The Green Bay Packers are 3-1 after four games and prepping for what could be a tricky four-game stretch coming up. Matt LaFleur’s team will go to London to play the Giants this week, travel home to play the New York Jets next Sunday, go to Washington in Week 7 and then to Buffalo to play the Bills in Week 8.
The numbers, for the most part, look pretty good for Green Bay to start this season.
The Packers are getting yards after the catch (628, first in NFL), running the football efficiently (5.0 yards per carry, eighth), consistently winning with four pass-rushers on defense (fifth-best pressure rate) and capturing the important situational downs (first on third down).
Here are some of the other important stats to know from the Packers’ first four games of 2022:
Explosive plays: 35
The Packers rank second in the NFL in total completions of at least 20 yards and runs of at least 10 yards. Aaron Jones has created 13 of the 35 explosive plays, and his 12 runs of 10 or more yards ranks third in the NFL. Packers receivers have 15 explosive plays, helping replace some of the big-play production lost by Davante Adams and Marquez Valdes-Scantling.
Missed tackles on defense: 25
The Packers missed 10 tackles in each of the first two games and now have 25 total misses through four games, per PFF. The worst offender? Linebacker De’Vondre Campbell, who has missed six tackles after missing only four all of last season. At least the Packers are trending in the right direction here after missing only five total tackles the last two games.
Big Time Throws by Aaron Rodgers: 8
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers ranks first among quarterbacks with eight “big time throws,” a subjective stat from PFF that attempts to track the highest-graded throws. The Packers haven’t been super aggressive attacking downfield and have mostly relied on the short passing game, but all eight of Rodgers’ “big time throws” have come on passes thrown at least 20 yards in the air. These include drops by Christian Watson (Week 1) and Romeo Doubs (Week 4) on would-be touchdowns.
Third-down conversion percentage (defense): 23.8%
The Packers defense leads the NFL in third-down conversion percentage and total third-down conversions (10). In fact, the next closest defense is the Titans with 15 allowed conversions. The Packers have been extra stingy on third-and-long: Opponents are 0-for-21 converting 3rd-and-8 or worse this season.
Sacks by Rashan Gary: 5
Gary ranks tied for third in the NFL with five sacks, and he’s one of only a handful of players to produce a sack in all four games to start the season. The fourth-year edge rusher is on pace for 21 sacks, which doesn’t seem out of his range based on his performance level and a 17-game schedule.
Yards after contact average for Aaron Jones: 4.42
Packers running back Aaron Jones ranks third in the NFL in average yards after contact, per PFF. He’s forced 18 missed tackles, the fourth-most among running backs. Of the 18, 11 came in one game against the Bears. Yards after contact has accounted for 212 of his 327 rushing yards this season, highlighting his incredible ability to avoid the first tackler and create big plays at the second level.
Yards per target for Randall Cobb: 12.5
The Packers actually have three receivers averaging over 10.0 yards per target this season: Cobb (12.5), Allen Lazard (10.2) and Sammy Watkins (15.9). Anything about 10.0 is fantastic. The three veteran receivers have turned 36 targets into 435 yards. They’ve been remarkably efficient.
Punts inside 20-yard line for Pat O'Donnell: 11
Veteran punter Pat O’Donnell has placed 11 punts inside the 20-yard line, good for second-most in the NFL, and only six of his 18 total punts have been returned. For the most part, coverage from the likes of Rudy Ford and Keisean Nixon has been excellent. Seven of O’Donnell’s punts have been fair-caught, also tied for the second-most.
Aaron Rodgers average time to throw: 2.46 seconds
Aaron Rodgers ranks sixth in percentage of dropbacks under pressure (27.1 percent), per PFF, and a big reason is the quick passing game. Rodgers is getting the ball out of his hands in 2.46 seconds on average, or the fourth-quickest among quarterbacks. When getting the ball out of his hands in 2.5 seconds or less, Rodgers is completing 82.1 percent of his passes and averaging 82 yards per attempt.
Pressures allowed by LG Jon Runyan: 0
Packers left guard Jon Runyan Jr. is one of just two players to play at least 50 pass-blocking snaps and not give up a pressure this season. The other is former Packers center Corey Linsley. Runyan has kept a clean sheet over 124 pass-blocking snaps, per PFF.
