The Packers signed LB Kristian Welch to the 53-man roster to replace LB Nick Niemann, who was placed on injured reserve. The Packers also signed DL Dante Barnett and CB Tyron Herring to the practice squad. Barmett is an international player who played one year of football at Dickerson College, a Division III program. Herring was with the Packers throughout training camp as a UDFA and was waived at final cutdowns. He spent time on New England's practice squad after leaving Green Bay.
The Packers elevated DE Aron Mosby from the PS for the third time this season. Mosby is out of elevations. DE Lucas Van Ness (foot), and WR Dontayvion Wicks (calf) were inactive due to injury. OL Donovan Jennings, OL Jacob Monk, DL Warren Brinson, and Kicker Lucas Havrisik were healthy scratches. QB Malik Willis and CB Kamal Hadden were active but did not play.
Tucker Kraft (knee), Matthew Golden (shoulder), Wooden (shoulder) and Aaron Banks (stinger) left the game and did not return.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN:
Player Snaps % STs
Jenkins 65 100 4/24%
Morgan 65 100 4/24%
Tom 65 100 4/24%
Walker 65 100 4/24%
Rhyan 56 86 4/24%
Banks 9 14
Belton 4/24%
Kinnard 4/24%
The Packers gained 104 yards on 2 carries, a 4.16-yard average with 1 rushing TD. Jacobs had several longer runs, while Emanuel Wilson faced tough sledding. Still, while the explosive runs were there, there was a modicum of consistency.
The statistics suggest that the pass protection was good, but the my eye-ball test indicated otherwise. Carolina had 6 quarterback hits and 1 sack. While the line provided adequate protection at times, it seemed to me that Love too often was pressured quickly. That said, Pro Football Focus indicated that the Packers allowed only 13 pressures, which is fine when there were 37 passing attempts and that Love had 2.69 seconds to pass, on average. However, PFF noted that there were 3 unblocked rushing attempts, which seemed to me to come up the middle.
Banks left the game very early in the first quarter and did not return. Sean Rhyan replaced Banks at right guard and Jordan Morgan then played at right guard. Rhyan had some problems with DT Tershawn Wharton, who had 2 quarterback hits. Rasheed Walker, Jenkins, Tom and Rhyan each allowed just 1 hurry. Jordan Morgan allowed 3 pressures (2 hurries and 1 sack).
It looks like teams are sitting back in two-high safety looks while daring the Packers to run the ball. If they can take away explosive plays, which the Packers are good at, then opponents bank on an inabilituy to run, penalties, mistakes, negative plays, and/or some other form of inefficiency from the Packers. The last two opponents tried to shorten the game by running a lot. The Packers only had 7 possessions in this game, and scored 2 field goals, a touchdown, and they missed a field goal. They were 1 or 5 in the red zone.
RUNNING BACKS:
Player Snaps % STs Routes Run Targets
Jacobs 38 58 18 5
Wilson 21 32 14 2
Brooks 11 17 9/53% 7 2
Josh Jacobs finished with 87 yards on 17 carries for a 5.12-yard average and 1 touchdown. Jacobs caught all 4 of his 5 targets for 13 yards, a 3.3-yard average per reception. Indeed, Jacobs had to make two defenders miss on one swing pass just to gain 7 yards on that play. Emanuel Wilson carried the ball 6 times for 16 yards, a 2.67-yard average. He caught 1 of his 2 targets for 2 yards. PFF did not assign a hurry allowed to either running back, but they liked Jacobs in this game, giving him an initial grade of 82.7.
QUARTERBACKS:
Player Snaps % STs
Love 65 100
Willis DNP
Love completed 26 of 37 (70.3%) for 273 yards (7.38 yards/attempt), with 1 interception and 0 touchdowns. He had a passer rating of 80.1. Love had m2 and arguably 3 big-time throws and at least 2 turnover-worthy throws. He ran only once for 1 yard.
TIGHT ENDS:
Player Snaps % STs Routes Run Targets
Kraft 32 49 19 2
Musgrave 30 46 3/18% 20 3
Fitzpatrick 18 28 7 0
Tucker Kraft caught 2 of his 3 targets for 20 yards (10-yards/rec). He has been blocking a lot. Here, he ran 19 routes and played 30 snaps (per PFF) and some of those routes likely involved a chip first. Many have been hoping to see Coach LaFleur find a way to get the ball to Kraft, but with what may be a serious knee injury, that quest will have to be postponed. Fitzpatrick caught all 3 of his targets for 34 yards with a long of 21. I thought that the Packers were phasing Musgrave out, but that now is going to change. The Packers waived TE Ben Sims to make room for Chrisitan Watson, and he is now on Minnesota's 53-man roster. The Packers may look around for tight end depth.
