Cory's Corner: Best Time To Play Well
The Packers have turned the corner and will welcome the home stretch of their schedule.
Bring on the big bad Lions.
Detroit should still be breathing a sigh of relief after the Bears gave a Master Class in time management and gifted the Lions a Thanksgiving win.
The Packers are playing very good right now. And the reason is because Jordan Love has tightened up his play. In the last two weeks, he is completing 67 percent of his passes, is averaging 218 yards a game with four total touchdowns and most importantly, no picks. Granted, the Dolphins didn’t look like they wanted any part of the 20-degree weather on Thanksgiving night, but Love was getting the throws out on time, looked confident and didn’t make any 50-50 throws.
We are also seeing the defense come up big. The Packers had five sacks — including Kenny Clark registering his first sack of the season. The Packers are also getting great production from Kingsley Enagbare. The fifth-round pick in 2022 is tied for fourth on the team in sacks with 2.5 and the defensive lineman is only playing 43 percent of the defensive snaps this year.
This is exactly when you want the Packers to turn the corner. The month of December is a whisper away and the meat of the schedule is in front of them. The Packers dropped home games to Minnesota and Detroit, so Dec. 5 at Detroit and Dec. 29 at Minnesota are monumental.
But we all know who the conductor is for the final five games. In the year of the running back, it has to be Josh Jacobs. He’s not only one of the most powerful, he’s arguably the most versatile. He has 49 touches in the last two weeks.
I’ll be honest, I didn’t want Aaron Jones to leave Green Bay. He did so many nice things for the Packers. The sombrero-wearing back was great the moment he got to the outside. But then, the Packers brought in the battering ram. Jacobs relishes contact so much he is an inside linebacker living in a running back’s body. He loves to go through people so much that over 66 percent of his yards come after contact. This is why he’s here. To run the ball through the snowflakes, in the bitter cold and wind. His workload has been going up and expect it to continue to rise as the Packers make a strong push toward the playoffs.
“We’ll deal with the bumps and bruises later,” said Jacobs, who is third in the NFL with 987 rushing yards. “So, I’m going to come in and I’m going to give it everything I’ve got.”
The best part is that the Packers never played a complete game until the 49ers in Week 12. That was followed up by another complete game against the Dolphins. The special teams are even playing well.
After last year’s playoff run, just getting into the playoffs wouldn’t be good enough. The Packers are still searching for a signature win this year and that would certainly come by beating a Lions team that has won three games by three points or less.
The Packers are playing their best ball at the perfect time, and they have the urgency to get the job done.
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Cory Jennerjohn is a graduate from UW-Oshkosh and has been in sports media for over 15 years. He was a co-host on "Clubhouse Live" and has also done various radio and TV work as well. He has written for newspapers, magazines and websites. He currently is a columnist for CHTV and also does various podcasts. He recently earned his Masters degree from the University of Iowa. He can be found on Twitter: @Coryjennerjohn
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Comments (15)
dgtalmn
November 30, 2024 at 07:33 am
Agree extremely important game to win this one for all of the reasons. Great article.
ricky
November 30, 2024 at 07:47 am
Indeed, it does seem as if the Packers are warming up at the right time. What made the game tilt in their favor was scoring TD's early, forcing the Dolphins to become more one-dimensional, making the job of the defense easier. If the Packers can continue this pattern, shutting down the opposing offense early and the Packers offense running up the score early on, they could definitely have a bright future. But the team also needs to stop their "third quarter blahs", when it seems the offense and defense both regress, then get back to normal in the fourth quarter. Also, notice that though Jacobs is the focus of the running backs, both Wilson and Brooks are giving him regular breaks during the game. And the OL should also get a big shout out for not only keeping Love upright, but also opening holes for the RB's.
GregC
November 30, 2024 at 07:48 am
Just for the record, the Packers also played complete games against the Tennessee Titans and Arizona Cardinals. For those who care about style points (I don't), that's a total of four wins in which the outcome was never really in doubt once the Packers got ahead by a couple of scores. That's about what you would expect with a 9-3 team.
I agree with Cory that Jordan Love's improved play is the single biggest reason the Packers are trending upward. But other good things are happening too, especially on defense.
Lphill
November 30, 2024 at 07:52 am
I just wish we had more depth at corner , niners had a third string QB and Tua even in the cold passed for over 350 yards.
Coldworld
November 30, 2024 at 08:01 am
But unless you are referring to the slot, virtually none of them were on the corners. Stokes only gave up 7 yards total, for example. They were over the middle and, in part, likely accepted by Hafley and mostly short. Their very dangerous WRs did virtually nothing. They had one explosive play the whole game, also over the middle. Our perimeter corners all had pretty good games and Rochell was not needed at all on D.
