The Packers defense needs to rebound against the Prolific Lions

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers are coming off their worst defensive performance of the season, and the best offense in the NFL is ready to invade Lambeau Field.

The Detroit Lions have the hottest offense in the league. They scored 172 points in their last four games. That’s the most for the team in a four-game stretch since the Baltimore Ravens also scored 172 points in 2019.

Green Bay’s defense was the talk of the NFL, but it was dismantled by the Jaguars on Sunday. While Green Bay won 30-27, the Jaguars scored on five of their final eight drives.

Trevor Lawrence led the way with eight targets of 20-plus yards, including six in the last 30 minutes and 30 seconds.

“Yeah, it was a lot,” coach Matt LaFleur said.

What happened?

“There were some things that we didn’t technically do,” LaFleur said. “We had one grossly bad coverage and we had a couple of bad tackles. They played checkdowns in Cover-2, which is usually what the offense is encouraged to do, and it’s a catch. And they ran for over 20 yards.

The Jaguars entered the game ranked 10th with 21 targets of 20-plus yards. The Packers finished a respectable 13th with 18 targets of 20-plus yards. They allowed one just a week ago against Houston and one the week before that against Arizona.

“We have to do better, we have to communicate better, we have to execute better – those are just the techniques we ask our guys to use on the field,” LaFleur said.

Against quality quarterbacks with elite receivers, the Packers had four 20-yard catches in the Week 1 loss to the Eagles and four in the Week 4 loss to the Vikings.

The Jaguars’ Lawrence scored five goals in the second half alone. According to Pro Football Focus, he’s 5-of-8 on passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield.

It won’t be easier against Detroit, especially if we play in the corner Jaire Alexander and/or safety Evan Williams are either sidelined or limited.

If the season ended today, a good argument could be made for Jared Goff to be NFL MVP.

In a bizarre game against Tennessee on Sunday, the Lions won 52-14. Goff completed 12 of 15 throws for just 85 yards. They scored touchdowns on a 70-yard run and a 90-yard punt return. A 72-yard return, a 64-yard punt return and three takeaways add up to five touchdowns of 26 yards or less.

So Goff didn’t have the opportunity to improve his stats in big games. However, in his fourth straight game, he recorded at least 125 passing yards, just the third time in NFL history. During that time, he completed 10 touchdown passes and 13 incomplete passes.

Moving forward this week, Goff has completed 83.0 percent of his passes over the last five games, the best stretch in NFL history.

According to PFF, Goff has the best passer rating in the NFL on passes thrown over 20 yards downfield. At the same time, only Tua Tagovailoa from Miami is a greater beneficiary of yards after the catch.

Green Bay’s problems were compounded by a terrible approach. By our calculations, the Packers have given up 19 points, which is eight more than their high point last season.

There are a lot of playmakers in Jacksonville’s offense that are difficult to deal with, but LaFleur wouldn’t use that as an excuse.

“I always put it on us,” he said.

The Lions are one of the best teams in the NFL at breaking tackles and creating yards after contact. Thanks to the physicality of running back David Montgomery, the elusiveness of running back Jahmyr Gibbs, the strength of the offensive line, the toughness of receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and tight end Sam LaPorta and the accuracy of the red-hot Goff The biggest challenge of the season will be the Lions.

“They’re really, really good. And we knew it,” LaFleur said. “We knew this at the beginning of the year and it’s not shocking to me. This is a team we know very well and we will have to play our best. And it all starts with preparation. We’ll have to have a great week of training.”

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The #Packers they beat the Jaguars, but the tackle was terrible, they allowed too many big plays, and the red zone offense was terrible.

Here are this week’s overreactions to Sunday’s game against the Lions.https://t.co/DYfPmtsJDI

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) October 28, 2024