Three Overreactions From Packers’ Victory at Giants

The running game? Inconsistent. The passing game? Inconsistent. The blocking? Inconsistent. The pass rush? Incon .. well, you know the rest.

Sunday’s game at New York should have been a chance to build some momentum. The Giants have two wins and just fired their coach. After top cornerback Paulson Adebo aggravated an injury pregame, they lined up without 10 starters. That includes their impressive rookie quarterback, physical rookie running back and elite receiver.

It took 56 minutes for the Jordan Love-led offense to hit their magic number of 27 points. It took 59 1/2 minutes for the defense to make a game-changing play.

There’s plenty of blame to go around to explain why everything is so darned hard against bad teams. There are no bad teams left on the schedule. The Packers have the most difficult remaining schedule in the NFL, starting on Sunday against the Vikings, who have won two in a row at Lambeau and have the type of attacking defense that could make life a living hell for an injured Love and a running game that might line up without Josh Jacobs.

If the Packers can’t run away and hide from the Giants, what are they going to do against the seven quality opponents left on the schedule?

“Honestly, we know what we’re going into next week – tough division opponent,” defensive end Micah Parsons said. “We have a little bit of momentum. Today wasn’t clean. It wasn’t great but it’s a win. It’s hard to get wins in this league. We’re just happy we got a win and it’s just time to expand on that now.”

2. Yeah, Josh Jacobs Will Be OK, But …

The Packers got about as good of news as possible with running back Josh Jacobs. While he missed most of the Giants game with a knee injury and might not play against the Vikings on Sunday, he does not need surgery.

While Emanuel Wilson over the last two seasons is averaging 4.6 yards per carry compared to 4.2 for Jacobs, there’s no way to sugarcoat the impact of his potential absence in a division showdown.

That’s especially true when combined in tandem with tight end Tucker Kraft’s torn ACL.

According to Pro Football Focus, 102 players have been targeted at least 34 times in the passing game. (That’s the target count for Jacobs.) Kraft is No. 1 in the NFL with 10.8 yards after the catch per catch and Jacobs is fourth with 9.6 YAC per catch.

This season, Kraft (347) and Jacobs (270) have combined for 617 yards after the catch on 60 receptions. Everybody else has combined for 601 yards after the catch on 152 receptions.

Losing Kraft has been a major adjustment for Green Bay. It hasn’t gone well, as you might expect given his talent and the perpetual stumbles of Luke Musgrave. Now, at least for one week (and with the Lions looming on a short week), they might have to adjust again. Jordan Love is a good quarterback. He’s going to have to be great, because the entire passing game might ride on his right arm rather than on the legs of his pass-catchers.

3. Yeah, Micah Parsons Saved the Day, But …

The Packers would be dead without Micah Parsons. Never mind what sports-radio personality Colin Cowherd thinks – or pretends to think – Parsons is an elite player and worth everything the Packers gave up to acquire him before Week 1.

Where the disappointment lies is with everyone else.

Rashan Gary was picked for his first Pro Bowl last year. With the arrival of Parsons and all the attention he draws from opponents, Gary faced a considerably easier path to the quarterback. With 7.5 sacks in 10 games, he’s well on his way to his first 10-sack season.

Where was Gary on Sunday? (Hint: Getting less snaps than a backup.) He has zero sacks and zero quarterback hits in the last three games. On Sunday against the Giants, he had two pressures. He’s on pace for 56 pressures, which would be less than the 60 he had in his first season back from a torn ACL.

Where was defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt? Extending his streak to five consecutive games without a sack or quarterback hit.

Parsons should have made everyone’s life easier. And he has – because it’s as if they are kicking up their heels and watching No. 1 do his thing.

According to Next Gen Stats, the Packers had 18 pressures against the Giants. Parsons had nine and everyone else combined for nine. According to PFF, the Packers had 12 pressures against the Giants. Parsons had six, and everyone else combined for six. In the loss to the Eagles a week earlier, Parsons had seven and everyone else had six.

Only Detroit’s Aidan Hutchinson (62) has more quarterback pressures than Parsons (56). For the Packers, Parsons has more than the next two players, Gary (33) and Karl Brooks (22) combined.

The Packers gave up two first-round picks, Kenny Clark and $186 million to acquire Parsons. They expected Parsons to apply relentless pressure on the quarterback, and he’s delivered. They also expected Parsons to help the rest of the defense. That hasn’t happened in terms of sacks, pressures or takeaways.

So, from that perspective, the trade has been a disappointment. It’s long past time for the rest of the defensive front to pull its weight.