Jets Trample Packers at Lambeau Field

 By Eric Goska

Since the days of the Great Depression, the Packers have always come up short when their opponent finds it completely unnecessary to throw the ball in the fourth quarter.

In the final 15 minutes of their game with Green Bay Sunday, the Jets remained solely on the ground.

Any guess as to which team emerged victorious?

Starting quarterback Zach Wilson rested his throwing arm in the final period as his Jets trampled the Packers 27-10 at Lambeau Field. Wilson did not attempt a single pass in the final period as New York hammered away to end Green Bay’s 15-game regular-season winning streak at home.

New York’s Breece Hall and Michael Carter teamed up for 93 yards on 11 carries in the fourth quarter. Hall ripped off three gains of more than seven yards (34, 12, 12) while Carter had two (25, 8).

Tight end Tyler Conklin chipped in a yard and Wilson carried four times, the last three on kneel-downs to end the game.

New York chalked up 91 yards on 16 carries in the final period. It gained more ground there than it did in its first three quarters combined (88).

Much of what was gained came on a 13-play, 58-yard advance capped by Greg Zeurlein’s 23-yard field goal. The score put New York up 27-10 with two minutes, 34 seconds remaining.

After Carter zipped 25 yards on that drive, Fox analyst Greg Olsen had this to say: “But there’s just no ability by Green Bay to set an edge. You see everybody playing inside out. Somebody’s got to set a hard edge there. Not just let them run around.”

Let them run around is what Green Bay has done this season. It entered Week 6 having surrendered 249 fourth-quarter rushing yards. Only the Lions (257) had given up more.

Add New York’s 91 to that total and the Packers have been gashed for 340 through six games. It’s their poorest start since Bart Starr’s 1975 team gave up 356. The Green and Gold finished 4-10 that season.

Yes, it can be argued that Green Bay’s lack of defense in the fourth quarter did not cause the team to lose. But the fact that New York didn’t have to turn to the air even once underscored how in control the Jets were.

Fourteen years have passed since the Saints eschewed the pass in the fourth quarter against Green Bay. They were the last team to do so, running 11 times for 48 yards in a 51-29 win in the Superdome in 2008.

Dial back to 1931 and the script does not change. Green Bay is 0-19 (at least) when its opponent stays grounded in the final 15 minutes. That at-least qualifier is added because five games exist for which it cannot be determined if a pass was attempted.

Doesn’t really matter. The Packers lost all five.

This inability to stop the run should be setting off alarm bells within Green Bay’s brain trust. Any team that cannot stop the run in the fourth quarter likely struggles to do so at other times as well.

That’s the Green and Gold in a nutshell. They’ve allowed 811 yards (4.9 average) through six games.

At that rate, the team will surrender 2,298 yards by season’s end. That would be the most since the porous unit of 1983 gave up 2,641.

In a Rush to Win
The seven (known) regular-season games in which Green Bay’s opponent amassed more than 40 yards rushing in the fourth quarter while not attempting a single pass play (a sack counts as a pass play) in that period. Totals prior to 1988 are unofficial.