As alluring as it might be to take a deep shot to Christian Watson on every set of downs, the way in which the Green Bay Packers have been able to win their last two games is much more in tune with the best version of this offense. After putting up points on three separate 13-play drives in a 28-19 win over the Chicago Bears in Week 13, Green Bay followed it up with four drives featuring double-digit plays in a 24-12 win over the Los Angeles Rams on Monday night.
The icing on the cake of Monday night’s win was the 15-play, 82-yard drive that carried Green Bay onto the doorstep of the end zone. It took the final eight minutes and 51 seconds off the clock to wrap up a second-straight win. The play stats are a bit buoyed by three kneel-downs to close out the victory, but the drive helped punctuate the emphatic advantage that the Packers had in terms of first downs, which finished at 27 to 13 in Green Bay’s favor. The way the Packers have played over the past two weeks, with a deliberate, clock-churning mentality focused on moving the chains, presents a much more realizable manner in which Green Bay can resurrect their season.
Against the Bears, Justin Fields‘ athletic ability was the greatest threat, and it was on full display on a 55-yard touchdown run in the first quarter to give Chicago an early 10-0 lead. The Green Bay offense absolutely needed to find a way to respond. They did so deliberately, answering with a 64-yard, 13-play drive that took over seven and a half minutes on the clock. The drive ended with a Mason Crosby chip shot, but it got the defense off the field for an extended period to rest and regroup. And when they retook the field, the Packers forced a turnover within the first four plays.
That drive featured five touches for A.J. Dillon and three more for Aaron Jones, a recipe that Matt LaFleur used once again to close out the first half and come up with a critical touchdown pass to Watson with just seconds remaining to cut the deficit to 16-10. This time, Jones had five touches to Dillon’s three, balanced by a couple of first-down snags by Allen Lazard to keep the chains moving. Green Bay all but burned off the final six minutes of the half, forcing Fields to kneel out the final seconds. Some stat padding late in the second half helped close the margin, but the Packers finished with 21 first downs to 15 for the Bears.
The Packers took the bye week to look at the film against Chicago, think Wow, that worked!, and rolled out the same game plan against the Rams. The Green Bay defense forced a punt on the opening drive by Los Angeles, and the offense responded with a 12-play drive that took up over six minutes, ending with another Crosby field goal. That early breather for the Packers’ D led directly to a Rams three-and-out and again helped set the tone for the Green Bay win on Monday Night Football.
The success the Packers found didn’t come at the expense of opportunities in Watson’s direction. Rodgers continued to look to take shots to the rookie, especially on first downs. Facing coverage from Jalen Ramsey, Watson couldn’t light up the box score as he had in the weeks prior, but the threat of his downfield ability remained. Randall Cobb and Romeo Doubs were more than happy to help fill the voids left in the middle of the field. And another balanced rushing effort between Jones and Dillon (12 and 11 carries, respectively, before Dillon left with a concussion) helped give the Packers a commanding advantage in the number of first downs gained.
The caveat that should be noted with both of these wins is that neither the Bears nor the Rams are outstanding football teams this year. The Packers might not be a whole heck of a lot better, but the manner in which they were able to create and control this particular advantage leaves hope for the remaining schedule. It certainly gets tougher with a trip to Miami, a home game against the Minnesota Vikings, and a season finale against the red-hot Detroit Lions. (Is that something that I actually just wrote? What a world.)
Clinging to a dream of a No. 7 seed, the Packers will need to replicate this recipe the rest of the way. But hopefully, without many of the shenanigans that went on in terms of laterals and fumbles in the fourth quarter on Monday. Controlling the chains — and, more importantly, controlling the clock — will be essential. Using Jones and Dillon to power forward in small chunks and banking on Rodgers to find the reliable receivers like Cobb and Lazard, especially on third down, has been tried and true. A player like Watson (and Doubs, to a lesser extent) can be a gamebreaker, but one who, unfortunately, will be schemed out of games from time to time. It’s a strategy that has kept the Packers alive, for now, and we should see much more of the same on Christmas Day in South Beach.
