Tonyan suddenly becoming playmaker
Tight end now a true threat in Packers’ versatile offense
GREEN BAY - As recently as a few weeks ago there was reason to wonder if the Green Bay Packers had enough weapons to get to the Super Bowl.
Not that they don’t have weapons. Their quarterback-receiver-running back trio is as good as there is in the NFL with Aaron Rodgers, Davante Adams and Aaron Jones. But the drop-off from Adams and Jones to the rest of the skill players on offense looked huge, and there’s always the chance they’ll run into a defense that can do a decent job of limiting the damage of those two playmakers.
But now, with three games to play in the regular season, it looks like the Packers have more weapons emerging. At the head of that line is tight end Robert Tonyan, who is doing more than putting up the occasional touchdown with Adams and Jones occupying the defense’s attention.
Tonyan has become a bona fide weapon and is the Packers’ best tight end since Jermichael Finley. He has shown in recent weeks that Rodgers can count on him to get open and catch the ball in clutch situations.
Over the past four games Tonyan has 19 catches in 20 targets — that’s an amazing 96 percent catch rate — for 186 yards and four touchdowns. And as telling as anything is that the Packers are turning to him in key moments — none more important than Sunday with the game on the line in their 31-24 win over Detroit.
The Packers were up by a touchdown with 1:40 to play but faced third-and-5. A first down and the game would be over. But come up short and the Lions would get the ball back with time to tie — with less than a minute to play if the Packers ran the ball, more like 11⁄2 minutes if coach Matt LaFleur risked a pass and Rodgers threw incomplete.
The Lions surely were looking for a Jones run or maybe a pass to Adams. So what did LaFleur call? A bootleg to Rodgers' right, with Tonyan the primary target in the flat. Tonyan, who'd lined up on the left side, came across the backside of the line like he was going to block on the backside for Jones. But the tight end kept going, leaked into the flat, secured the short pass and turned upfield for the 6-yard gain. Game over.
It was a little like the 4-yard touchdown he'd scored earlier in the quarter. On that play, he started as an apparent blocker on the right side, fought through traffic as he slipped into the left flat and popped open for the short throw from Rodgers. That gave the Packers a 28-14 cushion. A well-designed play for sure, but a slippery route by Tonyan as well.
Tonyan is better than Jimmy Graham ever was in Graham's two seasons with the Packers at a cost of $10 million per. Tonyan is on about the same pace for receptions as Graham had in 2018 — Graham had 55 catches that season, Tonyan has 46 with three games to play. But Tonyan has put up those number on 52 targets, whereas Graham needed 85 targets in ‘18. The Packers force-fed the ball to Graham, often to the detriment of the offense. Tonyan is getting the ball within the context of the scheme.
If you look at Tonyan's stats, what probably jumps out is his nine touchdown catches, which is tied with Kansas City's Travis Kelce for most by a tight end in the league. That's heady company. But if you've been observing the Packers for a couple of decades, you'll know that stat only tells so much. Back in the early 2000s Bubba Franks found the end zone often enough (nine touchdowns in 2001, two other seasons with seven each), but he was a very limited player who was effective only inside the 10.
Tonyan has become much more than that. His 27 receptions for first downs ties him for No. 6 in the NFL among tight ends.
When the Packers drafted Jace Sternberger in the third round last year, they were probably thinking by late in his second season he'd be their No. 1 tight end and a security blanket for Rodgers. Instead, as Sternberger has struggled through injuries, Tonyan has become that guy. The college quarterback turned receiver turned NFL tight end has become a genuine player and could be in for a nice payday in 2022.
Active Amos
Adrian Amos had one of his better games of the season Sunday, and it's starting to look like coordinator Mike Pettine's defense benefits from having either him or fellow safety Darnell Savage close to the line of scrimmage to disrupt the run game (in Amos' case) or as a potential blitzer (in Savage's case).
Amos had a good statistical line Sunday (seven tackles, including one for a loss, and a pass breakup) but what stood out was how Pettine used him differently from the norm because of Raven Greene's absence.
Normally, Pettine plays Greene as the dime linebacker-cornerback, but with Greene going on IR last week the defensive coordinator had to adjust. One way was playing linebacker Krys Barnes in Green's spot against three wide receivers on early downs. But another was putting Amos in that role when Pettine wanted six defensive backs on the field.
He did that by flip-flopping Amos and Will Redmond. Earlier in the season Redmond would have simply replaced Greene as the linebacker-cornerback. But in this game, Redmond usually played safety in the dime, and Amos moved up into the slot. After nickel cornerback Chandon Sullivan left the game in the second half with a hip injury, Redmond went back up as the second slot, and rookie Vernon Scott took over for him at safety.
Amos has good size for a safety (214 pounds, or about 17 pounds more than Greene), so he adds at little beef to the Packers' run defense in the dime.
As Pettine looks for ways to get the most out of his defense in the stretch run and playoffs, getting his starting safeties in the middle of the action could be part of the plan.
Extra points
Mason Crosby has had a small role in the Packers' special teams woes in the second half of the season — he has missed two extra points in the last three games. But that 57-yard field goal he hit with 31⁄2 minutes to play was as clutch as it gets aside from nailing a game winner in the final seconds. If he'd missed, the Lions would have had the ball near midfield while trailing by only a touchdown. Instead, Crosby made it a two-score game, so even the Lions' 71-yard return of the following kickoff wasn't a backbreaker.
The Packers didn't get any turnovers Sunday, and if they're going to get a few interceptions in the coming weeks, it's probably going to have to come from someone other than Jaire Alexander. He has been so good in coverage all season that teams aren't throwing at him much, and he's just not getting many chances for interceptions. That means Kevin King, Sullivan and safeties Amos and Savage are likely to get more chances to make plays on the ball.