Three Overreactions from Packers’ Victory Over Lions

Last season, the Green Bay Packers went 0-6 against the NFC’s top three teams. They went 1-5 in NFC North games, including 0-3 at home.

Rather than being contenders to win the Super Bowl, they were exposed as pretenders at every pivotal moment of a season that ended with a three-game losing streak.

Well, if the Packers play like they did during Sunday’s 27-13 victory over the Detroit Lions – by far the most impressive win by any team in Week 1 considering the opponent – they’ll go 20-0 this season and bring the Lombardi Trophy back to Green Bay. OK, 20-0 is preposterous, but there is no doubt the Packers stamped themselves as a potential Super Bowl team on Sunday.

Here are this week’s Overreactions following a potential-packed opening win.

1. Potential Problem

Back when Dom Capers was defensive coordinator, he’d begin his weekly press conference by saying, “First, the positives.” We’ll start with the negative instead.

Green Bay’s running game was bad. Josh Jacobs carried six times in the first half for 8 yards. By the end of the game, Jacobs managed to rush for a respectable 66 yards on 19 attempts, including the clinching touchdown. However, according to Next Gen Stats, 61 of those yards came after contact. In other words, Green Bay’s new-and-improved offensive line was new but certainly not improved.

Yes, it’s only one game. Yes, it came against a quality defense. But Green Bay’s No. 1 offensive line played in the first and third preseason games, as well, and also struggled to create holes for the backs. So, that Green Bay averaged a 23rd-ranked 3.12 yards per carry on Sunday maybe isn’t a stunning development.

“Obviously, we knew. They said it all week, ‘Stop 8,’” Jacobs said. “That’s their goal was to stop 8. They had eight, nine in the box all game, so we came out swinging. I told the receivers, ‘Take it personal.’ They were basically saying if they stopped me, then they win the game. So, they all came out ready. They made big plays early and that ended up opening up the run later in the game.”

Actually, Jacobs faced eight or more defenders in the box 42.1 percent of the time – which is not quite “all game.” However, of 36 running backs with at least seven carries this week, that was the third-heaviest stacked-box rate, according to Next Gen.

It won’t be any easier on Thursday against the Commanders, who allowed only 3.22 yards per carry against the Giants on Sunday. New York’s top back, Tyrone Tracy, carried 10 times but just once into a stacked box.