We knew the Packers' rushing game would struggle without Josh Jacobs for the first month and a half without Josh Jacobs in the lineup, but I don't think we were fully prepared for them to rank last in the league in rushing yards per game. Yet that's been their fate through six weeks, posting only 59.8 rushing yards per game for the lowest mark in the NFL by a margin of more than 16 yards per contest.
If you want to play the blame game, some of that falls back on the horrible run blocking of this unproven offensive line, or the lackluster rushing attack deployed by OC Adam Stenavich and HC Matt LaFleur, but I don't think that's a productive conversation. In turn, there is some credit to go around, because in spite of their nonexistent running game, Green Bay's offense remains effective to a large degree.
No pun intended, but the Packers rank just below the middle of the pack in total yards per game at 18th (329.2), with a 4-2 record to show for it. It's incredibly difficult for a team that has no shot at establishing the run to sustain this level of offensive execution, and it's only gotten better over the course of the last month and a half, as the Packers put up 20+ points in each of their last two outings and two-thirds of their games thus far.
Green Bay's offensive output highlights a resilience the Packers can build on during the rest of this season.
We've spent months wondering if or when Jacobs would return to the lineup, and whether it's this week or next, it finally seems imminent. Taking the off-the-field considerations out of the equation, this is a massive win for the Packers on the field. Even through the offensive line's struggles, Jacobs should be able to generate more yardage than anyone else the Packers have deployed thus far.
It might serve MarShawn Lloyd better to be a secondary option — even after he yielded 11 carries to Pierre Strong Jr. in Sunday night's win against Dallas. To this point in his career, Lloyd hasn't been able to generate much outside of what he's given, but with a headlining back ahead of him, he might be able to get loose and catch defenders off guard to put together a more productive rest-of-season outlook.
Meanwhile, the Packers' playmakers have gotten the job done when the team needs them most. Through ups and downs, second-year receiver Matthew Golden has broken out as one of the best offensive weapons of his draft class, while Christian Watson, fresh off his contract extension, looks like the WR1 that Green Bay dreamed he'd become. All the while, Jordan Love is playing an efficient and cerebral game to match Matt LaFleur's vision for this team.
There's a chance we've already seen the worst of the Packers' offense this year, which would put them on a path to make some real noise in the NFC North for the rest of this season — and hopefully, in the playoffs too.
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