Green Bay Packers: 5 Takeaways in Week 13 vs Chiefs

The Green Bay Packers are on a roll. They are coming off of another win this past week on Sunday Night Football against the Chiefs. Here are five takeaways from a massive win for Jordan Love and company.

The Offense Is On A Streak
The Packers’ offense has been on a roll lately and didn’t stop this week. Coming off of a two game win streak, the offensive scheme went from flat to on fire quickly. They started scheming over the middle plays, running the ball more effectively, and have figured out how to use their playmakers by putting them in the best spots to succeed. Jordan Love would have another fantastic game, throwing for 267 yards and three touchdowns. It’s the third straight week for Love with over 250 yards passing and at least two touchdowns, which has the offense rolling right now. Christian Watson had himself a night with two touchdowns and seventy-one yards receiving as well as fifteen yards rushing, and Romeo Doubs would lead the team in receiving with seventy-two yards. As for the other scores, Ben Sims would go on and catch his first career touchdown in the first quarter, and Anders Carlson would cap off two Green Bay drives with field goals from 40 and 48 yards. My main key was if the offense could keep rolling, and they sure did this past week again on all cylinders. They’ll look to keep gaining momentum next Monday night against the Giants.

The Defense Held
One of my main talking points in things to watch was being able to limit Mahomes, Pacheco, and Kelce while forcing turnovers. While Pacheco had over one hundred yards rushing, the run game wasn’t shut down, but the passing game was limited for the Chiefs. Kelce still had a very solid game last night, but the defense got the stops when they mattered, including an interception from Keisean Nixon to push the Packers that much closer to sealing the game in the fourth quarter. The pass rush also got home for a combined three sacks last night, which, putting pressure on Mahomes especially on the late downs, was key. Combining for those three sacks with the only solo sack was rookie Lukas Van Ness. Combining for the other two sacks at 0.5 sacks each were Rashan Gary, Preston Smith, Devonte Wyatt, and Kenny Clark. Various players on the defensive line were getting home last night, and it proved to be huge as the defense allowed a Chiefs offense, averaging 23.2 points per game, to only nineteen.

Special Teams Redeemed Themselves
After missing an extra point in three straight games, the Packers special teams, specifically the field goal and extra point units would need to clean it up, going against one of the better teams in the league. The good news is, they did exactly that. Not only did Anders Carlson make all of his extra points, but he also would tack on two field goals from forty yards and forty-eight yards out. These points proved to be huge, as those two field goals would put the Packers up eight points late in the fourth quarter. Overall, the special teams needed to get back on track, and that’s exactly what they did this week. They’ll look to continue that trend this coming week as well.

The Young Core Continued To Impress
The Packers moved to an all-young team this past offseason, and instead of using that as an excuse, they have been impressive this season. That would go on to continue this week with Love, Watson, Doubs, Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, Tucker Kraft, and Malik Heath all adding their contributions to an offense that is rolling right now. Another name that you can put on that list of young guys impressing is Ben Sims, who caught his first career touchdown this past week. The fact that these young players are all showing promise is huge, and they will look to continue to keep the offense rolling.

The Front Seven Is Clicking

The four and five-man fronts have been working wonders for the Packers recently. It would prove to be no different this past week as there were even more heavy fronts being called against the Chiefs to get pressure on Patrick Mahomes. The defensive line would once again get home again and again this week, registering three total sacks multiple tackles for loss, with even a handful of pressures as well. Racking up pressures and sacks will always be huge against any opposing quarterback, but the more you can get home against a good team will prove to be even more effective. Not only were the pressures getting the offense out of sorts, but the linebacker play when you send four or five linemen needs to be great, and it was. Quay Walker and De’Vondre Campbell cleaned up the open gaps and were vital in stopping a lot of plays over the middle. Walker would lead the team in total tackles, with thirteen, followed by an amazing day by Corey Ballentine who had ten, and Jonathan Owens with five. If the defense can continue to play like this out of any rotation, the defense will only keep getting scarier as the season progresses.