and tire out defenses throughout the game. Personally, I’ve believed for a while now that it’s simply not financially feasible to keep Jones because other teams will pay him a lot more, and seeing Dillon do what he did shows that this offense could easily survive, even though Jones has many superior skills in the passing game.

Lockdown Award – Jaire Alexander

The Tennessee Titans have a pair of great wide receivers in Corey Davis and A.J. Brown, but you wouldn’t have known that by watching their game against the Packers Sunday night. Davis had 0 catches on two targets, while Brown had just four catches on eight targets for 43 yards.

Jaire Alexander was the biggest part of that as the Green Bay Packers’ top cornerback, and he had three passes defended on the night, including one on fourth down to completely seal the victory in the fourth quarter. Most weeks, Alexander isn’t even targeted enough to get three passes defended, but this week the Titans tried to throw the ball in the area, which was a massive mistake. He continues to make a case for All-Pro, but he really needs to intercept another pass to get voters on his side.

Celebration of the Week – A.J. Dillon (Allen Lazard assist)

A.J. Dillon is relentless and refuses to go down as a ballcarrier, and brought that same energy to his Lambeau Leap game against the Titans. The great thing about scoring two touchdowns in a game is that if you fail one Lambeau Leap, you get another shot at it. He’s a big back, so getting up there is a tough task. In a normal season, the fans in the front row could have helped him up, but alas, there were none in the area. So, on his second leap, after absolutely bulldozing Matt Dickerson to get in the endzone, Allen Lazard game him a nice push from behind to get him up there.

He really epitomized the saying, “If at first, you don’t succeed, try, try again.” Sure, both leaps were lackluster, but the no-quit attitude that he translated from the field to the wall was inspiring. Hopefully, he’ll have many more chances to sit atop that wall after touchdowns as he continues to grow as a player.

Celebration of the Year Leaderboard

1. Aaron Rodgers – Hingle Mccringleberry
2. Soul Train Line
3. Za’Darius Smith – Rest in Heaven Breonna Taylor
4. Aaron Rodgers – Michael Jordan Shrug
5. Adams and Lazard – Crowning of Rodgers
6. Aaron Rodgers – The Belt
7. Aaron Rodgers – I Love Gold
8. A.J. Dillon – Second Lambeau Leap (Allen Lazard assist)
9. Jamaal Williams – Being a complete goofball
10. Packers Defense – Hitting the Woah
11. Packers Defense – Love Don’t Cost a Thing
12. Chandon Sullivan – Lambeau Leap
13. Ifeadi Odenigbo – Premature Airplane

So what were your thoughts on the Green Bay Packers’ big win this week? Do you think A.J. Dillon proved he can be this team’s running back of the future?