By Eric Goska
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| Aaron Jones rushed for 143 yards against the Bills. (screen capture from NFL Game Pass) |
Those pundits who believe the Packers tend to abandon the run too early or too often must have been pleasantly surprised by what unfolded in Buffalo Sunday night.
Not by the final score, mind you, although Green Bay did avoid
a blowout. Rather, those who prefer an earth-moving type of approach must have taken
some satisfaction in the Green and Gold’s decision to continue to run the ball regardless of the score.
Propelled by Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon, Green Bay amassed a
season-high 208 rushing yards in the team’s 27-17 loss to the Bills in prime
time. Only once previously have the two running backs combined for more real estate than what they
amassed at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park.
Dillon and Jones have been sharing carries since 2020. The
two have combined for 100 or more rushing yards 14 times in the regular season.
They topped the century mark again in Buffalo. Jones piled
up 143 yards on 20 trips and Dillon added 54 on 10.
That’s 197 yards worth of togetherness, second behind only
the 218 they snapped off against the Titans in December 2020.
The difference Sunday night? Just about everything they earned
came with the Packers behind on the scoreboard.
The Bills, owners of an AFC-best 6-1 record, average 29
points a game. They pulled ahead 7-0 late in the first quarter and never lost
the lead.
The Packers had the ball for only one possession before
falling behind. They gained 34 yards on nine plays to reach the Buffalo 38
before losing the ball on downs.
On that drive, Jones carried twice for eight yards. Dillon
lugged the leather once for two yards.
Those three attempts for 10 yards occurred with the score
0-0. Everything else Green Bay rushed for came with the team in arrears.
Despite being behind for the final 48 minutes, 34 seconds,
the Pack stayed grounded. They gained 198 yards on 28 attempts (7.1 per carry).
Jones and Dillon accounted for it all, with the exception of
an 11-yard scramble by Aaron Rodgers in the fourth quarter.
In the second quarter, Green Bay ran 12 times (73 yards)
against four pass plays. In the third, it ran 12 times (108 yards) against four
pass plays.
Staying with the run, of course, is easier when it is
producing dividends. Twelve of those 20 runs in the middle quarters yielded seven
yards or more.
Yet even with this windfall, the Packers fell further behind. Down
7-0 at the end of the first quarter, the team lagged behind 27-10 heading into
the fourth.
And so in the final 15 minutes, Green Bay threw 15 times
against four runs.
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| AJ Dillon rushed 10 times for 54 yards. |
Amassing 198 yards on the ground when trailing is no small feat. Only twice before in the regular-season (since 1923) has the team gained more.
On Oct. 8, 1950, Gene Ronzani’s team compiled 312 soil yards
in a 44-31 loss to the Yanks. Approximately 274 were produced with the team in
arrears.
Five years later, Lisle Blackbourn’s club overran the 49ers
27-21 while staking out 251 yards on the ground. Most (233) were earned while rallying
to pull ahead of San Francisco.
Historically, getting to 200 usually spells victory. Since
1923, the Packers are 115-10-5 (.904) in the regular season when doing so.
In today’s game, of course, reaching that plateau is not often
done. For Green Bay this century, it happens about once a year.
That makes getting there and coming away with a loss that
much more frustrating. What it doesn’t mean is shying away from pounding the ball
in the second half of 2022.
Running from Behind
Since 1923, the eight regular-season games in which the
Packers gained more than 180 yards rushing while behind on the scoreboard. Yardage totals for the games prior to 1985 are unofficial.
|
Yards |
Date |
Opponent |
Result |
|
274 |
Oct. 8, 1950 |
Yanks |
GB lost, 31-44 |
|
233 |
Nov. 20, 1955 |
49ers |
GB won, 27-21 |
|
198 |
Oct. 30, 2022 |
Bills |
GB lost, 17-27 |
|
196 |
Nov. 3, 1957 |
Giants |
GB lost, 17-31 |
|
196 |
Sept. 29, 1985 |
Cardinals |
GB lost, 28-43 |
|
185 |
Dec. 6, 1987 |
49ers |
GB lost, 12-23 |
|
184 |
Nov. 6, 1949 |
Bears |
GB lost, 3-24 |
|
183 |
Oct. 23, 1949 |
Rams |
GB lost, 7-35 |
From Brian wolf ...
ReplyDeleteWith the Packers winning over 90 percent of their games when running for over 200 yards, you would think they would commit to the run more to keep the winning going but with two great throwing QBs in recent history, its more about the team utilizing these talents to fill the stadiums with people and win a couple of SBs out of three, rather than aiming for percentages ... besides, most of those wins came under the great Vince Lombardi, who prudently wanted to develop a ball control identity to keep the great offenses from divisional rival Baltimore --And John Unitas--off the field for important games.