Packer's Offensive Line
The Green Bay Packers’ offensive line is getting praise this week after a strong showing against the Chicago Bears.
This is a drastic difference from what was being said in sports media over the first four weeks of the season.
Many sports pundits were being nasty towards the o-line due to what they saw as a poor run game, but what many forgot to mention was the number of times Matt LaFleur dialed up runs.
In week one, the Packers averaged 3.3 yards per carry, but only ran the ball 20 times compared to 42 pass plays.
In week 2, the average was up to 3.5 yards per carry on only 18 handoffs, while in week 3, the week they only rushed for 17 yards, they only handed it off 8 times, which is still just over 2 yards per carry.
In the game against the Buccaneers, that average jumped up to 4.5 yards per carry on 21 attempts, and on Sunday, it was at 3 yards per carry.
Offensive play callers are typically happy with 3+ yards per carry, as it leaves them “ahead of the sticks”, and so far this season, they are averaging 3 yards per attempt.
We spoke with Packer Center Sean Rhyan after the win over the Bears, and he says the numbers only tell part of the story.
He gave an example, saying, “On a page it can say that they threw an 80-yard touchdown, but they ran around the field, and it looked like (expletive). If you are going purely off numbers, it says ’80 yard touchdown.’”
We asked Rhyan how he avoids getting caught up in the online bashing of players, specifically his o-line crew.
His answer was simple: he avoids social media at all costs.
“I get all my information from the reporters telling me what the other people are saying,” he said with a chuckle. “I find it’s the most simple way to not poison your mind, not even see it, not even tempt yourself with looking. Even if I have a good game, I don’t look anything up.”
At the end of the day, Rhyan and the rest of the o-line isn’t worried about what the so-called experts are saying.
“We know what we got. We know what we want to do, and we are developing it each week,” he put it bluntly.
Newly added left guard Laken Tomlinson agreed, saying “It’s clicking. Obviously we’ve still got stuff to work on, you know, but it’s clicking, man. And you guys are bought in. Guys are putting in the extra time, the extra work, extra studying, extra meeting times, extra hanging out with each other, talking, communicating everyday man is paying off.”
The Packers will try to take advantage of a Dallas Cowboys defense that gave up 241 yards on the ground in a Thursday night loss to Tampa Bay in front of the Lambeau faithful this Sunday night.
