Good, bad and ugly from Packers’ win over Washington
The Green Bay Packers are 6-1 and three games up in the NFC North after beating the Washington Football Team on Sunday at Lambeau field.
Matt LaFleur’s team has won six straight games and now holds a big lead over the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings in the division standings after seven weeks.
Here’s the good, the bad and the ugly from the Packers’ Week 7 win:
The Good
Dan Powers-USA TODAY Sports
The uniforms: The green-and-gold throwbacks looked incredible on the field. The Packers are really only going to wear these once a year?
OLB Rashan Gary: Ten total pressures, two sacks, one huge forced fumble. He was a star on a day when the Packers needed him to carry a heavy pass-rushing load. Taylor Heinicke was under pressure on 19 of 40 dropbacks, per Pro Football Focus.
Red-zone defense: Fifteen straight failures followed by four consecutive victories. Washington made four trips into the red zone during the second half on Sunday and came away with just three points. The Packers defense delivered two turnover on downs and an interception. Is this group suddenly trending in the right direction inside the 20-yard line?
Tight ends: On National Tight Ends Day, Robert Tonyan and Marcedes Lewis combined for seven catches, 94 yards and a touchdown. Tonyan caught two passes over 20 yards and produced his first touchdown since Week 2, while Lewis created another explosive play by breaking a tackle in the open field.
LB De’Vondre Campbell: He delivered a team-high 13 tackles, including four stops, and he also forced two fumbles, although both were recovered by Washington. Once again, he was terrific playing zone coverage and making tackles underneath. His first seven games in Green Bay have been tremendous.
The Lazard Drive: The Packers had a wide receiver almost singlehandedly create a touchdown drive, and it wasn’t Davante Adams. Allen Lazard caught five passes for 60 yards and a touchdown on the Packers’ go-ahead scoring drive to end the first half. He converted two third downs and was responsible for over 80 percent of the total yards on the drive.
P Corey Bojorquez: Three punts, zero returns, 46.3 net average. His last punt, which was downed at the 3-yard line, was one of the best punts of the season in terms of touch and placement. He also blasted a punt 53 yards from his own end zone to flip field position.
The Bad
Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Scrambling QB: Taylor Heinicke ran 10 times for a game-high 95 yards, including a 38-yard scamper in the first half, and he should have scored an easy touchdown on a scramble in the second half. The Packers can bet a player like Kyler Murray would have scored. Can this defense do better taking away run lanes and scramble opportunities against one of the most athletic quarterbacks in football? Chasing around Murray might be miserable for a defense that has struggled to contain runs by quarterbacks this season.
OL Jon Runyan: The Packers left guard gave up two of the three sacks, and he missed the block inside on Washington’s blocked field goal. He settled down in the second half, but the first 30 minutes were rough for Runyan.
RB A.J. Dillon: He fumbled twice on just four touches. He lost one, and another was recovered by Lucas Patrick inside the Packers’ own 10-yard line.
The Ugly
(AP Photo/Aaron Gash)
The run game: The Packers called 13 designed run plays and gained only 40 yards. Of the 40, 13 came on a jet sweep to receiver Equanimeous St. Brown. Running backs Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon gained only 25 yards on nine carries. The Packers had major issues moving Washington’s talented front four for most of the game, and the plan going in was clearly to attack a poor secondary. St. Brown’s run and a 15-yard scramble from Aaron Rodgers were the Packers’ only run plays resulting in a first down.
1
1
