Packers-Giants Weather Could Be Enormous Factor

Would the Green Bay Packers be better served handing the keys of the offensive car to Jordan Love? Maybe.

But the reason why coach Matt LaFleur can’t give up on the running game is days like Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J., against the New York Giants.

According to AccuWeather, Sunday’s forecast calls for a kickoff temperature of 53 degrees with a west-northwest wind of 21 mph with gusts roaring to 43 mph. Gusts will approach 40 mph throughout the game.

Good luck to Jordan Love, no matter how strong his arm, throwing the ball in that weather.

The early forecast for next week’s home game against the Minnesota Vikings is relatively tame, with a high of 48 and west-southwest winds of about 10 mph. But that’s the early forecast, and if there’s one thing that’s for certain when it comes to the weather in November, it’s wait a minute and it will change.

The running game was a strength of the Packers last season. Not this season. Of 46 qualifying players, Josh Jacobs ranks 37th with 3.75 yards per carry. As a team, Green Bay is 25th with 3.95 yards per carry. Last year, Green Bay was sixth with 4.75 yards per carry. That’s 0.80 yards per carry, despite what general manager Brian Gutekunst thought would be a new-and-improved offensive line.

“I like how Josh is running the ball, especially as of late,” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said this week. “I think he’s done a really nice job of breaking tackles and just running hard. You watch him down in the red zone and he does an excellent job just willing his way into the end zone, fighting through defenders. You can just see the desire that he has to score, which is really cool.”

While the Packers are a solid 10th with 18 negative-yardage runs, they are tied for 22nd with 24 runs of 10-plus yards and 31st with just one run of 20-plus yards

Jacobs has been good. Of his 3.75-yard average, 2.99 has come after contact. That means he’s getting about three-quarters of a yard because of his line and everything else on his own.

Left guard Aaron Banks, the team’s big free-agent signing, has been in and out of the lineup due to injuries. Center Elgton Jenkins, who shifted from left guard after the Banks signing, suffered a season-ending injury last week. Jordan Morgan might become a good starting left tackle but he’s struggled at right guard.

The Packers are going to need better performances from their blockers, including new starting center Sean Rhyan, and their tight ends following Tucker Kraft’s knee injury.

“I think up front, we can always be better with our pad level and our base and just the fundamentals with that, and we just got to keep hammering that away,” Stenavich continued.