Packers offense among the best in big plays created
By Paul Bretl
Even while the Green Bay Packers’ offense is playing some of its best football as of late, they are still battling inconsistency and, frequently this season, have had long stretches where moving the ball has been quite the chore. However, despite their issues, this group still ranks among the best in big plays created in 2022.
Overall, the Packers have generated 86 big plays on offense, according to Marcus Mosher of PFF, which is the sixth most in football. A big play on the ground is a run of 10 or more yards, while a big play through the air is a reception of 20-plus yards. Green Bay has been very balanced, with 42 explosive run plays and 44 explosive pass plays.
The emergence of Christian Watson over the last month has helped the Packers play catch-up in this category. Over his last four games, Watson has totaled five receptions of 20 or more yards, along with one run of over 10 yards as well. However, while that has certainly helped, this is a season-long stat, and there are other factors behind Green Bay ranking as well as they do, even though the deep passing game has struggled for much of the year.
Aaron Jones, in the run game, has produced 23 rushes of 10-plus yards, which is the eighth most among all running backs this season per PFF ($$). As of late, AJ Dillon has also contributed to that total behind improved offensive line play, totaling six rushes of 10 or more yards since Week 10, the 10th most during that span.
As already mentioned, for much of the year, the deep passing game has been an issue for the Packers, and their inability to connect on those passes regularly contributed to a number of the problems they faced, as it allowed opposing defenses to shrink the field and play more aggressively. But that didn’t stop Rodgers from trying to push the ball downfield.
Although Rodgers currently ranks 20th in completion percentage on passes of 20-plus yards, he has the most attempts in the NFL this season, which has resulted in the third most completions. So while this element hasn’t been efficient by any means, the sheer quantity has helped their overall big play numbers.
The Packers’ offense has scored their three highest point totals in their last four games, averaging over 30 points in those contests. As always, there are a number of factors, but we can really boil down their success to three key things.
One is that the offensive line has been relatively healthy, and that then leads us to key factor No. 2, which is a more explosive running game, with Jones and Dillon totaling over 400 yards in those three games at over five yards per rush. Lastly, Watson’s big play ability on the outside has been a massive boost as well.
When an offense is running the ball as effectively as the Packers have been and also has a home run threat on the outside, defenses are stressed because they simply can’t defend against both effectively, forcing them to choose one aspect to try and slow down. Green Bay is then able to exploit the other.
Just as Adam Stenavich told reporters last week, moving the ball on offense can be that simple when the run and passing games complement each other that well.