Can Bounce-Back Pack Do It Again?
GREEN BAY, Wis. – In three seasons under coach Matt LaFleur, the Green Bay Packers have lost nine games.
After each of the first eight, they’ve bounced back with a victory.
Continuing that trend will be a big-time challenge on Sunday. The Packers, who have been hammered by injuries, will host the Los Angeles Rams, who are talented (7-3), rested (coming off their bye) and mostly healthy (especially compared to Green Bay).
There’s no Matt Magic involved. Led by reigning MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the Packers have been really good the past three seasons. Really good teams rarely lose games. That being said, the Packers are the only team without back-to-back, in-season losses during that span.
“There’s nothing specifically about certain things,” Rodgers said. “Obviously, we’ve been really good at home over the years, so usually you don’t play a lot of back-to-backs on the road; every now and then you do. We’ve been good over the years of not letting one week kind of trickle into the next. But they’re a great opponent and they’re coming off the bye week, so obviously we’ve had some injuries and got some issues health-wise, but we’ve been good at avoiding at those back-to-back losses.”
After a loss, the Packers have been unimaginably good, outscoring their opponents by 14.9 points per game. Why? They’ve dominated the turnover table, with 18 takeaways vs. one giveaway. They’re No. 1 in the NFL in scoring differential, turnover differential, giveaways and time of possession (34:03).
Here is a look at each of the Bounce-Back Pack’s games.
Week 5, 2019, at Dallas: Packers 34, Cowboys 24 – Aaron Jones’ fourth touchdown of the game put Green Bay ahead 31-3 in the third quarter. Jones had 182 yards from scrimmage. Rodgers was 22-of-34 passing for 238 yards. While he didn’t throw a touchdown pass, he also didn’t throw an interception. Dallas’ Dak Prescott, on the other hand, tossed three picks. Green Bay won the turnover battle 3-0 to nullify Dallas’ 228-yard advantage. Led by Amari Cooper’s 11 receptions for 226 yards, Dallas’ receivers caught 22 passes for 405 yards. Green Bay’s receivers, with Davante Adams inactive, caught four passes for 55 yards. Dallas finished the season 8-8.
Week 10, 2019, at Green Bay: Packers 24, Panthers 16 – Coming off an embarrassing loss at the Chargers, Jones scored three touchdowns and Mason Crosby booted a field goal to give the Packers a 24-10 lead late in the third quarter. The Packers held on for dear life. On second-and-goal at the 2 with 4 seconds remaining, Kyler Fackrell and Preston Smith combined to stuff Christian McCaffrey. The Panthers outgained the Packers 401-388 but Green Bay won the turnover battle 2-0. Carolina finished the season 5-11.
Week 13, 2019, at New York: Packers 31, Giants 13 – Coming off an embarrassing loss at San Francisco, the Packers rolled because of their dominance at quarterback. Rodgers threw four touchdowns vs. zero interceptions while Daniel Jones threw one touchdown vs. three interceptions. Adams scored two touchdowns and Allen Lazard had three catches for 103 yards and one score. Za’Darius Smith didn’t have any sacks but recorded five quarterback hits. Green Bay won the turnover battle 3-0 and was plus-76 in passer rating. New York finished the season 4-12.
Week 7, 2020, at Houston: Packers 35, Texans 20 – Coming off an embarrassing loss at Tampa Bay, Rodgers had a monster day. He completed 23-of-34 passes for 283 yards and four touchdowns. Adams was his main man, an unstoppable 13 catches for 196 yards and one score. Adams’ 45-yard score in the third quarter made it 28-7. Green Bay won the turnover battle 1-0 and was plus-18.2 in passer rating. Houston finished the season 4-12.
Week 9, 2020, at San Francisco: Packers 34, 49ers 17 – Coming off an upset loss at home against Minnesota, the Packers demolished the injury-ravaged 49ers. It was 31-3 deep into the fourth quarter. Rodgers had a huge night, completing 25-of-31 passes for 305 yards and four touchdowns, good for a passer rating of 147.2. Adams stormed through the Niners’ secondary for 10 catches, 173 yards and one touchdown. Green Bay won the turnover battle 2-0, was plus-60.5 in passer rating and plus-13 minutes in time of possession. San Francisco finished the season 6-10.
Week 12, 2020, at Green Bay: Packers 41, Bears 25 – Preston Smith’s 14-yard touchdown on a fumble recovery put the Packers in front 27-3 late in the first half, and touchdowns by Robert Tonyan and Jamaal Williams ran the margin to 41-10 late in the third quarter. Rodgers threw four touchdown passes vs. zero interceptions. Green Bay won the turnover battle 3-0, was plus-57.6 in passer rating and dominated with a 15 1/2-minute edge in time of possession. Chicago finished the season 8-8.
Week 2, 2021, at Green Bay: Packers 34, Lions 17 – Coming off an embarrassing loss to New Orleans, the Packers trailed the hapless Lions 17-14 at halftime before a season-turning final 30 minutes. Jones scored four touchdowns, including three of Rodgers’ four touchdown passes, and Adams caught eight passes for 121 yards. De’Vondre Campbell had 13 tackles and one interception. Green Bay won the turnover battle 2-0, was plus 47.9 in passer rating and finished with a 7-minute edge in time of possession. Detroit is 0-10-1.
Week 10, 2021 at Green Bay: Packers 17, Seahawks 0 – Coming off a 13-7 loss with Jordan Love at the controls, Rodgers returned to the team on a Saturday and rode his defense and AJ Dillon to the winner’s circle. Green Bay held Seattle to 208 yards and limited star receivers D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett to a combined five catches in 16 targets for 49 yards. Green Bay won the turnover battle 2-1 – Rodgers’ third-quarter interception the only giveaway in the bounce-back games – and was plus 35.8 in passer rating. It hogged the ball by almost a 2-to-1 margin. Seattle is 3-7.
The takeaways:
The Packers won the turnover battle in every game.
They had the better passer rating in every game.
Rodgers had three-plus touchdowns and zero interceptions in five consecutive games, a streak snapped by Seattle.
Other than the Houston game, Green Bay didn’t allow a passer rating greater than 81.7. Total, the eight opposing quarterbacks threw 12 touchdown passes vs. 13 interceptions.
Only the Carolina game was decided by more than one score.
Most importantly, perhaps, there’s this: Green Bay didn’t play a single team that finished with a winning record. That will change against Los Angeles.
