Packers: Winners and losers from Week 4 win vs. Falcons

The Packers moved to 4-0 with great play on both sides of the ball.

The Green Bay Packers offense once again looked amazing on Monday night. Without his top two wide receivers, Aaron Rodgers played great and showed why he looks like an MVP in 2020.

Matt LaFleur drew up an outstanding game plan and took advantage of a beaten-up Atlanta Falcons secondary. Even the defense showed up; Atlanta was struggling to move the ball all game long.

So, as we do every week, let’s take a look at some winners and losers from this past Monday.

Winner: Za’Darius Smith

Za’Darius Smith has quietly had another productive season through his first three games of 2020, but he made his mark known against the Falcons. Per ESPN’s Rob Demovsky, Smith was credited with eight pressures and was able to rack up three sacks.

He was getting in Matt Ryan’s face all game and was a big reason why the Atlanta offense was struggling against this Packers defense. With this monster performance, Smith is now tied for first place in the NFL with five sacks, continuing to show that he is one of the best pass-rushers in the league.

Loser: Kevin King

Kevin King is one of the more divisive players on the Packers roster; some of the fans hate him for getting picked over T.J. Watt, others think he is a really solid cornerback. I happen to fall into the latter category, however, while King can be a reliable CB at times, he can also get beat by better receivers.

Last night he had the task of covering Julio Jones, arguably the best WR in the game. While Jones only played a little bit of the game, he exposed King during his brief play. Julio caught all four of his targets for 32 yards.

The Packers defense has a tackling problem and King might be the worst offender on the unit. He’s constantly diving for tackles, and leading with his shoulder instead of wrapping up. To top his poor performance off, he suffered an injury in this game, which is always a worry with King.

Winners: Running backs

Similar to 2019 when Davante Adams had to miss games, the Packers relied on their one-two punch at RB to make plays for them. Both Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams did just that on Monday night. The two players combined for 36 total touches in the game.

Williams, in particular, had a great day receiving wise with eight catches for 95 yards. The Packers were constantly calling his number in key situations. It was nice to see both these guys play well on the big stage.

Winner: Robert Tonyan

Third-year tight end “Big” Bob Tonyan went off in this game. He played great and the Packers were relying on him all game to make plays for this offense, and that is exactly what he did. Tonyan was my ultimate winner in this game, going off for six catches, 98 yards, and three touchdowns.

This was an outstanding performance by Bob Tonyan, who seems to be getting a little better each week. If there was any doubt left at this point about Tonyan being TE1, I think it’s safe to say he put those doubts to bed against Atlanta. He may have put himself on the map as a TE to watch out for with his play on Monday.

Final thoughts

Overall, this was a complete game by the Green Bay Packers this week. They looked great in all aspects of the game. Jaire Alexander continues to show why he is an elite corner. Aaron Rodgers is still playing at an extremely high level right now. Matt LaFleur is putting his stamp on being one of the best coaches in the league with his amazing play designs against the Falcons.