Packers: Aaron Jones crucial to Super Bowl chances in 2020
Aaron Jones will be key for the Packers in the playoffs.
When Aaron Jones gets the football, good things happen for the Green Bay Packers offense.
Take his 77-yard touchdown run last Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles as an example. In what had been a relatively quiet game for the Packers’ lead back, Jones broke free of defenders and took it to the house, putting the game away.
It’s the ability to make those kind of plays that makes Jones such a special player and one defenses always need to respect.
The Packers are close, very close, to punching their ticket to the postseason. Whether they’re the number one seed or as low as the number three, it doesn’t matter. Regardless of who they play and where they play, Jones is going to be crucial to a Super Bowl run.
Jones is averaging fewer than 15 carries a game this season. He’s on pace to have 203 attempts in 14 regular season games.
When compared to Derrick Henry (on pace for 361) or Dalvin Cook (342), it might initially seem surprising. Why is a star running back like Jones being given far less opportunities?
I wrote a couple of weeks ago that Jones needs to be more involved. With 32 attempts in his past two games, the Packers still aren’t giving him a workhorse role.
However, this can work out perfectly for the Packers.
Keeping Jones fresh for Packers’ playoff push
Offensively, the Packers are in a great position.
They rank second in the NFL for total yards, fifth in passing offense, and eighth in rushing offense. They are also averaging a league-best 31.6 points per game. The team is closing in on the NFC North title with a 9-3 record, a home playoff game almost guaranteed, and still in the mix for a first-round bye.
Meanwhile, Jones isn’t being overworked.
When the Packers arrive in the playoffs in cold temperatures up against the best teams the NFC has to offer, it will be time unleash Aaron Jones on opposing defenses.
Believe it or not, in his career, Jones has only had 18 or more rushing attempts in seven games (including playoffs). But the results have been very encouraging.
In six of those seven games, he’s put up over 100 yards. Twice he’s had over 150.
In total, he put up 832 yards and 12 touchdowns on 148 attempts in those seven games. That’s 5.6 yards per carry, as well as 118.8 yards and 1.7 touchdowns per game.
Jones is more than capable of handling 18 or more carries in a game. In fact, many of his best performances have come in those games.
And the better Jones does on the ground, the greater the impact of the Packers’ dominant play-action game.
Perhaps there are concerns with Jones’ injury history when it comes to giving him a featured role every week of the regular season. But when playoff football arrives in January, it will be time to free Aaron Jones.