5 Takeaways from Packers vs. Lions Week 4 matchup

The Green Bay Packers came up on the negative end of the comeback hopes this time. After a big comeback win against the Saints in week three, the comeback fell short against the Lions on Thursday Night Football this past Thursday. After re-watching the film, here are five takeaways.

The Offense Was Quiet Until It Wasn’t For The Second Straight Week

While the offense was able to get going in the second half, the first half continued to have another slow start for the Packers. The slow start seemed to be partially due to the offensive line not giving a whole lot of time until the second half, but also due to the run game not being established as well. The Packers averaged 5.5 points in the first half, but a league-high, 19.5 points in the second half. If they can figure out a way to start as fast as they finish, this Packer offense can be scary.

The Defense Continued to Get Shredded Against the Run 

While everyone talked about the comeback win in week three, the defense kept the Packers in that game against the Saints. This was not the case this past week, however. Not only were they unable to stop the run, but the scheme hardly changed half to half. This allowed Lions’ running back, David Montgomery to rush for a career-high 113 yards after contact, which totaled up to 121 yards and three touchdowns. The Packers not being able to stop the run is nothing new, and when you aren’t establishing a run game on offense, and can’t stop the run on defense, the chances that you win go down drastically.

The Offensive Line Failed

The offensive line was once again short-handed, with no David Bakhtiari and Elgton Jenkins, this group came into Thursday Night against one of the better defensive line rooms in the league. Not only were they unable to establish a run game, but the Packers also allowed a season-high in pressures and sacks. Despite being short-handed, this group needs to figure out how to protect Love and get a push in the run game.

Run The Ball…

While the offensive line wasn’t getting as much push this past week, Aaron Jones not touching the ball until the third drive of the game cannot become a trend. Jones is one of the only veterans on this team, and he’s a huge playmaker. While he was on limited snaps coming off of his injury, only having five carries cannot become normal, and I don’t expect it to. As for the other players in the running back room, AJ Dillon has needed to step up without Jones but it has been Patrick Taylor making more explosive plays instead. Emanuel Wilson seemed to have enough power to be a power back but also had a burst of speed in his limited touches so far as well. Establishing the run game will be huge moving forward as it will open up passing lanes for Love and take pressure off the passing game.

The Team Showed Flashes

This Green Bay Packer team has shown on both sides of the ball in various games what kind of team they can be if they can play a full game. While the defense stepped up without  Jaire Alexander in the secondary and started the opening drive with an interception by safety, Rudy Ford, the edge room besides Rashan Gary could improve. Of 97 edge defenders who have logged at least 50 snaps this year, Gary leads them with a 33.3% win rate, whereas two other Packer edges who also logged at least 50% of snaps are bottom fifteen. If they can have one more edge step up and start winning reps more consistently, the defensive line will get that much better.

Overall, you never want to see your team lose to an NFC North rival, but the good news is that this young Packers team is showing flashes of how good they can be when they put a full game together. Take a look here to see how the defense can capitalize more.