By the Numbers: Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers have been playing football since 1921, and in their 103 seasons they have played for 16 championships. The Packers have played in 11 NFL Championship games, winning nine (1929, 1930, 1931, 1936, 1939, 1944, 1961, 1962, 1965), and five Super Bowls – I (35-10 win over Kansas City), II (33-14 win over Oakland), XXXI (35-21 win over New England), XXXII (31-24 loss to Denver) and XLV ( 31-25 win over Pittsburgh). The Packers are now 799-598-38 in the regular season and 36-25 in the playoffs, while coming off one of the most successful runs in franchise history – making the playoffs 23 times in the last seasons. That spanned two certain Hall of Fame quarterbacks – Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, and a pair of Super Bowl winning coaches – Mike Holmgren and Mike McCarthy. But it is a new era in Green Bay, but the same old success behind coach Matt LaFleur and first-year starting quarterback Jordan Love. Here is a look at the Packers by the numbers before Sunday afternoon’s NFC Wild Card matchup at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
0 – The Packers have turned the ball over as many times as they have forced a turnover this season, giving them a zero for takeaway differential, good enough to tie for 16th in the NFL this season with Detroit and the Los Angeles Chargers. The Packers defense forced seven fumbles, led by linebacker Rahsan Gary and defensive end Karl Brooks with two each, and 11 interceptions, with safety Rudy Ford leading the team with two. On offense, Love threw all 11 interceptions this season, while also leading the team with five of the seven fumbles. It is the most turnovers by a Green Bay quarterback since Rodgers turned it over 17 times – 13 interceptions and four fumbles, in the 2008 season. It was his first season as the starter, after taking over for Favre.
9.9 – The best thing about the Green Bay defense this season has been its pass defense. And the leader in coverage has been cornerback Keisean Nixon, who leads the team allowing just 9.9 yards per reception against this season. That ranks him just 14th in the NFL this season among cornerbacks and 31st among all defensive backs. Nixon, who has played 540 snaps – 535 in pass coverage, has allowed 63 receptions on 77 targets for 626 yards, with just two touchdowns and a long of 32 yards in 17 games this season. He has 49 tackles, nine missed tackles, four forced incompletions, four pass break ups, one interception and two dropped interceptions. Quarterbacks have a 103.8 QB rating against him this season. Carrington Valentine, the only other cornerback on the Green Bay roster to play more than 360 snaps this season, allowed a 12.0 yards per reception average, good enough for just 43rd in the league in 2023.
81.3 – While the Packers may have a passing offense that ranks just outside the top 10 in most categories, they have the sixth ranked pass blocking offensive line in the NFL this season with a 71.6 grade by Pro Football Focus. With David Bakhtiari on the shelf since Week 1, the Packers offensive line has been led this season by Elgton Jenkins. Jenkins, the No. 3 graded offensive guard by Pro Football Focus with a grade of 81.3, ranks behind only Kansas City’s Joe Thuney (83.4) and Baltimore’s Kevin Zeitler (82.5). In his 15 games started this season, Jenkins has pass blocked on 544 snaps, allowing 23 quarterback pressures – 17 hurries, six hits and no sacks, and committing just two penalties. In 209 true pass sets – which are pass plays with less than four rushers, play action passes, screen passes, short drop backs and time-to-throws at under 2 seconds, Jenkins allowed 17 true quarterback pressures – 12 hurries and five hits, while grading out at 66.6, good enough for just 17th.
84.4 – Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love has been playing his best football of the season down the stretch, culminating with his best performance of 2023 in the regular season finale against Chicago. In a must win situation to make the playoffs, Love completed 84.4-percent of his passes for 316 yards, with a 9.9 yards per pass average, three touchdowns and no interceptions in a 17-9 win over the Bears. They were season highs in all categories, except passing yards, where it is second behind the 322 yards, he put up in a 23-20 win over the Chargers in Week 11. This season, his first as a starter, Love has completed 372 of 579 passes for 4,159 yards, with 32 touchdowns, 11 interceptions and a long of 77 yards in a 17-13 loss at Las Vegas in Week 5.
118 – In just his second season in the NFL, inside linebacker Quay Walker has become the leaders of the Green Bay defense. Despite missing three games with different ailments, Walker still led the Packers defense in tackles with 118 – 59 solo, this season. He also had 2.5 sacks, all coming in the last three games of the season, 5.5 stuffs, three pass break ups and one interception in 14 starts. He had four games this season where he reached double digits in tackles, including 19 in the Packers loss to Detroit in Week 4. His 61.2 overall grade by Pro Football Focus is 44th overall in the league, and tops with the Packers, among linebackers that have a played at least 500 snaps this season. Last season, his rookie year, Walker finished with 121 tackles in 17 games.
5,940 – In just seven seasons with the Packers, running back Aaron Jones is already third on the franchise’s career rushing yards with just under 6,000 yards. Despite, rushing for just 656 on 142 carries this season, Jones trails only Ahman Green (2000-09, 8,322 yards) and Jim Taylor (1958-66, 8,207 yards). Jones also has a 5.0 yards per carry average during his time with the Packers, which is tops for running backs in franchise history with at least 200 carries. He is just in front of Najeh Davenport (2002-05, 4.9 ypc), Gerry Ellis (1980-86, 4.6 ypc), Green (4.5 ypc) and Taylor (4.5 ypc). Jones is just fifth with 61.2 yards per game among running backs with at least 35 starts in team history, behind only Green (80.0 ypg), Taylor (69.0 ypg), Eddie Lacy (2015-16, 67.4 ypg) and Ryan Grant (2007-12, 61.8 ypg).