Amid a three-game win streak, the Green Bay Packers' Week 3 thrashing at the hands of the running back Bijan Robinson and the Atlanta Falcons could not feel more distant. Nearing a Week 7 date in Detroit, however, they can't afford to forget it.
That's because the Lions' Jahmyr Gibbs is also a top-three player at the position, alongside Robinson and the juggernaut that is Kenneth Walker III in Kansas City.
Gibbs comes into the game averaging 100.8 rushing yards per contest. He already has seven rushing touchdowns and, after dragging the Cardinals' defense through the mud in Week 5, will be well-rested after a bye.
The Packers' secondary answered the bell against a high-powered Dallas Cowboys passing attack. Now it's time for the run defense, which has benefited from favorable game scripts of late, to hold serve.
Jahmyr Gibbs will give Packers' run defense its toughest challenge since Bijan Robinson's TNF explosion
Robinson embarrassed Green Bay in its home opener to the tune of 194 rushing yards and two touchdowns, on 6.7 yards per carry. The Buccaneers had decent success in the following game, but the Packers have bottled up their last two opponents, the Bears and Cowboys, by getting out to big leads and forcing the offense to abandon the ground game.
Dallas's operation is predicated on the pass, anyway, and Chicago spent the whole second half trailing by multiple touchdowns. The Bears were also missing running back Kyle Monangai due to injury.
Long story short, the run defense has not really been tested since Week 3 against Atlanta. With Gibbs knocking on the door, the Packers would be wise to revisit whatever went wrong against Robinson to avoid a similar bloodbath.
Of course, "what went wrong" against Robinson is a question many teams are asking. He's just that good; it wasn't all on the Packers.
And unlike Atlanta, the Lions have an explosive passing offense led by quarterback Jared Goff and his arsenal of receiving weapons. It won't just be about stopping Gibbs on the ground.
But the secondary just proved its mettle by holding Cowboys stars CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens to 143 receiving yards on 29 targets. The run defense, on the other hand, has lived in a favorable world lately.
Stud linebacker Edgerrin Cooper is out for the year. That definitely hurts against the run. The defensive line is missing multiple key pieces. The Packers are desperate. They gave undrafted rookie Anthony Campbell 32 snaps in Week 6 and signed former Cowboys draft bust Mazi Smith to the practice squad.
Like Robinson, Gibbs is unstoppable by default. Even more of a menace as a pass-catcher out of the backfield, he has at least four catches and 30 receiving yards in every game. Packers linebackers and free-roaming DBs will have their hands full keeping him corralled.
All that to say that this Green Bay defense had better give everything it's got not to be embarrassed like last time.
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