The Green Bay Packers beating the New England Patriots in Foxborough could be classified as surprising, but what crosses over into the realm of shocking is the way in which Jordan Love and this offense were able to take advantage of All-Pro cornerback Christian Gonzalez.
Both Christian Watson and Matthew Golden, who each had over 160 yards and a touchdown, found success against Gonzalez. Per Next Gen Stats, the Patriots star allowed seven catches for 105 yards when matched up against Golden, all while Watson managed to tally three catches for 82 yards on three targets against him.
Gonzalez became the first defender in Next Gen Stats history (since 2018) to allow 80 yards receiving to two different players in the same game. He allowed a whopping 187 yards in coverage this game, the third-most allowed by any defender this season, after conceding just 196 yards against him during his first six games.
Packers light up Christian Gonzalez in explosive 45-27 Week 9 victory
It's no exaggeration to say that what Jordan Love has been doing this season is astonishing. With the league's worst running game and an offensive line that has been in complete tatters for most of the season, Love has somehow managed to not only be a productive player, but also orchestrate one of the premier vertical passing games on offer.
This is a Packers team that went into Week 9 against New England (who had extra time to prepare) facing the prospect of a stout Patriots secondary blunting the effectiveness of their downfield passing game. Undaunted, Matt LaFleur decided to go right at Gonzalez rather than shy away from him, and the result was even better than anyone could have hoped for.
Watson and Golden deserve their share of credit as well. Watson has made all the offseason talk of his contract being a major overpay look foolish, all while Golden starts to make the concerns about his drops look like a thing of the past. Those two carried the load, as Savion Williams (25 yards) was the only other Packer to top 20 yards.
The Green Bay Packers had an easy time against Christian Gonzalez
The Patriots signing Romeo Doubs, who is on IR and quickly became a pariah in New England due to his slow start, has proven to be an addition by subtraction.
The Packers are no longer force-feeding Doubs the ball. Jayden Reed's very scary injury deprived Green Bay of a weapon underneath, but it also further unleashed the Watson-Golden duo.
If the Packers can thrive against a Patriots team that is fresh off a Super Bowl appearance and has routinely established themselves as one of the more well-rounded teams in the league, the sky is the limit for this offense.
Any semblance of a running game or average pass protection could take this passing game from great to elite.
Add us as a preferred source on Google