The Green Bay Packers opened their season with a gut-punch of a loss against the Minnesota Vikings, falling 23-7. From rookie Christian Watson dropping what would have been a 75-yard touchdown on Green Bay’s first play from scrimmage to A.J. Dillion getting stopped short on a fourth-and-goal, almost nothing seemed to go their way.
After one of the worst first halves in the Matt LaFleur era, the Packers’ offense regrouped and played much better in the second half. Alas, this improvement was too little too late. Green Bay’s offense could only cut the deficit to 13 points before the Vikings scored a field goal and got another big stop on fourth down.
This isn’t a sign of the apocalypse in Green Bay. They’ve had rocky season debuts before, and it’s not uncommon for them to split a series with Minnesota. (The next matchup is back home at Lambeau.) None of that has stopped them from winning the division more often than not. Still, the drubbing on Sunday was tough to watch.
Here are five numbers that tell the story of the Packers’ loss to the Vikings.
6.2
The Packers ran the ball effectively, averaging 6.2 yards per carry. With Rodgers struggling to get any sort of timing with almost any of the Packers’ wideouts, the offense had to lean on Dillon and Aaron Jones.
Dillon was able to carry the ball 10 times for 45 yards and a score, while Rodgers handed Jones the ball five times for 49 yards. They both also proved incredibly apt as pass catchers and were Rodgers’ two highest-targeted players. Dillon finished the game leading the team in targets (six), receptions (five), and yards (46). While it is good to see his versatility, the Packers don’t want to rely on him too much in the passing game. You would like to see those targets go to rookies Watson or Romeo Doubs later in the season.
Despite the Packers’ passing woes, you like to see that they can move the ball on the ground with big chunks of yardage every time they run.
184
The Packers didn’t have an answer for Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson, who ended up with 184 yards. The Packers looked utterly bewildered about how to stop Jefferson in the first half. His pre-snap motion allowed him to get multiple mismatches on Quay Walker and Preston Smith.
By halftime, Jefferson had already recorded six catches for two scores and 158 yards. In the second half, they were able to limit the damage, only allowing Jefferson to get 26 more yards on two catches. The nagging question is why LaFleur didn’t have Jaire Alexander shadow Jefferson.
Alexander also seemed to question a game plan, telling reporters that he had asked all week to be lined up across from Jefferson on every snap. LaFleur said that the way the Vikings moved Jefferson pre-snap made it hard for the Packers to match up with him.
25%
Although the Packers were getting beat comprehensively by the Vikings’ passing attack, Rashan Gary had a good game, finishing with a pass-rush win rate of 25%. Gary was responsible for terrorizing Kirk Cousins all game and did so with aplomb.
Defensive coordinator Joe Barry clearly had a plan for getting pressure on Cousins. They often lined one of Gary or Kenny Clark directly in front of rookie right guard Ed Ingram. On the only sack of the afternoon, Gary was able to push Ingram back and then disengage to wrap up Cousins. They replicated this on a third-and-two later in the game when Clark beat Ingram with a swim move to force an early throw from Cousins.
24.8
Rodgers struggled under pressure and finished with a 24.8 PFF grade. With David Bakhtiari and Elton Jenkins out, Yosh Nijman and Royce Newman had to protect the edges against Danielle Hunter and former teammate Za’Darius Smith. They struggled immensely. Rodgers was under pressure for most of the game. It wasn’t pretty for the reigning back-to-back MVP.
The Vikings were able to hit Rodgers early and often, giving him little time to get rid of the ball. However, he recorded a PFF grade of 80.5 when Green Bay’s O-line was able to keep him clean. If the Packers are going to try to improve their offensive performance from this week, they need to prioritize keeping No. 12 upright.
120
Green Bay’s wide receivers struggled mightily yesterday, recording only 120 yards combined. You could tell it was going to be a rough day from the first play when Watson shook off Patrick Peterson to get loose with a double move but let the ball go right through his hands on what would have been a 75-yard touchdown. From that point on, it felt like whatever minimal trust Rodgers had in his new receiving corps had evaporated entirely.
Throughout the rest of the game, Rodgers seemed to favor the running backs and tight ends, targeting A.J. Dillon, Aaron Jones, and Robert Tonyan more than usual. This 120 number becomes all the more worrying when you consider that Davante Adams went for 141 yards on 10 grabs all by his lonesome in his first game in Las Vegas.
