Kevin Zeitler finally hit the field for his first real snaps with the Green Bay Packers this Sunday, and you know what? The run game instantly kicked into a gear we haven’t seen in ages. We’re talking about a staggering 67% success rate when he was out there, and that’s even with some serious caveats.
Zeitler’s Impact on the Ground Game Is Just Wild
Let’s break down the tape, or rather, the numbers. Zeitler took 15 run snaps, and during those, the Packers averaged a sweet 4.93 yards per carry with a 53% success rate. But here’s where it gets absolutely insane: if you pull out that final drive where they were just killing the clock, Zeitler’s run snaps saw an eye-popping 6.25 yards per carry and a 67% success rate! Are you kidding me? Compare that to the rest of the game, without Zeitler in the mix, where the run game was just flat-out brutal: 3.18 yards per carry and a truly abysmal 17.2% success rate. Look, nobody is saying one lineman is the whole show, and yeah, a lot of this was “garbage-ish time” against the Patriots, where they weren’t going full throttle and everyone knew Green Bay was just running the ball. But that kind of difference? That’s not nothing, my friend.
No Pressure and Nasty Blocks, The Film Don’t Lie
It wasn’t just the run game either. Zeitler only had four pass-pro snaps, but guess how many pressures he gave up? Zero. Not one! He even handled a stunt better than pretty much any interior lineman we’ve seen in what feels like forever. The film clips tell the story, too. You see Morgan getting beat across his face, blowing up a play. You see him struggling with a tough reach block. But Zeitler? He’s doing his job. He’s winning his initial reps, even when Belton, who had his worst game in over a month, whiffs and runs into Zeitler’s man, throwing him off balance. On a designed quarterback draw, Zeitler made sure his guy had to take the long way around, exactly what you want. And that split zone look where Williams and Zeitler displaced the nose, with Zeitler sealing out the hole? Chef’s kiss. Even if Johnson probably shouldn’t have cut it differently, it was still a solid gain. That’s solid, clean football right there.
So, what’s the takeaway here? Even if a chunk of those snaps were in less-than-high-stakes situations, Kevin Zeitler showed up and completely changed the energy for the Packers’ interior line. That kind of sudden efficiency in the run game, plus his pass-pro chops? It’s a huge shot in the arm. The big question now is, can he bring this fire every Sunday when the games are on the line? The league needs to be ready, because if he does, the Packers just got a whole lot more dangerous. You gotta be hyped for what’s next!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Acme Packing Company.
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