Written by Today’s key statistic is the number 3. It’s the number of points it took for the Houston Texans to further frustrate and sicken GreenBay Packer fans.
The loss against the Texans really came down to lapses in focus on both sides of the ball.
The defense made some outstanding plays. They forced four turnovers on the Texans including another interception recorded. Each of those turnovers turned into points for the GreenBay Packers.
Despite the excellent defensive plays, there were also several defensive blunders. Big plays were the key to the Texans’ 414 yards of offense.
Receiving for the Texans, Walter had a long reception of 58 yards and Daniels, Johnson, Leech, Slaton, and Davis each had long receptions over 20 yards several came on the final drive that put the Texans in field goal range. In addition to a 21 yard reception, Slaton added a 34 yard long run.
The Packer still struggle to consistently stop the run game. Not only did Slaton have a 34 yard run on a single play, he was also consistent throughout the game running for 120 yards total and averaging 4.6 yards a carry. No change in that department for the Packers.
The offensive bright spot for GreenBay was that Ryan Grant has some good production. Grant went over 100 against the Texans, gaining 104 yards on 19 carries. That’s an average of 5.5 yards per carry. And his long run of 22 yards wasn’t long enough to inflate the statistics much. Even without the 22 yard run Grant still rushed for 4.5 yards a carry.
A more important rushing statistic for the Packers was that Grant scored a touchdown on the ground. The Packer ground game becomes more critical as GreenBay needs to find a way to take some of the heat off Rodgers and his arm.
Aaron Rodgers threw for 295 yards (a bit above his average of 245.5) and was above average for the league in percentage at 63.3%. He connected with both Driver and Jennings on big plays, but neither of the Packers’ big play-makers made it over 100 yards receiving for the day.
Rodgers had one interception late in the second quarter squelching GreenBay’s chances of getting points on the board and going into the locker room at halftime with a tie or the lead. Fortunately for GreenBay Houston missed their own end-of-half scoring attempt.
In the end, it came down to those 3 little points scored in the last 4 seconds of the game. That was the difference between a “W” and an “L.”
While the GreenBay Packers statistically have a chance to make the playoffs, their chances are much slimmer as they enter this 15th week of the 2008 season and a heated battle with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Once again the Packers run defense will be put to the test. Jacksonville is averaging 4.1 yards a run dispite the fact that the bulk of their offense comes from running back Maurice Jones-Drew.
Wonder just how much of a factor Jones-Drew and the Jacksonville running game is to their team this year? Jacksonville’s #1 receiver Matt Jones was suspended for the remainder of the 2008 season. Jacksonville’s #2 receiver… Maurice Jones-Drew. Stop Jones-Drew and you stop Jacksonville.
That seems like it should be a fairly easy task for a GreenBay Packer team that ranks 11th in league on defense. However, the Packers are an abysmal 27th in run defense allowing 141.6 yards per game and an average of 4.8 yards per carry.
And GreenBay plays in a much weaker division than Jacksonville. That might upset the statistics. Still they were beaten last week by the Chicago Bears who took a thrashing from the Packers in week 11.
Jacksonville is sub-average as a run-stopping defense. They rank 20th in the NFL allowing 112.8 yards a game. If Ryan Grant can keep the ball moving against Jacksonville, free up the passing game a bit, and keep the ball out of Jones-Drew’s hands for most of the game, GreenBay stands a good chance to win this game.
If Jones-Drew eats up a weak GreenBay run defense, well…