Playing the Cleveland Browns is bound to negatively affect a team's offensive stats. The Green Bay Packers are no different coming out of their bewildering loss in Week 3.
However, a glaring weakness in Green Bay's offense wasn't just snuffed out by Cleveland; it's been rather apparent from the jump. Everything else just looked good enough to overshadow it.
The Packers currently rank 20th in yards and 27th in yards per carry on the ground. Last year, the team finished fifth in yards, sixth in yards per carry, and Josh Jacobs was sixth in the league in yards individually. It's surprising to see the sudden drop-off without much justification based on the personnel changes up front.
Nonetheless, Green Bay is searching for that rushing attack and is hoping to find it against a depleted Dallas Cowboys defense.
A strong running game could help the Packers reset their offense against the Cowboys
It's no secret, least of all to Packers fans, that the Cowboys' defense looks much, much worse without Micah Parsons. However, that's largely against the pass, where Dallas ranks near the bottom of the league in every meaningful category. Dallas isn't quite as bad against the run, but Jacobs ought to find more opportunities to make an impact, nonetheless.
Through three weeks, Dallas ranks 17th in yards and ninth in yards per carry on the ground. However, teams are working the ground game a lot against Dallas. Only four teams have faced more rushing plays than Dallas. Still, among teams that have faced 85 or more running plays, only the New Orleans Saints have allowed fewer yards.
Of course, last week Jordan Love didn't have a great performance. One sure-fire way to get him back in rhythm, especially on the road in a highly emotional matchup with all of the focus on Parsons' return to Dallas, is to run the football.
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That said, given what we know, it's not necessarily about Jacobs breaking the century mark. It's just finding a consistent balance in the offensive attack. A 3.1 yard-per-carry average, the lowest average of Jacobs' career, isn't going to cut it every week.
With the Cowboys allowing 3.7 yards per carry, there's a small window there for the Packers to show some improvements on the ground. It won't be easily, especially with the offensive line shuffling a bit due to injuries. But getting closer to a 4-yard per carry average makes all the difference in the world for Love in the passing game.
At the end of the day, Green Bay can't ignore its weaknesses by hoping that the strengths, no matter how overwhelming, will carry it through. Dallas's defense is vulnerable, and Green Bay must take advantage.