David Njoku
Browns tight end David Njoku (Photo: © Scott Galvin-USA TODAY Sports, USA TODAY Sports)
By Mark Eckel
In two games this season the Green Bay Packers defense had allowed just two plays of 20 yards, or more.
And both have come from the opposing team's tight end. No running backs have run for 20 yards, no wide receiver has caught a pass for 20 yards. Just two tight ends, that's it.
In the season-opening 27-13 win over the Detroit Lions, tight end Sam LaPorta caught a 32-yard pass from quarterback Jared Goff. And in last week's 27-18 win over Washington, tight end Zach Ertz caught a 20-yard pass from quarterback Jayden Daniels.
That could be something to keep an eye on Sunday when the Packers travel to Cleveland to take on the Browns.
Cleveland uses a lot of two tight end sets and their two tight ends — nine-year veteran David Njoku and rookie Harold Fannin have been two of their most productive players.
Fannin, the Browns third-round pick out of Bowling Green, leads the team in receptions with 12 and is second in yards with 111 (Jerry Jeudy has 117).
Njoku is fourth on the team in receptions with seven and tied for third in yards with 77. Neither tight end has caught a touchdown pass yet this season.
A Record Season?: It's way too early to start looking at "on a pace for…''. However, the Packers have eight sacks in their first two games. The team record for sacks in a season is 52 set in 2001 when Kabeer Gbaja Biamilia had 13 1/2. The only other time the team had at least 50 was 1998 when they had exactly 50 led by Reggie White's 16.
3 Going on 13: If the Packers can beat the Browns and get to 3-0 on the season it would mark just the third time since 2019 the team has started a season 3-0. In both 2019 and 2020 the team began the season 3-0. Both of those teams finished the regular season 13-3 and made it to the NFC Championship Game.
Spreading it Around: Through two games the Packers have had 13 penalties accepted against them. After just four in the opener against the Lions, they had nine called against Washington. Of the 13 flags thrown, five have been on offense, four on defense and four on special teams. Twelve different players have also been called, with only safety Xavier McKinney with two.
Touchdown Jacobs: Running back Josh Jacobs has scored a touchdown in 11 straight games, cutting last year's playoff game in Philadelphia. The modern day record is 12 straight games set by LaDanian Tomlinson in 2003. Jacobs can obviously tie that record this Sunday.
Love and Rodgers: This is kind of eerie.
Jordan Love has started 35 games in his career. Here's how he compares to his predecessor Aaron Rodgers in his first 35 games.
Record: Love 20-15; Rodgers 19-16
Completion percentage: Love 63.6; Rodgers 64.6
Yards per attempt: Love 7.5; Rodgers 7.8
Touchdowns: Love 62; Rodgers 63
Interceptions: Love 23; Rodgers 23
QB Rating: Love 96.6; Rodgers 98.1