Packers thrive vs. Texans without three of their most important future free agents
First, let’s make this clear: this article isn’t championing for the Green Bay Packers to move on from David Bakhtiari, Aaron Jones, or Kevin King. However, Sunday’s 35-20 win over the Houston Texans offered a glimpse into what life might look like if they were unable to sign three of their top pending free agents.
No, the Texans aren’t a good team, but it’s reasonable to say they are better than their 1-6 record. The point being, they were a worthy opponent to test the Packers without three important starters.
Billy Turner got the start at left tackle after Bakhtiari was ruled out with a chest injury he suffered against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Jones was considered a game-time decision but was officially ruled inactive before kickoff with a calf strain. Meanwhile, King has missed the last two games dealing with a quad injury.
Let’s start with Turner, who filled in for Bakhtiari at the left tackle spot. Coming off a putrid performance against a stout Tampa Bay pass rush, Turner was asked to protect Aaron Rodgers’ blindside – a position he hadn’t started at since college. For most of the day in Houston, it was hard to notice the Packers were short their top offensive lineman.
Mostly operating from a clean pocket, Rodgers completed 68 percent of his passes for 283 yards while tying his season-high of four touchdowns. Furthermore, Rodgers was not sacked once all game, and the Texans’ defense was attributed just one quarterback hit.
As far as their running backs are concerned, Jamaal Williams showed off his abilities as both a runner and receiver standing in for Jones. Williams led the rushing attack totaling 77 yards and over 4.0 yards per carry. He even finished as Green Bay’s second-leading receiver hauling in four receptions for 37 yards.
“Jamaal is a starter in our mind,” head coach Matt LaFleur said after Williams’ 114-yard performance.
After a relatively healthy bill of health in 2019, King has been sidelined for back to back meetings with an aggravated quad. King appeared in two practices as a limited participant this week but was then held out of Friday’s practice, suggesting a possible setback.
Many thought Green Bay would need King’s height last week against Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans. However, they did a good job of handling Evans regardless. Evans caught just one pass for 10 yards on two targets, and overall, the defense did a nice job defending the pass. Although efficient, Tom Brady didn’t exactly tear up the Packers’ secondary who were down a starting corner, throwing for 166 yards and two touchdowns.
Josh Jackson has been starting opposite of Jaire Alexander, and other than an egregious pass interference last week, the third-year corner has shown signs of growth in Year 3. His tackling has been much better, even recording two tackles for loss in his last two starts. Objectively, if you’re looking at Green Bay’s defensive performances over the past two games, you probably wouldn’t know they were down a starting corner.
It wasn’t always pretty, but Green Bay handled their business, and following one of their worst losses of LaFleur’s tenure, they responded by looking like the team from the first four games of the year.
Now, looking back at Bakhtiari, Jones, and King, the Packers would probably like to keep all three, but it may not be feasible to pay them all.
I would put Bakhtiari ahead of both Jones and King in terms of who to lock down first. Yes, Turner did fine stepping in, but teams spend years trying to find a left tackle with Bakhtiari’s skill set. Bite the bullet and pay the best pass-blocking tackle in the league his money.
Next is Jones. History tells us that paying running backs isn’t always prudent. However, Jones is a touchdown scoring machine and a great fit in LaFleur’s system. On the other hand, Williams is also a good fit, and the team views him as a starter. Not to mention, he’s much cheaper, and the team recently drafted a running back in the second round of the draft.
And then there’s King. Injuries have been the story around King since he entered the league in 2017. Green Bay already has their No. 1 corner in Alexander so letting King walk might be advisable.
One game is a small sample size, but the Packers have a deep roster that shows, outside of Rodgers, everyone can be replaced. If Green Bay goes into the offseason with none of the aforementioned names under contract, difficult decisions will have to be made.
