It was far from an expected game plan for the Green Bay Packers in Week 3, but Matt LaFleur and the offense stuck to their plan. A 16-10 win over the Indianapolis Colts likely wasn’t the outcome many expected with Malik Willis starting at quarterback, but that speaks to the strength of this coaching staff.

Sunday marked the first outing without Jordan Love, whose timeline for returning seems to be around Week 4 or 5. Holding down the fort in the meantime and getting through this early-season stretch will dictate just how serious this team is in getting back to the postseason.

Offense

Moving forward with Willis in Love’s absence, describing the offense as run-heavy is an understatement. Rushing for over 260 yards in Sunday’s win, the Packers finally had their way in the trenches.

Josh Jacobs was the star of the game, earning a heavy dosage of work on his way to 32 carries for 151 yards and a costly red zone fumble. With Emanuel Wilson and rookie MarShawn Lloyd getting sprinkled into the rushing attack, this was a full-frontal attack on the Indy front.

The Colts struggled to stop the run in their Week 1 loss to the Texans, allowing Joe Mixon to run all over them and eat up clock. Green Bay was able to extend that trend to two consecutive weeks, dictating the game pace from the jump.

A highlight catch from Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks hauling in the first-career passing TD from Willis are the only passing highlights from the win. While Willis wasn’t asked to do much (12/14, 122 yards, 1 TD), he contributed to the rushing attack by rushing for 41 yards on six carries.

Defense

It’s a tall task to game plan to stop Anthony Richardson, as he can beat you on the ground or through the air. But Jeff Harley’s unit came to play, keeping Richardson boxed in for most of the game.

Interceptions from Xavier McKinney, Eric Wilson, and rookie Evan Williams encapsulates how well the Green Bay defense did slowing down the Colts.

While Jonathan Taylor racked up 103 yards on the ground and Alec Pierce (5/56/1) caught Richardson’s lone touchdown, the Colts struggled to control the ball Sunday. Failing to possess the ball for even 20 minutes, Indy only ran 53 offensive plays and played from behind all game.

Overall, it’s exactly the kind of game Green Bay needed, a low-scoring affair that allowed the offense to lean on its strengths to control the game. By being able to stick to the run-heavy game plan, LaFleur helped the defense by controlling the clock and allowing Harley’s unit sit back and force Richardson to try and beat them. 

뿓뿓뿓

Mike Johrendt has been an avid fan of the Packers ever since he can remember. He is now a writer at PackersTalk and you can follow him on Twitter at @MJohrendt23

뿓뿓뿓