WIDE RECEIVERS:
Player Snaps % STs Routes Run Targets
Doubs 60 92 3/18% 37 10
Watson 43 66 30 4
Heath 27 42 3/18% 16 1
Golden 24 37 15 3
Williams 19 29 3/18% 11 2
Melton 1 0
Doubs caught 7 of his 10 targets for 91 yards, a 13.0-yard average. Coming into this game, Doubs was tied for the lead with Kraft for most receptions resulting in a first down (21). With Kraft likely out for the foreseeable future, the Packers need some receivers who can help move the chains. Golden was 3rd on the team with 11 receptions for a first down. The team needs another receiver to become more of a volume receiver.
Watson caught all 2 of his 4 targets for 58 yards with a long of 52. Golden caught all 2 of his 3 targets for just 9 yards. Last week, he had 4 yards on 3 receptions. I would not call the deep pass that hit Golden in the hands a drop due to the double coverage and contact, but receivers need to help their quarterback out sometimes. Golden left the game and did not return. Malik Heath caught 1 passes for 11 yards. He ran a lot of routes for having just 1 target. Savion Williams caught 2 passes for 12 yards and lost a fumble on one of them when he ran into the back of his blocker on yet another wide receiver screen. They do work at times.
DEFENSIVE TACKLES:
Player Snaps % STs
Brooks 40 69 10/59%
Wyatt 40 59 3/18%
Stackhouse 16 28 3/18%
Wooden 15 268
Wyatt had 6 tackles (1 solo) and PFF credited him with 1 hurry and 5 stops. Wooden had no official statistics. PFF listed Wooden with no pressures in 6 pass rushing snaps, which means he was on the field for practically all of Carolina's 33 rushing attempts. Wyatt had 15 pass rushing attempts. Note that Bryce Young had 20 passing attempts. Karl Brooks had 5 assisted tackles. PFF listed him with 0 pressures on 18 pass rushing reps and 1 missed tackle. I thought Brooks had a miserable day. I thought he got moved against the run. Stackhouse had 2 assisted tackles, 1 stop, and 1 pressure in 5 pass rushing snaps. Carolina gained 163 yards on 33 rushing attempts, a 4.94-yard average. They ran up the middle and to their right all day with consistent success.
DEFENSIVE ENDS:
Player Snaps % STs
Parsons 53 91
Gary 41 71
Enagbare 26 45 4/24%
Sorrell 1 2 13/76%
Mosby 25/76%
Parsons had 3 tackles (1 solo) 1 tackles for loss and 1 hurry. Gary had 3 assisted tackles and 3 hurries on 18 pass rushes. He had 1 stop but lost contain at times and missed 2 tackles. Enagbare had 3 assisted tackles and 1 hurry on 11 pass rushes. He also lost contain a few times. After getting 13 snaps last week, Sorrell got just one snap.
Bryce Young only completed 11 of 20 passes for 102 yards and an interception. He had a 48 passer rating. Young does not process and quickly or nearly as well as Joe Flacco, but Carolina still continued another trend of getting the ball out of his hand quickly and of staying out of unfavorable down and distance situations. PFF gave Parsons an 81.1 grade.
LINEBACKERS:
Players Snaps % STs
Walker 58 100 3/18%
Cooper 58 100 3/18%
McDuffie 19 33 13/76%
Hopper 10/59%
Welch 10/59%
Cooper had 8 tackles (3 solo) and 0 pressures in 4 pass rushing snaps. PFF also listed Cooper with 3 stops and 1 missed tackle. Walker had 7 tackles (2 solo) and 1 QB hit, and added 1 stop and 1 missed tackle. McDuffie had no statistics but PFF gave him an initial grade of 78.0. Walker's average depth of tackle was 5.3 yards downfield and Cooper's was 1.0.
DEFENSIVE BACKS:
Player Snaps % STs
McKinney 58 100 6/36%
Nixon 58 10 3/18%
Williams 51 88 4/24%
Valentine 43 74 4/24%
Bullard 42 72 7/41%
Hobbs 19 33 2/12%
Melton 0 0 6/35%
Olapado DNP 0 6/35%
Anderson DNP 0 10/59%
Mckinney had 9 tackles (3 solo), 1 sack, 1 interception, and 1 forced fumble. PFF gave him an initial grade of 90.5. Evan Williams had 7 tackles (2 solo) and 2 stops. Nixon had 5 tackles (4 solo) and Valentine had 4 tackles (3 solo). Valentine got his hands on a couple of pass attempts but could not prevent the completions. Bullard had 4 tackles (3 solo). He lost contain at least once. Hobbs had no stats.
SPECIAL TEAMS:
McManus missed from 43 but hit from 27 and 49 yards. He made his only extra point. Whelan did not have to punt. The coverage units were fine. The return units had a penalty. Doubs fielded a bouncing punt and Savion Williams had a nice 33-yard kickoff return.
Photo courtesy of Jason Tork of USA Today Network.
Statistics coutesy of NFLgsis and PFF.
RB: 1.08
TE: 1.23
WR: 2.66
DT: 1.91
DE: 2.09
LB: 2.33
DB: 4.67