It was a picturesque night Lambeau Field yesterday and the Green Bay Packers did not disappoint. They took an early lead, rolled to a 24-3 halftime lead, then finished the game like good teams do in a 30-17 win over the Miami Dolphins. It was in my opinion the Packers best game of the year. Now they have to do it again in Detroit next week.
Jordan Love continues to look more and more like the player he was at the end of last year. It seems the injuries are behind him and he’s playing his style of football once again. He took a few shots down the field against Miami but for the most part was careful with the ball. While not quite Checkdown Charlie, he did take what the defense gave him on more than one occasion. Which is fine by me.
The Packers only rushed for only 114 yards but it was enough to keep Miami’s respect. Josh Jacobs only had 43 yards rushing but Chris Brooks, Jayden Reed and Emanuel Wilson all added 20 yards or more on limited carries. Jacobs also had 74 yards receiving, including a 49-yard catch and run in the fourth quarter.
Defense is sneaky good at not allowing points
The Packers’ defense is 18th in yardage allowed but they are a sneaky top ten in points allowed. And how is this for bizarro world – the Packers are top ten in rush defense. This coming after the Joe Barry years when a high school team could have rushed for 100 yards on the Packers’ defense. The pass defense could use some shoring up, though.
While the defense didn’t get any turnovers against the Dolphins they did get two turnover on downs and forced three punts, including the opening drive of the third quarter when the Dolphins really had to score to get back in the game. Both of those led to points for the Packers’ offense.
I think if the defense can continue to improve they have what it takes to win a championship. Especially if Jaire Alexander were to somehow get healthy for the stretch run. They really need that shutdown corner to free up resources for other things like blitzing more. The defense will have it’s hands full with the Detroit Lions next week. The Lions are the top scoring team in the NFL, so it will be a good gauge of where they are.
But we’ll worry about that later. I like these Victory Fridays. I can watch the rest of the games this weekend with a “W” already in the books. I’ll be a big Cardinals’ fan Sunday for sure.