Packers’ ‘Work in Progress’ Offense Finally Showing Progress

It took a long time – perhaps too long of a time – but the Packers’ offense will carry plenty of momentum into Monday night’s game against the Rams.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Dec 18, 2022 8:54 PM EST

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Following the offseason trade of Davante Adams, nobody expected the Green Bay Packers’ offense to hit the ground running. Not even the eternal optimist with the four MVP trophies.

“I have a lot of confidence in our offense, but we’re going to be a work in progress,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said during training camp.

The progress was slow. Excruciatingly slow. At times, it was imperceptibly slow.

“It’s still a work in progress,” Rodgers said a few days after a 23-21 loss at Washington in Week 7.

“We don’t have a lot to build on offensively,” Rodgers said a few days after a 15-9 loss at Detroit in Week 9.

However, with the Packers getting set to host the Los Angeles Rams on Monday night, there has been real, measurable progress to bolster the team’s longshot playoff hopes.

Over their last four games, the Packers are sixth in the league with 109 points, with games of 31 points vs. Dallas, 33 vs. Philadelphia and 28 vs. Chicago. The emergence of rookie receiver Christian Watson, who scored eight touchdowns during those four games, is the obvious starting point. His 48 points are almost as many as the Saints (53) scored during that same span.

What has Rodgers seen, other than Watson scoring a bunch of touchdowns?

“Christian,” Rodgers said to laughs at his locker on Thursday.

“He’s scored, what, seven or eight touchdowns in the last four weeks,” Rodgers continued. “That’s added a deep element to our passing game, which was missing. And then just consistency from Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon, I think, has been part of our sustained success all season. They’ve been really good for us all year.”

Continuing that success won’t be easy. While Rams star Aaron Donald, the sure-fire Hall of Fame defensive tackle, will be inactive for a third consecutive game with an ankle injury, their defense remains strong. In a 17-16 win against the Las Vegas Raiders last Thursday, NFL rushing leader Josh Jacobs was limited to 3.7 yards per carry, quarterback Derek Carr had 137 passing yards and a 36.9 passer rating, and the indomitable Adams caught 3-of-7 targets.

“First of all, they’ve got a ton of great players,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “Shoot, Jalen Ramsey, you could argue he’s a top corner in the game. (Linebacker) Bobby Wagner’s been a Pro Bowler for his entire career. (Leonard) Floyd is still a hell of a rusher. Even without Aaron, I thought there were times in that game where they were able to generate a lot of pressure on Carr and really collapse the pocket. They’ve got one of the best run defenses in the game.”

There’s no reason why Green Bay shouldn’t have success, though. Other than left tackle David Bakhtiari, who will miss a second game following an appendectomy, the offense is at full strength. That includes having receivers Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb, Sammy Watkins and rookies Watson and Romeo Doubs on the field for the first time since Week 2.

“It’s going to be nice to have everybody back,” Rodgers said. “Really haven’t had those guys all healthy for a long time. Obviously, Christian’s been playing really well, Allen’s been playing really well all season for us, Cobby, when he’s in there, has been a difference-maker for us. We need to make sure those guys are on the field.”

While Bakhtiari will be out, the rest of the line – left guard Elgton Jenkins, center Josh Myers, right guard Jon Runyan and right tackle Yosh Nijman – will be together for a sixth consecutive game.

“There’s some unsung heroes, for sure, that have been very consistent this year, like Big Dog (Marcedes Lewis) dominating the line of scrimmage the way he has,” Rodgers said. “I think Elgton’s really played well the last four or five weeks. I think Jon’s had a really nice season for us. I think him and Yosh have settled in on the right side for us. We’re just being a little more consistent up front, and then with Christian giving us some downfield dynamics has allowed us to be a little more efficient in scoring points.”

Cobb said there’s no secret to the improved performance. Players have made plays rather than miss opportunities. Three of the last four games, they’ve been in the neighborhood of 50 percent conversions on third down. They’ve been guilty of eight penalties on offense the last four games. According to Pro Football Focus, there have been seven drops the last four games compared to nine in back-to-back losses to the Jets and Commanders. They haven’t lost a fumble in three games.

“I think everybody’s kind of picked up their game,” LaFleur said. “I think we’re getting more consistent play in terms of everybody being on the same page on every play. Certainly, if a guy gets beat, all it takes is one guy to get beat to blow up a play. So, I just think everybody’s play has improved throughout the course of the season.”

Perhaps it’s too little too late, but for the Packers to have any chance to pull off a Vikings-Colts-style rally to the playoffs, it’s going to be up to the offense to continue its impressive ascent.

“If we aren’t, we’re going to be thinking about the offseason pretty quickly,” Rodgers said. “We’ve got to score points. We need to be in the 30s moving forward. Regardless of what our defense does, we score 30 points, we should win those games.”