5 Takeaways From Week 11 – Packers v. Chargers
The Packers are coming off of a win this past weekend against the Los Angeles Chargers. After going over the film, here are five takeaways from the game.
The Offense Took Off
The Packers have been a league worst in average points scored in the first half until last week against the Steelers, and they kept it rolling this week. Jordan Love would go on and throw for 322 yards and three touchdowns as the offense put up a twenty-three point game. The scheme had multiple improvements, and was very impressive especially with the way they used all of their weapons. If this scheme can continue, it is only going to let Love continue to show what he showed this past week with the right calls.
The Young Core Showed Off
Jordan Love had his first 300 yard game of his career this past week, and the young receiving core of the Packers all benefitted off of it. Starting in the wide receiver room, Jayden Reed would continue to impress with a 46 yard touchdown run as well as 46 yards receiving. Christian Watson, who I had mentioned along with Luke Musgrave to be needed on crossing routes, finally got his shot and didn’t dissapoint as he would score a touchdown of his own. Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks would go on to have 53 yards as well as a touchdown, and 91 yards respectively. If you thought it stopped in the wide receiver room, you would be wrong. In the tight end room, Luke Musgrave would tack on four more receptions for 28 yards himself, and his teammate in that room Tucker Kraft would tack on another 32 yards himself, including a nice run after the catch with a hurdle. This young core of has shown great promise all year, and they’ll look to keep it rolling on Thanksgiving.
The Defense Came To Play
This is the first game in awhile where it seemed that the offense and the defense got into a groove at the same time, and the flashes the team showed were big. The defense stood strong when it needed to against a very talented Chargers’ offense in both the run and pass game. Austin Ekeler besides one big run was quiet most of the day, and Rashan Gary was able to recover a fumble from him as well on the goaline. As for the pass game, Keenan Allen had a big day, but with a depleted secondary with no Jaire Alexander, Darnell Savage, and Eric Stokes again, everyone stepped up and made the big plays when they mattered. They will look to keep that streak going against Jared Goff, who threw three interceptions against the Bears last week.
Special Teams Need To Step It Up
Special Teams had another rough go this past weekend. Coming off of a blocked extra point, the special teams unit besides kick and punt return was looking to step up this week. Starting with a missed field goal before half, Anders Carlson would also go on to miss an extra point as well. This will certanly need to get cleaned up as that is back to back weeks now with a missed extra point. One point could certanly effect decisions for the rest of the game as we saw against the Steelers. Luckily, this time it didn’t come into affect, but it will still need to get cleaned up this upcoming week.
Jordan Love Was Decisive
In his first 300 yard game this past week, Jordan Love made great decisions and showed so many flashes. From avoiding defenders in the pocket, to throwing nicely placed passes, Love was on fire this past week. When the offensive scheme improved, to no surprise, so did Love. Sending Watson and Musgrave over the middle more has helped open things up with the speed that they have, as well as incroporating Wicks more as well. Reed and Doubs have been a lot of the gameplan and continue to prove themselves, but using all of the speed that the Packers have to spread the ball around is only going to help Love improve more.