9 Big Things from the Green Bay Packers 2021 Season

The Green Bay Packers run game didn’t generate as many big plays

Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon make up what is perhaps the best running back duo in the game. On the ground, the two would total 1,602 rushing yards — 799 for Jones and 803 for Dillon — while in the passing game, the two combined for another 704 yards, not to mention their 17 total touchdowns.

But as a whole, this Green Bay Packers run game wasn’t nearly as efficient. After averaging 4.8 yards per carry as a team in 2020, that figure fell to just 4.2 yards this past season. Green Bay also didn’t generate as many explosive plays, according to Sharp Football, as their big-play rate (a run of at least 10 yards) fell from 11 percent down to eight and from 53 total explosive plays down to 36.

There were also more occasions where the Packers couldn’t lean on the run game as strongly as they did a season ago.

As always is the case in football, there’s more than one reason as to why, but I imagine a big reason behind the run game not being as productive this season was all of the movement along the offensive line and the fact that Green Bay was missing so many key starters over the course of the season.

Again, as I mentioned previously, I would still categorize the run game as effective, but when looking for reasons why the offense took a step back in 2021, this is one of them.