Bitternotsour
November 30, 2024 at 08:41 am
there were moments where he recalled his rookie year. maybe he's finally getting healthy.
NickPerry
November 30, 2024 at 07:59 am
What a great Thanksgiving Holiday weekend it's been so far. The Packers beat the hell out of the Dolphins and the Bears found a way to look even more pathetic than any team I've seen in my 64 plus years of life.
Jordan Love DOES look like that dude we saw last season at the end of the year, and we have a defense that FINALLY looks they could stop a nosebleed when they have to. The Packers ARE playing a complete brand of football. Love, Jacobs, and the offense are playing their best ball of the season and I'm finally able to watch a FG or XP attempt without covering my eyes.
Cory mentioned a signature win. You play who you play when you play them. Personally I thought both the Vikings and Lions were lucky to play the Packers WHEN they played them. Against the Vikings Love was playing his first game after a knee injury in week one. The kid still had cobwebs from the offseason. Against the Lions he played with the groin injury. In both of those games Loves injuries definitely effected the offense. He's healthy now and this team is playing well.
GO PACK GO!!
Bitternotsour
November 30, 2024 at 08:46 am
the needle is pointing up, but i'd argue that he's still not in prime health. when we see him run an option, well then I'd say he's back to that guy. the thing about Love is he's both the dude of the first half of last season and the dude from the last half. that may never change. but the guy from the last half is exceptional.
Boneman
November 30, 2024 at 08:41 am
This will be a good measuring stick for the Pack. Win or lose they are going to know exactly what it will take to get to the Super Bowl. Don't lull yourself into thinking the Lion's aren't playing their best or that the Packer pass defense is susceptible. Just throw out the second halves of both their Thanksgiving games because the outcome had already been decided and both teams went into 'win and get out healthy mode'. I'm betting we get an epoch matchup for the full 60 minutes of this one! GPG!
Guam
November 30, 2024 at 09:03 am
I have really begun to appreciate the depth the Packers have on the D-line. It wasn't too long ago that the battle cry was "Get Kenny Clark some help". He now has help. I don't believe the Packers have any superstars on the D-line, but they have an amazing amount quality depth that allows them to rotate fresh players into the game on a regular basis, all game long. This defense doesn't disappear in the fourth quarter like so many previous Packer defenses in part because they have the depth to stay fresh and continue to attack.
The Packer D-line wore out the San Francisco and Miami offensive lines while shutting down both rushing attacks and getting pressure on the QB. That hasn't happened in many years. And that depth should help the Packers through the remainder of this year. GPG
Leatherhead
November 30, 2024 at 09:34 am
It's not real logical to believe the youngest team in the league can win the Super Bowl, but if we handle the Lions, I'm going to be a believer.
GregC
November 30, 2024 at 09:45 am
It's all about having enough experience at important positions. The QB is still pretty green, but I think he's capable. Getting experienced veterans in free agency to anchor the offense (Jacobs) and defense (McKinney) has been very helpful. McKinney is only 26 but plays like he is older. Clark and Gary bring experience to the D-line. The linebackers (except Wilson) are young, but Quay Walker may be getting the hang of things in the later part of his third year. It would help a lot to have Jaire Alexander back.
The offense is young all across the board except for Jacobs and Elgton Jenkins and maybe Josh Myers. The veteran kicker sure has helped. I try to remind myself that these guys are gaining experience with every game and now that Preston Smith is gone, none of them are in danger of declining due to age.
NFLfan
November 30, 2024 at 09:44 am
Perhaps Watson could play corner for part of the game. He certainly has the speed and can catch---
canadapacker
November 30, 2024 at 11:04 am
As they say you are what your records says it is. Now we could just as easily lost to the Bears - and BTW - we didnt play up to a good standard against them. We let a disfunctional team with a change in OC almost beat us because the defense did not realize that the OC was going to let Willliams loose and run the ball. And those Lions could just as easily be 9-3 - bad no call against the Texans and the Bears fiasco. So the other saying is appropriate - on any given Sunday any NFL team can beat any other team. I dont think that we have played our best football by a long shot - I dont like that we play too soft when we get a lead. Even the last game we are near mid field with a 3rd and one. And they stacked the box and we ran Jacobs for a 2 yard loss into a whole pile of Dolphins. That gave the ball back and we needed to both take time off the clock or maybe even really put the game away. Now it was a great win - BUT - it was not perfect - It is all about improving each and every game.
Gman1976
November 30, 2024 at 12:08 pm
When we play the best, we need all gas and no let up. If we get the Lions down, then we need to keep them down. Stomp them, keep stomping them them, and then they'll get the message that the boys (the youngest team in the league) have become have become win hungry men.