The Green Bay Packers clawed their way to a gritty overtime win against the Jets this week, finally getting that W after a tough Week 1 loss. You gotta love seeing them bounce back in a nail-biter like that! We immediately dove into the numbers, thanks to SumerLive, that new real-time stat tracker, and man, does it paint a picture of what went down and where the Packers are heading with their offense.
Leaning into the Pass and a Personnel Shift
What jumped out right away? The Packers are airing it out, big time! After an offseason where we all practically begged for them to unleash the passing game, they’re actually doing it. This week, they passed on 64% of their offensive snaps, which is a slight dip from 68.7% last week, but still way more than what we’ve seen from them in previous seasons. It’s a clear commitment to throwing the ball, and frankly, I’m taking that as a huge positive sign.
Along with that, they cranked up their 11 personnel usage, running it on 55.1% of their snaps, up from 47.8% last week. For those keeping score at home, 11 personnel means one running back, one tight end, and three wide receivers on the field. They also used 12 personnel for 30.6% of snaps, and 13 personnel for 14.3%. Even with rain and quarterback numb fingers messing with the passing game, leading to a -0.17 EPA per Play and 34.4% Success Rate, the protection held up way better than Week 1. The Jets blitzed on 28.13% of snaps, which is pretty standard, but the Packers kept their pressure rate at 31.25%, well below the NFL average. Their quarterback stuck mostly to the short-to-intermediate zones, which makes sense given the conditions.
The Run Game Grind and First Down Woes
While the passing game seems to be the focus, the run game was definitely a grind this week. The Packers leaned heavily into gap scheme runs, though about a third of their runs were in the Zone family (11.1% inside zone, 22.2% wide zone). Overall, it wasn’t particularly efficient: 18 attempts for a measly 63 yards, with 55 of those coming after contact. That translated to a brutal -0.48 EPA per Play. Ouch. Their best moments came on Inside Zone runs with a -0.06 EPA per Play, but the power run game was rough from an efficiency standpoint at -0.76 EPA per Play. Still, you gotta give them credit for a 60% Success Rate on those power runs, which kept them ahead of the chains even when it wasn’t pretty.
Now, here’s the head-scratcher: despite leaning into the pass overall, they decided to run the ball on a whopping 64% of their 1st and 10 snaps. And were they good at it? Not at all! That strategy yielded a miserable -0.60 EPA per Play and a dismal 29% Success Rate. Talk about a questionable call on critical early downs!
What’s next for the Packers? We’re going to be watching every snap of their next game to see if they continue to push the passing game and, more importantly, if they can clean up those disastrous 1st and 10 run calls. After that wild overtime win, they’ve got some serious stuff to figure out for the season ahead!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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