Green Bay Packers v. Vikings: 3 Big Things from Last Second Loss

Injuries to OL becoming a major concern for Green Bay Packers

This Green Bay Packers offense was lights out in 2020, and a big reason why was the play of this offensive line unit–which by several metrics was the best unit in football that season.

This season, however, the offense isn’t clicking like it was a year ago. As I always want to point out, there is more than one reason for that, but one of the bigger contributors is that the offensive line play hasn’t been as good. Now, they certainly haven’t been bad, but they aren’t as good.

With the eventual return of David Bakhtiari and Elgton Jenkins moving back to the interior, this offensive line unit was going to get a major boost, and thus a major boost for the entire offense as well. Unfortunately, a wrench was thrown in those plans on Sunday.

As if the Green Bay Packers haven’t had to deal with a number of key injuries this season, Jenkins left the game with a knee injury, and according to Ian Rapoport, it is believed to be an ACL tear. Assuming this is true, Jon Runyan and Royce Newman will continue to be the starting guards this season.

In addition to losing Jenkins, the Packers are still without Bakhtiari. After the game, Rodgers would call Bakhtiari’s status “unknown,” which is a bit ominous considering he has missed the last week of practices after returning on November 11th. While I still wouldn’t hit the panic button by any means, it doesn’t look like Bakhtiari will be back before the bye, and it may not be right after the bye either.

Individually, if you plug in either Yosh Nijman, Jon Runyan, Lucas Patrick, or Royce Newman along Green Bay’s typically healthy offensive line, this is still a very good unit overall. But offensive line play is very much the sum of the parts is greater than the individual–this is why the Packers have been able to absorb so many injuries there.

But when your offensive line goes from including Bakhtiari, Jenkins, and Josh Myers to the four players mentioned above, the sum is obviously a bit weaker, which is some cause for concern. As I’ve already mentioned, one reason behind some of the struggles this season has been the up and down offensive line play.

Overall, this group can still be effective, but no longer will they be dominant. The Packers have been able to overcome injuries this season, but losing Jenkins is going to be one of the bigger challenges, and if this team plans on getting to the Super Bowl, getting Bakhtiari back is a must.