There were plenty of notable developments in the Thursday night game at Lambeau, but injuries took center stage. Two players left on stretchers and one of the game’s best wide receivers suffered a troubling turf toe injury.
Aaron Rodgers:
For the first time this year, he looked like Aaron Rodgers, throwing for 422 yards and 2 TDs. Inches away from throwing a couple more. Rodgers didn’t pass for more than 235 yards in any of their first three games. He was helped along by the Packers not being able to run and getting dragged into a back-and-forth shootout. Next two, however, look a little worrying: at Dallas and against Detroit (which is playing good defense). Rodgers might be playing in those games with his clear No. 1 receiver either not in uniform or gimping around at least than full strength.
Carson Wentz:
Wentz wasn’t great . With the team going to a more run-oriented approach, he didn’t pass as much, and he completed only 16 of 27. He passed for only 160 yards, his third straight game under 260. With the way this offense is constructed (with a run-pass balance) he’s not going to finish in the top 10 in passing yards. He’s not going to average 280. But he at least was effective on Thursday night when they needed it the most, with 3 TD passes. No sacks or turnovers.
Packers running backs:
Matt LaFleur has talked about wanting to run the ball more and more effectively, but it hasn’t really happened. It’s tough to run on Philly, of course. Over the last few years, they’ve allowed the fewest rushing yards in the league. But they just lost two good defensive tackles, and the game was at Lambeau. Aaron Jones averaged 5.5 yards per carry in each of his first two seasons, and he ran for 115 yards against the Vikings. But in his other three games (Washington, Denver, Philly) he’s carried 23 times for 79 yards, averaging 2.2 per attempt. He’s not a good pass catcher; he’s caught 12 passes, but they’ve gone for only 75 yards. In this game Jamaal Williams and Jones opened as co-starters, but Williams was sidelined by the wild, late helmet-to-helmet hit on the first play. If not for that injury, Williams would have played more than Jones in this game. He’s the better of those two backs in passing situations. If Williams misses any of the upcoming games, they’ll plug rookie Dexter Williams into the No. 2 role (he wasn’t active last night). Jones at least has scored 4 TDs in the last three games, and LaFleur is second-guessing himself for not using him at the goal line when the Packers failed to score on four straight passing plays from the 1-yard line in the fourth quarter.
Eagles running backs:
Philadelphia’s running game thus far has been a disappointment – never more so than at Atlanta, where they ran for only 49 yards against a modest defense. But after last night, it’s looking like the Eagles are reading to start cranking out viable rushing numbers – maybe top-5. In their initial games, they were using a three-man mix at tailback. Now they might be moving to more of just a two-man tandem. Darren Sproles was on the field for only 7 plays in this game. Miles Sanders has started all four games. He’s got the most speed and big-play ability. He’s the guy they’d like to get going, and it’s been happening some for him the last two games. He had a couple of long catches against Detroit, and he had a long run and a good kickoff return in this one. Jordan Howard has more experience and is a good banger between the tackles. That makes him a good fit with this offensive line. Howard punched in 2 TDs in this game and also caught a touchdown. Also note from this game that while Green Bay’s defense is vastly improved, it’s now given up too many rushing yards three weeks in a row (all in home games) – 198 against Minnesota, 149 against Denver and 176 last night. They’re at Dallas next week, and I would expect Ezekiel Elliott will run for 120-plus in that game.
Packers wide receivers:
Davante Adams was very much one of the top-5 receivers in the league in the first half, catching 8 passes for 158 yards. He’s great, and it’s good to see him and Rodgers playing pitch and catch again. But Adams left in the fourth quarter with a turf toe injury, and that’s worrying. That might sideline him for some games, and it could affect him longer. That would reduce Rodgers’ value, with the Packers not really having any other receivers to step up into a leading role. Marquez Valdes-Scantling, I suppose, would project to be their top receiver. He’s caught a couple of deep balls, but I’m not sure if the quickness, hands and route-running ability are there for him to be a top-15 receiver while Adams is out. MVS wasn’t much of a factor in this one, catching 3 passes for 47 yards. A quarter of the way into the season, he’s on pace to finish with 64 catches for 868 yards and 4 TDs. They’ve been playing Geronimo Allison in the slot, but I don’t think he fits there. To me, he looks more like a lanky guy who should be lining up outside and running downfield routes. In the first three games, Allison didn’t play as much as I expected (on the field only about half as much as MVS). In this one, he was out there for 70 percent of their snaps, and I was shocked how little he was used – even after Adams left. Rodgers attempted 53 passes, yet Allison saw only 4 targets, with 3 catches for 52 yards. He’s caught 2 TDs, at least, but has caught only 8 passes all year. With the injury issues (MVS also missed some time) their young receivers (Allen Lazard, Darrius Shepherd) got to play a bunch in the fourth quarter, but neither made much of an impact. All of this has me thinking about Jake Kumerow. He wasn’t active last night because of a shoulder injury, but he was limited in practice all week. He also practiced some prior to their Week 3 game. If he’s reasonably healthy, he’s a guy they might turn to in Week 5 if Adams can’t play. I remember seeing Kumerow making a couple of catches in the preseason and wondering if he might outperform MVS and Allison if given the chance.
Eagles receivers:
Alshon Jeffery was playing with a calf injury, but he seemed to make it through the game without aggravating anything. Working against a good secondary, he caught only 3 of 9 passes, but he caught a touchdown and was the intended target on the 2-point conversion. They like him around the goal line. Jeffery has scored 3 TDs in three games. DeSean Jackson sat out a second straight game with an abdominal injury; he’ll be their best deep threat when he’s back. Nelson Agholor saw only one pass in this game, and it was an incompletion; they might be losing some confidence in him after his recent drop issues (or maybe they just didn’t like his matchups in this game). In a dynasty league, J.J. Arcega-Whiteside is maybe the first Philadelphia receiver who should be selected. They drafted him in the second round. He’s a far younger but less developed version of Jeffery. But for now, he’s not even one of their top 4 wide receivers. He hardly played in this game. Instead, Mack Hollins filled in for Jackson – on the field for two thirds of their plays. Hollins, however, also wasn’t a big factor – 1 catch on 2 targets.
Packers tight ends:
Helped along by wide receiver injuries, Jimmy Graham was busier in this game, catching 6 passes and a touchdown. But he factored prominently in the goal-line failures. Twice he had chances to make difficult catches for touchdowns and couldn’t secure the ball. They seemed like balls he would have caught a few years back. On another goal-line play, it seemed like he didn’t do what Rodgers wanted, and the ball was thrown away. … Marcedes Lewis played a bunch in the first three games but was sidelined for much of this night when the team went to a more pass-oriented approach. I think they like Lewis more as a blocker, but he’s also got some pass-catching ability. He probably had the most memorable play of this game, with a perfectly executed hurdle over a defender. I watched the first half of this game in a Buffalo Wild Wings, and that was the play that got the largest cheer.
Eagles tight ends:
Zach Ertz has been underused at times this year, but they got him going some in this game (7 catches for 65 yards). There’s a comfort level there that he has with Carson Wentz. Ertz hasn’t scored yet, but those will come. … The Eagles are working in Dallas Goedert more this year, and he might be the league’s best secondary tight end. Big and talented, he’d be starting for a lot of teams. Goedert won’t ring up a ton of catches, but they’ll use him some in the red zone. He caught a touchdown in this one and dropped a score last week.