Packers Ride Aaron Jones to 2-0 Record

Fanless Lambeau Leap, Photo by Dan Powers, USA Today

After two weeks of games in empty stadiums, the Packers find themselves sitting atop the NFC North at 2-0, with a 2-0 record in the division.  They are tied with the Chicago Bears, who for the second week in a row, held onto a narrow lead in the closing seconds to get the win.  The Packers have also scored 85 points in their first two games, which is their highest offensive output in two consecutive games since 2014, and their highest offensive output in two opening games since 1919.  

Everybody's first goal is to win the division games, and with the 42-21 win over the Lions, in the Matt LaFleur era, the Packers are now 8-0 in division games.

If last week was the Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams show, this week was the Aaron Jones show.  From his 75 yard TD to open the second half, to his 9+ yards per carry average, to his career high of 236 yards from scrimmage, Jones was the Packers' bell cow on Sunday.  For the second week in a row, the Packers put up more points than any other team in the league.  And they did so on a day when the receiving corps was dropping passes all over the field (6 by my count, plus a 7th that didn't count due to penalty).  It was also a day when Davante Adams missed most of the second half, and was held in check even before he went out.  Imagine how many more points they might have scored if Adams had played the whole game, and if the receivers had not dropped all those passes.

One thing seems clear after two games.  Rodgers is much more comfortable in this offense in his second year with LaFleur.  I didn't really expect that, as I figured that a really smart, hall of fame quarterback, in the waning years of his career, doesn't need a lot of time to get used to a new system.  But I think I was wrong.  The difference in Rodgers' command of the offense is remarkable.  There probably is no better metric for this than the punting game.  Last year the Packers punted 17 times in their first two games; this year they have punted four times.  

While the offense is playing way better than I would have anticipated, the defense was again a little disappointing.  The absence of Kenny Clark in the middle helped to enable the Lions to march down the field on their first two drives, while building a 14-3 lead.  The announcers noticed the lack of energy on defense in the empty stadium, and so did I.  The Packers can't continue to give up opening drive TDs (or in this case, two opening drives for TDs) and expect to keep winning games.  Against teams coming up in the next few weeks, starting with the Saints, that could be the kiss of death.

On the plus side, the Packers' defense generated another turnover on Sunday, in the form of the pick-six by Chandon Sullivan.  And in week 2, the Packers gave up only one second-half touchdown, unlike the three they gave up against the Vikings.  So overall, the Packers' defense looked better this week, after giving up the two opening drive touchdowns to the Lions.

The question, though, is whether the Packers are for real, or some kind of mirage team that got lucky enough to ring up two victories, against what turned out to be a pair of 0-2 teams?  Next Sunday night's game at the Saints could be a test of whether the Packers are really any good, or not.  I am finishing up this blog post during the Monday night Saints-Raiders game.  The Saints look like a good team, but anything but unbeatable.  Nevertheless, they certainly appear to be the toughest test for the Packers in the first quarter of the season.  If the Packers can pull off a win in New Orleans, they will be in great shape.