Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Packer Plus
Packers look flat overall, but finish the job
Green Bay — The Green Bay Packers won their second straight game Sunday, a 24-20 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars to improve to 7-2 on the season. It was the Jaguars’ eighth straight loss as they fell to 1-8.
Owczarski’s observation
In an empty Lambeau Field the Packers once again came out flat against a team they were favored to beat. But Jacksonville did not have the offensive talent to take advantage of it like Minnesota did two weeks ago. For that, the Packers were fortunate in squeaking out a win against a bad team.
The Jaguars were feisty, and the winds were gusting up to 40 miles per hour, but that really shouldn’t have been an excuse for a far more talented Packers team that was coming off a mini-bye and seemed to have every advantage offensively with the return of left tackle David Bakhtiari and with running backs Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams being ready to play together for the first time since Oct. 18.
But rather than attack the league’s 27th-ranked run defense, the Packers went pass-heavy (with many screen and short options), but inopportune penalties, turnovers and rare pressure from a Jaguars front stymied Aaron Rodgers & Co. for most of the game.
The Packers’ defense held up its end of the bargain against a rookie quarterback and young receiving corps, as the Jaguars scored their touchdowns on a 91-yard punt return and 10 points off Packers’ turnovers. Defensive coordinator Mike Pettine’s group got a break when a James Robinson touchdown was taken off the board due to a hold early in the fourth quarter. The Jaguars settled for a field goal, which gave the Packers a chance to take a lead with a late touchdown as opposed to tying the game.
The defense then came up with two big stops in the final nine minutes of the game after the offense couldn’t run out the clock.
The manner in which the Packers won will be disconcerting, for sure, but unlike a few weeks ago they played like the better team in crunch time.
5 Takeaways
Speed to burn: A week after Richie James rolled up 184 receiving yards in San Francisco, the Packers had to be aware of Jacksonville burner DJ Chark Jr. (4.34-second 40-yard dash) as they prepared for Sunday without their two top cornerbacks in Kevin King and Jaire Alexander. Jacksonville tried a deep shot to Chark in the second quarter but Packers corner Chandon Sullivan ran with him stride-for-stride on an incompletion. Unfortunately for the Packers, Chark got some life later with some drive-extending receptions on backup corner Ka’dar Hollman. The wideout finished with 4 catches for 56 yards.
In the middle of things: Sunday marked the return of veteran inside linebacker Christian Kirksey, who injured a pectoral way back on Sept. 27 in Week 3 in New Orleans. It’s a needed boost as rookie Krys Barnes is on the reserve/COVID-19 list and Kamal Martin was playing his first game since coming
off that list. Kirksey played and got back into the mix early with a run-heavy game plan from Jacksonville, making a team-high seven tackles.
Jaguars’ young slinger: Rookie QB Jake Luton was the man under center for Jacksonville on Sunday, making his second straight start in place of injured starter Gardner Minshew II. He had a decent debut in Houston (90.2 rating) but the chill and winds of Lambeau Field challenged what the Packers considered a “big arm.” That big arm actually hurt him early in the game, as a couple of promising Jaguars possessions ended because Luton was too strong on short throws. He also overthrew a wideopen receiver that could have been a touchdown in the third quarter.
Three across the board: In an effort to shore up the run defense the Packers had played more base defense (three down linemen, four linebackers) the last two weeks than they had the previous four. The Jaguars had a rookie running back on pace for a 1,000-yard, doubledigit touchdown season in James Robinson and had been feeding him carries the last two weeks. Pettine employed that heavy base look early and often but the Jaguars managed to find success, or enough success, to churn out some first downs. Robinson rushed 23 times for 109 yards, and had two rushing touchdowns pulled off the scoreboard due to Jacksonville penalties.
Seeking an energy boost: Sunday was the Packers’ first home game since coming out flat against Minnesota in an upset loss. With little to no fans in most NFL stadiums to date, road teams have actually won more games than the home team thus far. The Packers have said since camp they needed to provide their own energy, and Sunday they did not start out with much. Despite some big chunk plays in the pass game and an Adrian Amos interception, they never really manufactured enough.
Game ball
Marquez Valdes-Scantling, WR: The third-year receiver followed up a two-touchdown performance in San Francisco with a big day against Jacksonville. He outran Sidney Jones IV and everyone else for a 78-yard touchdown and then got on the same page with Aaron Rodgers for a nice 22-yard, firstdown reception on an extended play that set up another score. Valdes-Scantling picked up two key receptions, one of which set up Davante Adams’ goahead touchdown. It was Valdes-Scantling’s first 100-yard game of the season and fourth of his career.
5 Numbers
1: The Packers had to punt on their first possession of the game, the first time they had to do so this season.
3-2: Packers punts to first downs in the first quarter.
3-0: Packers record after Thursday night games under Matt LaFleur. They are 0-2 in the regular season after bye weeks.
10, 11: Ranking in all-time passing completions and passing yards for Rodgers.
78: Yards of Rodgers’ touchdown toss to Valdes-Scantling in the second quarter, a season-long for the team and a career-long for Valdes-Scantling.