As per usual, we checked in with one of our sister sites ahead of the upcoming game. With the Green Bay Packers (and some new dude they traded for recently) heading to town, we caught up with Acme Packing Company for some insight on the game. We asked five questions and got five answers.
Blogging The Boys: Just get it out of the way – how has it been having Micah Parsons?
Acme Packing Company: It really gave the team a shot in the arm. Not only is there Super Bowl expectations for the team, but the fans are absolutely locked in, too, even during a great Brewers run. After Aaron Rodgers’ last season, when the team failed to make the playoffs, and the last two rebuilding years, when the team had the excuse of not having cap space and having very young rosters, it’s a fun change of pace. As soon as Micah recorded that sack against Jared Goff where he hunted him down from behind, the trade was worth it.
BTB: Talk about injuries along the offensive line. How might that affect the game?
APC: Good grief, man. So we’ve already played nine different offensive line combinations this year, which leads the NFL. At this point, going into Friday’s practice, here are injuries that the Packers are dealing with on the line:
– Travis Glover and Jacob Monk are on the injured reserve list
– John Williams is on the physically unable to perform list
– Zach Tom is reportedly out
– Anthony Belton and Aaron Banks were unable to practice on Thursday, too
– Rasheed Walker was limited for both Wednesday and Thursday practices
So…yeah, it’s not great. Thankfully, only Tom, Banks and Walker are preferred starters (what a silver lining). The big question is who is going to replace Tom at right tackle this week. 2024 first-round pick Jordan Morgan will probably replace Banks at left guard. Walker is expected to play at left tackle.
With Tom yet to finish a game for the team, Darian Kinnard, who was traded for just before the start of the regular season, has played 35 snaps at right tackle this year, Belton, who could be out this week, has played 82. Beyond just the starters, if Tom, Banks and Belton can’t go, the team’s depth is nuked, so we’re about one more injury away from guys who are usually inactive having to come into the game.
BTB: What happened last week in the Browns game?
APC: Cleveland’s defensive line is really good, which we all knew coming into the game. What we didn’t expect was Tom dropping out after one play and Banks being unable to finish the game, too. Because of that, there were times where three backups (Walker dealing with a helmet issue for a couple of snaps), who were in the game together on the line.
Personally, I thought the Packers were going to screen the Browns and then take shots downfield when they had the opportunity. Instead, Green Bay only threw two passes over 10 yards (one DPI, one completion) because their offensive line struggled so much. Then Jordan Love threw the interception when he thought he was getting true man coverage, and a couple of special teams mess ups later the team officially fumbled the game away. It was sort of a perfect storm.
I still argue the team was way too conservative through the air, even though they took five sacks on the game. They seemed very content with winning that game 10-0, until that option was off the table.
BTB: Besides Parsons, what else is important to know about the Packers defense?
APC: The big ones are Xavier McKinney and Rashan Gary. McKinney absolutely locks down the middle of the field. Teams don’t even really try to throw in the middle of the Packers’ defense right now. Gary is leading the NFL in sacks, in part because of how focused teams are at stopping Parsons.
Honestly, every starter on the defensive side is probably above average in Green Bay, besides the nose tackle position. The early-downs nose tackle right now is Colby Wooden, who is more of slanting and stunting run blitzer than you’d expect a nose tackle to be. No one has been able to wear out the Packers’ defensive tackle unit yet, but they’re really only working with a three-man rotation at the position. At some point, a team is going to commit to the ground game and actually be able wear these guys out.
The problem is you have to keep an offense on the field to do so, which is a tough task against this defense.
BTB: What are the strengths and weaknesses of the offense?
APC: The offensive line is a mess. They did good in pass protection in Week 1 and Week 2, in part because running back Chris Brooks is great in protection, too, but Brooks hardly played in Week 3 and the line had an all-time bad performance. In the ground game, the team has struggled all year. The Packers had to use Jordan Love as an option threat last week just to try to get anything going. So far this year, running back Josh Jacobs has 180 yards rushing. 177 of those yards have come after contact. He’s averaging 0.0 yards per carry before contact. It’s not great.
The strength of the team has generally been deep shots. They leaned away from that last week, though, because of how badly the Browns’ defensive line was beating them up. I’m hoping it comes back this week, which I’m sure Cowboys fans do not want to hear at all.
Thanks for the knowledge, Acme Packing Company.
See More:
