Packers handle business: What went Right, What went Wrong?

The Green Bay Packers are seven games into their 2021 season and have won six straight, defeating the Washington Football Team 24-10 at Lambeau Field in front of yet another sellout crowd.

It wasn’t pretty, but it doesn’t truly matter at the end of the day: A win is always better than a loss.

The Green Bay Packers are sitting comfortably in the NFC North and, most notably, winning games with some of their key players dealing with injuries.

Let’s check out what went right in the Green Bay Packers win over the Washington Football Team.

Rashan Gary dominated the line of scrimmage for the Packers

Rashan Gary has officially arrived.

Let’s be honest, when the Packers surprised us all and selected Gary with the 12th overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft, it came with much criticism, following  inconsistent production at the University of Michigan after being a highly touted recruit.

Fast forward to Sunday, Gary single handily dominated the Washington Football Team’s offensive line, causing all kinds of havoc.

According to PFF ($$), Gary finished the day with a career-high ten pressures, two sacks, and a forced fumble, seemingly making big play after big play when the Packers needed it most.

Take it for what it’s worth, but we should note that both Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith did not play Sunday, which makes Gary’s performance even a little more impressive as he shouldered the load for a severely bang-up edge-rusher unit.

Over the last two weeks, Gary has totaled seventeen pressures. The Green Bay Packers and Joe Barry will undoubtedly lean on Gary from here on out.

Robert Tonyan finally has his breakout game of the season.

Robert Tonyan was not going to miss out on National Tight Ends day Sunday.

After leading tight ends last year in touchdown receptions, his start to this year has been frustrating and disappointing.

Last week, as I was previewing this matchup, I wrote about how badly the Packers and Tonyan needed each other, as it was one of my key points to watch for during this matchup.

Sunday, Tonyan finally got going, snatching four receptions for sixty-three yards and a much-needed touchdown in the third quarter to put the Packers up two scores.

After the game Sunday, Tonyan went into detail about how the play unfolded on his big touchdown reception:

"“The defense at first, I thought the safety was going to be outside leverage of me, I went vertical, and then I saw the linebacker attach to me inside, and I was like, ‘This is the perfect look.’ So I was hoping the ball was going to be in the air when I turned, and it was.”"

The Packers will need more of his production, especially with news breaking Monday regarding all-pro wide receiver Davante Adams being placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list.

If Tonyan can take this productive game and build off of it, look out, NFL.

However, not everything went according to plan for the Packers. Let’s check out a couple of things that went wrong on Sunday.

The field goal protection unit remains an issue. 

It has been an issue all season, and unfortunately, those problems continued Sunday afternoon.

During the first half Sunday, Green Bay Packers kicker Mason Crosby had his 34-yard field goal attempt blocked—although after watching multiple replays of it, I’m not sure the kick had any chance, blocked or not.

"According to Packers head coach Matt LeFleur via Packers.com “There was some leakage for sure. The ball looked like it was coming out pretty low, regardless”"

Unfortunately, for the first quarter plus of this season, the struggles have been a re-occurring theme for the Packers and their special teams unit.

Under first-year coordinator Maurice Drayton, the unit needs to be better going forward, and the pressure is only mounting week by week.

Leaving three points off the board against an under-performing Washington team is one thing, but these mistakes won’t fly against the top teams in the NFC, especially in January.

What exactly was the offensive game-plan?

After re-watching the Packers and Washington game, I am still unsure what the offensive game-plan was for Green Bay.

I don’t know about you, but for me, winning football games usually means you were able to establish the run more often than not.

The Packers had only nine rushing attempts behind the workhorses of Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon. As a team, the Packers would rush for only 57 yards. Kylin Hill also added three rushes for two yards.

That’s typically a recipe for disaster in the NFL, especially in this LeFleur offensive scheme which relies heavily on the rushing attack.

Although the running lanes were scarce, Dillon may have had his worst game as a pro, only rushing the ball three times, fumbling twice, and losing one of them.

I’m not sure if this was the plan all along; no team in the NFL gives up more passing yards per game than Washington, but it was pretty puzzling all game long to not see any resemblance of a rushing attack for the Packers.

The Packers take on the Cardinals on national TV this week. 

The  Green Bay Packers will now turn their attention and take their six-game winning streak on the road this coming Thursday against an undefeated Arizona Cardinals team.