Was Bills Game An Aberration For Packers?

Time will tell. The Green Bay Packers piled up some impressive numbers against the Buffalo Bills in a 22-0 shutout. Most of those came from the defense.

Here are some of them.

1. The Packers held the Bills to just 145 total yards and, obviously, zero points.
2. Green Bay held the Bills to just 87 passing yards.
3. The Packers held the Bills to just 58 rushing yards.
4. The Packers kept the Bills out of the red zone.
5. Green Bay had seven sacks and 11 quarterback hits.
6. Kyler Fackrell had three sacks.
7. The Packers rushed for 141 yards.

All of that’s great, but before anyone gets too high on the Packers, let’s consider the opponent.

1. The Bills are 31st in the league in total offense and points scored.
2. Buffalo is last in the league in passing offense.
3. The Bills are 24th in the league in rushing offense.
4. The Bills are 31st in the league in scoring.
5. Buffalo has given up the most sacks in the league — 21.
6. See above, but also: Kyler Fackrell had five career sacks before playing Buffalo.
7. The Packers, as a team, have had 69, 98 and 100 team rushing yards in the previous three games. So, thanks Aaron Jones!

It’s possible the only team more pathetic than Buffalo Bills up to this point have been the winless Arizona Cardinals. Anywhere the Bills were ranked 31st above is because the Cardinals were No. 32. Things seem to be looking up for the Cardinals, however. They’ve decided to turn to rookie quarterback Josh Rosen, who looks like the real deal. And he may actually have an offensive line that won’t get him killed.

What do other observers think about the Bills?

Let’s take a look at this week’s power rankings from various media outlets.

NFL.com: No. 32
USA TODAY: No. 31
ESPN: No. 31
Bleacher Report: No. 31
Sports Illustrated: No. 30
CBS Sports: No. 29
Pro Football Talk: No. 25

How you don’t put this team at No. 31 or 32, I’m not really sure.

The point is, there may not be as much joy in Mudville as everyone thinks. The Packers just beat the crap out of one of the two worst teams in the league. They should have done that.

As quarterback Aaron Rodgers pointed out, they should have beaten Buffalo worse. The defense was served up a cornucopia of plenty and they cleaned it out. Meanwhile, the offense wasn’t always clicking and Rodgers is displeased.

There are also rumors of a rift between Rodgers and coach Mike McCarthy, although McCarthy tried to push those aside.

We’ll remain optimistic, but things could go south here real quick.

But hey, Aaron Jones! Now if McCarthy will just give him the ball.