3 Big Things from Green Bay Packers Wild Win Over Bears
By Paul Bretl
How many more injuries can this Green Bay Packers OL take?
Despite being down three of their five preferred starters along the offensive line due to injuries along with some positional changes, this Green Bay Packers offensive line unit has held up well, all things considered. Although not the dominant group that they were in 2020, they’ve been quite good, ranking seventh in ESPN’s pass blocking in rate metric and eighth in run blocking with some help from LaFleur’s gameplan.
But, unfortunately, they would suffer yet another injury on Sunday night, this time to Billy Turner, and it does not look promising. Turner has been one the Packers unsung heroes this season, but he would leave the game with a knee injury and was quickly ruled out by the medical staff–we will wait and see what the exact diagnosis is.
"“Billy Turner needs to get consideration for the Pro Bowl,” Rodgers said via Packers Wire earlier this season. “I know we’re only six games in, but he’s played outstanding. He really has. He’s a master of his craft. Nobody works harder at his craft than Billy. I’m really proud of him.”"
So now with Royce Newman as the only Week 1 offensive lineman still playing his original position, if Turner is in fact out for an extended period of time, can this offensive line unit continue to find ways to hold up?
At right tackle in Turner’s absence was veteran Dennis Kelly, who started all of 2020 at right tackle for Tennessee. According to PFF ($$), Kelly would allow no sacks and 26 pressures that season. Following the game, Aaron Rodgers was quick to give Kelly credit for his level play against Chicago coming off the bench.
As they’ve done all season, this offensive line group took a few lumps but largely performed well on Sunday night. Rodgers was sacked just once due to the offensive line and was rarely pressured. Meanwhile, Green Bay averaged 5.0 yards per carry on the ground–although it’s worth mentioning that Chicago was without Akiem Hicks and Khalil Mack.
Hopefully, reinforcements are on the way in the form of David Bakhtiari and Josh Myers, but Green Bay will still likely have to get by without both players for the time being. The name of the game in Green Bay is keeping Rodgers upright, which to their credit, they’ve been able to do for the most part, but I’m not sure how many more injuries this group can take and still survive.