The Green Bay Packers at least finally made an effort to stretch the field in their third preseason game. Trevor Davis narrowly missed a diving end zone catch, followed by Davante Adams failing to pull down a catchable deep ball that also would have gone for a touchdown. Finally, however, Joe Callahan, on a very broken play, lofted a deep ball on the run that rookie Geronimo Allison brought in – good for 55 yards.
That hookup was only the team’s second passing play this preseason to gain 20 or more yards. No other team has fewer than four such completions, while nine teams have 10 or more – led by the Buccaneers with 14, and the Lions and Raiders with 11 each.
In 2015, when they struggled connecting on deep passes, the Packers still managed 46 pass completions of 20+ yards. Even at nearly three such completions per game, the Packers wound up in a tie for 28th place for the year. This is a stat that’s still going in the wrong direction.