A win is a win, but the Green Bay Packers didn’t inspire much confidence with their 24-15 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.
The big-play offense was nowhere to be found and neither was the passing game that lit it up the past two weeks. Aaron Rodgers only managed 186 yards and the Packers seemed to miss Jordy Nelson, who sat out with a hamstring injury, more than expected.
James Jones did as much as he could to pick up the slack, catching seven for 78, but Randall Cobb came back to earth. Although he had a touchdown, Cobb only caught five balls for 28 yards against a depleted Jaguars secondary. That effort made him the team’s second-leading receiver on the day.
The Packers defense wasn’t any more impressive, despite facing one of the NFL’s worst offenses. Statistically, the Jaguars were last in the NFL in passing offense entering the game. That didn’t stop Blaine Gabbert from throwing for 303 yards.
Although they’ve been terrible in zone coverage all season, the Packers decided to employ that scheme far too often on Sunday. They obviously paid for it.
The loss of Charles Woodson, who could be out six weeks, was also pretty evident. Morgan Burnett helped pick up the slack with 11 tackles, a sack and forced fumble, but no one else stood out in the secondary.
If Jacksonville’s receivers hadn’t dropped so many balls, this may have been a different game.
The only other defender to make any noise was inside linebacker Brad Jones, who’s subbing for the injured D.J. Smith. Jones had 10 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. Unfortunately, Burnett and Jones recorded the Packers only two sacks on the day.
The only big play of the day came via special teams, when Davon House blocked a punt in the second quarter and Dezman Moses fell on it in the end zone for a touchdown.
On the day, the Packers were actually outgained 341 to 238.
Fortunately, the Jaguars’ mental errors doomed them. In addition to the dropped passes, they also had seven penalties for 77 yards.
Had they not shot themselves in the foot so many times, we might be talking about a different outcome.
Ho. Hum.