3 Reasons Why Aaron Jones Will Be a Problem for Lions Sunday
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Rarely in my 40 years of watching NFL football have I seen a running back run with more power and more determination than I have seen out of Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones in his last three games -- against Philadelphia (Week 13), Chicago (Week 12) and Indianapolis (Week 11).
Right now, Jones looks like he is going to run from here to Tampa Bay (the site of the Super Bowl this season), grab the Lombardi Trophy and accept the Super Bowl MVP award.
I was going to go back and watch all of his carries in 2020, but there is no point.
He looks as good as he did during the six games I watched of him in 2019.
Since he came into the league, his stats running and catching the ball have increased every year, as has his determination.
It is almost like he is one of those characters in a video game that picks up more and more power along the way.
For my money, Jones is the best running back in the game, and he has my respect.
He is running like one of the best backs I have ever seen in my lifetime right now, and I have watched all the power runners, including the ones who played before my time through NFL Films.
That is the first reason for why Jones will be a problem for Detroit’s defense Sunday.
Jones stiff arms Philadelphia Eagles defensive back Michael Jacquet.
Jeff Hanisch, USA TODAY Sports
Jones is doing everything extremely well right now, coming into this Week 14 tilt with the Lions.
He is running with extreme physicality inside, and is absolutely punishing defenders.
The sound of his pads slamming into defenders during games is pronounced.
He is showing he can bounce it outside, too, and turn it up the field.
He is showing he can break tackles at will.
He is a dual threat who catches the ball well -- short and deep.
He even beat one of Detroit’s cornerbacks, Darryl Roberts, on a 30-yard completion the last time the two teams played in Week 2.
He is Dalvin Cook, only with power to dominate between the tackles.
He is showing excellent vision and balance, too. He is a threat to take it to the house every single time he touches the ball.
That is the second reason why Jones will be a problem for Detroit’s defense.
In the last meeting between Detroit and Green Bay, Jones carried the ball 18 times for 168 yards, good for a whopping average of 9.3 yards per carry.
Add in four receptions for another 68 yards, to go along with a total of three touchdowns (two rushing and one reception).
It was enough to earn him the FedEX Ground Player of the Week award.
However, that is not the third problem for Detroit’s defense.
Instead, it's the fact that all three touchdowns for Jones came easy against the Lions' defense.
He was pretty much wide open on the first screen pass for a TD.
The 75-yard TD was embarrassing, specifically for Detroit safety Duron Harmon.
I communicated directly with Harmon on Twitter about that play, and he said, “(On the) 75-yarder, I took an aggressive angle downhill, and I shouldn’t have, because I didn’t see the ball-carrier. Bad angle on my part.”
Jones was virtually untouched on his next TD run, too.
That is what takes me into the heart of the third reason and the most serious reason for why Jones will be a problem for Detroit’s defense, if nothing is done to get it fixed.
Jones broke through the initial line of scrimmage on every carry, except when Jarrad Davis made a dynamite tackle on one of the runs.
The overall play of the other two linebackers in Jamie Collins and Christian Jones was fairly ineffective all afternoon long, as was the play of all the safeties -- Harmon, Tracy Walker and Will Harris.
All five of those players clearly failed to execute. That got the Lions killed by Jones.
Numerous times, defenders could be seen on film taking bad angles to Jones, like the one Harmon admitted to.
In addition, all the safeties generally waited until Jones got downfield, before they attempted to get involved in the play.
If the Lions do not get a lot more production out of their linebackers and safeties that guard the intermediate-to-deep parts of the field, look out, as Jones will be in store for another huge game.
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