On the road in Arizona on a short week, the Green Bay Packers held on to win their seventh straight game 24-21 and they did it without receivers Davante Adams and Allen Lazard and defensive coordinator Joe Barry.
In the end it took a nearly-literal last second play for the Packers to seal it when cornerback Rasul Douglas intercepted Kyler Murray in the end zone.
Dillon, and Amari Rodgers rushing for a total of 148 yards on 32 carries, good enough for 4.6 yards per carry.
In week eight, the play calling adjusted to account for less experienced receivers outside of Cobb and was more clustered to throws within five yards of the line of scrimmage.
One play they repeatedly came back to, by my count six times over the course of the game, was a quick game concept known as “Lambeau” .
Usually it’s run out of a 3×1 but the Packers used it to get Aaron Jones in space instead of a receiver.
The other changeup here is Rodgers pump faking the flat route, which influences the safety to bite and clears the middle of the field for the short bluff slant.
Dillon was the ground game workhorse on this evening though, carrying the ball 16 times to Jones 15, but with 20 more yards and a full yard per carry more than Jones.
Per Pro Football Focus, the Packers recorded 17 total pressures on 37 dropbacks, a pressure rate of 46%.
Dean Lowry also recorded three pressures including one sack where he bull-rushed right guard Josh Jones into the backfield into Murray’s field of vision, knocking him over.
That immediately tells him his responsibility is fast flow and he must get out of the box to chase down the ball carrier.
As long as this team continues to get production from other spots on the roster, especially when regular starters are out, then they will cement themselves at the top of the NFC.
Regardless, they should get healthy in other areas, including at left tackle with David Bakhtiari, though head coach Matt LaFleur would not say what Bakhtiari’s status for this Sunday would be.