Packers win wild game out West: What went right, What went wrong?
Somewhere, the 1972 Miami Dolphins team is popping another bottle of champagne—the Arizona Cardinals are undefeated no more. The Green Bay Packers and their fans invaded the desert and won in a walk-off fashion for their seventh-straight win, 24-21.
Let’s check out what went right in the Green Bay Packers wild win in the desert.
The Packers kept the potent Arizona offense off the field and controlled the clock.
One way to beat a potent offense is to keep them off the field—and the Green Bay Packers did just that.
The Packers won the time of possession by a wide margin. They had the ball longer than the Cardinals by over fifteen minutes, running 17 more plays and keeping Kyler Murray & Co. off the field.
So far this season, the Cardinals are an offense that thrives on explosive pass plays, ranking 7th in the NFL, according to Sharp football stats. The Packers needed to limit those big plays, and one effective way of doing so was controlling the tempo of the game and the time of possession.
The Packer’s dynamic duo, Aaron Jones and AJ, Dillon ran right through the Cardinal’s defense.
Once news broke early in the week that the Packers would be without their top three wide-receivers, we all knew the path to victory would have to go through the run game.
AJ Dillon and Aaron Jones answered the bell and were unstoppable.
The Green Bay Packers combined for 151 yards on the ground and mercifully controlled the game while punishing the Cardinal’s defense, leaning on both players with their top three wide receivers unavailable.
Jones, who was targeted eleven times, caught seven passes for 51 yards and was the leading receiver for the Packers.
Of AJ Dillon’s 78 rushing yards, 61 of them came after contact.
— Daire Carragher (@DaireCarragher) October 29, 2021
He routinely bails out poor blocking.
And the guy tackling him is always the one worse for wear after the play.
This run may be my favorite. pic.twitter.com/CtV5mzyboz
Dillon finished the game with 78 yards with 61 of them coming after contact.
The running game was consistent, but some of the credit has to go to the offensive line, who grinded all game upfront, creating running lane after running lane for the ball carriers.
The Packers won in wild fashion, but it came down to a last-second play. Let’s take a look at what went wrong.
Packers goal-line offensive play calls.
I’m not exactly sure what happened down at the goal-line Thursday night, but some of the play-calling was somewhat puzzling at times.
The Packers dominated the line of scrimmage all game, running right through the middle of the Arizona defense—except when they got down to the goal line.
Early in the game, Cardinals punt returner, Rondale Moore muffed a punt that the Packers recovered at the Cardinals 3-yard line. The Packers failed to put the ball into the endzone, electing to pass the ball three consecutive times, resulting in three incompletions.
Later on, the Packers had a chance to put the game on ice. Driving late in the game and on the 1-yard line, it appeared running back Aaron Jones crossed the goal-line, which would’ve all but won the game. But after review, he was ruled down short of the endzone. Three plays later, the Packers failed to score, turning it over on downs and giving Arizona life.
The Packers lose their starting tight-end and kick returner to season-ending injuries.
The Green Bay Packers may have walked away with a wild win out west, but, unfortunately, they also left with some critical injuries, losing both Robert Tonyan and Kylin Hill to season-ending injuries.
Hill, the team’s seventh-round draft pick, was injured as he was violently hit directly on his right knee.
Last season, no tight-end was on the receiving end of more touchdowns than Robert Tonyan.
Fast forward to this season, and if you ask anyone, it wasn’t the start that Tonyan envisioned statistically, but he was heating up as of late. Unfortunately, his season ultimately ended in the fourth quarter while on the receiving end of a 33-yard catch and run.
Tonyan planted his left leg and landed awkwardly while being tackled. He was assisted off the field and on Friday morning, he was diagnosed with an ACL tear, ending his 2021 campaign.
The Packers may look to add a tight-end or lean on second-year player Josiah Deguara for a more prominent role within the offense.
The Packers get a mini-bye week and get set for the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Packers are enjoying a mini-bye week and get ready to face off with the potent Kansas City Cheifs next Sunday.
The Green Bay Packers are currently the number one seed in the NFC and look to get some key players back from the injury list for a week nine clash.