7 standouts from Packers’ 24-10 win over Washington
The Green Bay Packers didn’t need much of a run game to secure their sixth win of the 2021 season. Collectively, the Packers’ rushing attack totaled 57 yards but it didn’t prevent Matt LaFleur’s club from claiming a 24-10 win over the Washington Football Team.
Sunday at Lambeau Field wasn’t a “pretty” game by any means. There were six fumbles in total and two blocked field goals. However, Green Bay is used to winning ugly, while Washington usually experiences the opposite.
After the game, quarterback Aaron Rodgers said he is auspicious about what is out there for this Packers team.
“It hasn’t been pretty, but that’s the exciting thing,” Rodgers told Pam Oliver. “We haven’t played our best ball yet, but we’re 6-1.”
Rodgers had another great day dissecting an opposing defense and will lead us off for this week’s standouts.
QB Aaron Rodgers
(AP Photo/Aaron Gash)
Completing 77 percent of his passes for 274 yards and three touchdowns is just another day at the office for Green Bay’s starting quarterback. He also rushed for a key first down on the opening drive. Rodgers was remarkably efficient last week against the Chicago Bears and then had little trouble against Washington on Sunday. Rodgers took three sacks but finished with a passer rating of 127.6 for yet another great performance following his MVP season.
WR Allen Lazard
Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Lazard hadn’t exactly been filling up the stat sheet coming into this game. Totaling just 10 receptions for 124 yards in the first six games, Lazard has been more of a lunch pail receiver in this year’s offense. The Packers didn’t rely on his hard-nosed blocking as much against Washington, as he made 5 catches for 60 yards and a touchdown in the first half. Lazard didn’t record a catch the rest of the game, but he helped give his team the early lead.
(AP Photo/Matt Ludtke)
Maybe this was the game Tonyan needed to jumpstart his season. After a breakout year in 2020, Tonyan wasn’t having nearly the same impact through the first six games of 2021. However, against a bad Washington defense, he had his best game of the year on “National Tight End Day.” Tonyan caught his second touchdown of the year on a nice corner route in one-on-one coverage against a linebacker. Later, 26 of his 62 receiving yards came on a third-down conversion when Tonyan found room up the seam. Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come for Green Bay’s best receiving tight end.
OLB Rashan Gary
(AP Photo/Aaron Gash)
Gary has been Green Bay’s most consistent pass rusher all season. He entered the week with 1.5 sacks for the season, but his 25 pressures were a team-high, according to Pro Football Focus. On the first drive of the second half, Gary beat the left tackle and strip-sacked an unsuspecting Taylor Heinicke. The ball landed into the hands of Dean Lowry and gave the Packers’ offense a shortened field to work with to go up by 14 points. Gary would later add another sack to his stat line and was also responsible for 4 QB hits in a dominating performance.
LB De'Vondre Campbell
Samantha Madar-USA TODAY Sports
Another week, another stellar performance for Green Bay’s stud inside linebacker. Campbell came up huge on a fourth and goal call at the one-yard line when he stuffed the quarterback on a sneak and even jarred the ball loose for a forced fumble. On the next defensive possession, Campbell and company came up huge in the red zone once again by forcing another turnover on downs. Campbell nearly created a turnover when he punched the ball from running back Antonio Gibson. However, the ball ended up getting recovered by Washington. Every week it seems like Campbell leads the team in impactful plays and tackles, which he did again Sunday with 13.
Red zone defense
(AP Photo/Aaron Gash)
The Packers were fielding a historically bad red zone defense coming into Week 7. In fact, all 15 trips to the red zone had resulted in touchdowns. Maybe it was incompetence from Washington’s offense, or perhaps something clicked for Joe Barry’s defense because the Football Team went 0-for-4 scoring touchdowns in their trips to the red zone against Green Bay. They scored three points and had three turnovers, with two occurring on downs and another from an interception by Chandon Sullivan. The Packers are currently top five in total defense by yards, but they can be even better if they figure out their red-zone woes.
P Corey Bojorquez
Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Bojorquez only punted three times, but he made all three count. On the first, he forced a fair catch with a 49-yard boot. Later, he hit a 53-yard punt from his own end zone under intense pressure, forcing another fair catch. He saved his best for last, hitting a perfect punt that died inside the 5-yard line.
1
1
