Jones, and His Convoy, Go the Distance to Clinch Victory

GREEN BAY, Wis. – For Aaron Jones, it was showtime.

Or, to go with his Twitter handle, it was showtyme.

With the Green Bay Packers’ blowout of the Philadelphia Eagles suddenly resting on thin ice, Jones delivered an emphatic knockout blow with a 77-yard touchdown run that sealed a 30-16 victory.

“That’s my goal on every run,” Jones said. “I know if I’m able to get a crease or break an arm tackle or something like that it can turn into a big run. I just keep that mentality the whole game, especially in the fourth quarter you’ve got to finish the game. That’s our whole mentality and we work on it every day.”

With their 23-3 lead trimmed to 23-16, the Packers faced a second-and-7 with just less than 3 minutes remaining. In desperate need of 7 yards to pick up a first down to help drain the clock, Jones instead delivered seven points.

Aaron Jones with the nail in the coffin TD run

(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/qHpjBcd6TG
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) December 7, 2020

It was a superlative run by Jones, who broke six tackles on his way to the end zone. Linebacker Duke Riley made a diving tackle attempt at the line of scrimmage but came up empty. Linebacker Alex Singleton had Jones’ ankle for a fleeting moment at the 29 but Jones ran through his attempt. Eagles safety Kavon Wallace was next, diving and missing near the 40.

From there, with receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling leading the way, it was off to the races. Veteran safety Rodney McLeod had a chance near the Eagles’ 30 but Jones cut inside of him. To his credit, McLeod hustled and dove at Jones from behind but missed again. Finally, cornerback Avonte Maddox had a chance inside the 5 but couldn’t get Jones down.

As impressive as the run was the work by Valdes-Scantling and left tackle David Bakhtiari.

Valdes-Scantling was out front of Jones for most of the last 40 yards. He spent the final 20 yards glued to defensive back Michael Jacquet.

“The ultimate team goal is always about winning, first and foremost, and we’ve got a lot of guys that buy into that,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “Marquez is a prime example of that. Here’s a guy that I know we targeted a couple of times or whatever and we were trying to draw some stuff up for him to get downfield, but he had no catches. But what did you see on that 77-yard run? You saw a guy that was battling his butt off, making key blocks down the field. That is the epitome of team, and that’s what I want us to be all about.”

In an amazing show of athleticism and hustle by the All-Pro offensive lineman, Bakhtiari ran practically stride for stride with Jones from Green Bay’s 40 to Philadelphia’s 30. When Jones cut inside of McLeod, Bakhtiari actually pulled in front of Jones and led the way into the end zone.

“I definitely do know he has those kinds of wheels,” Jones said. “We run a lot of toss plays and a lot of times I’m just sitting in his hip pocket and I’m like, ‘Man, this dude Dave is moving.’ So, I’m kind of excited to go back and watch the film. I know all the guys, like, as soon as I got in the end zone, I got up, I turned around and everybody was there. So, I now everybody had to be moving, running down the field. I even felt like the sideline running with me.”

On a day highlighted by Aaron Rodgers’ milestone 400th touchdown pass, Jones became the first player in franchise history with two touchdown runs of 75-plus yards in the same season. Jones had a 75-yard scoring dash against Detroit in Week 2.

In fact, it was Jones’ first 100-yard game since Week 2. However, a 90-yard performance last week against Chicago led into a 130-yard effort against Philadelphia. With Rodgers rolling and Jones getting in gear, Green Bay’s top-ranked scoring offense is showing no signs of slowing down.

“I think it was most important helping my team get the win,” Jones said. “I knew eventually I was going to have good day on the ground. It was going to come. Just got to stay persistent, continue to work and do the things that I’ve been doing, and it all starts up front with us. They did a great job of opening, giving me and Jamaal lanes to run through and it showed out there and it was a team effort.”