Acme Packing Company
Among the NFL’s top 18 ball-carries, from a rushing yardage perspective, only one player has a lower yards per carry than the Green Bay Packers’ Josh Jacobs (3.6 yards per carry) through two weeks of action in 2025. Unfortunately for Jacobs, the Packers are set to play the toughest run defense in the league this week in the Cleveland Browns, so the first 100-yard game in 2025 from Jacobs might have to wait yet another week.
In Week 1, the Browns held the Cincinnati Bengals’ running backs to 21 carries for 43 yards (2.0 YPC). In Week 2, despite losing the game 41-17, the Browns kept the Baltimore Ravens’ backs to 14 carries for 30 yards (2.1 YPC). It’s not like the Ravens’ top back, Derrick Henry, is some sort of scrub, either.
At the moment, the Browns are averaging 2.1 YPC given up on the ground, the best mark in the NFL. They are also only surrendering 45.5 rushing yards per game, the best in the league, and have earned their defense +11.4 expected points per Pro Football Reference, good for second in the NFL.
Green Bay’s been dealing with injuries on their offensive line this regular season, which might be one reason why Jacobs hasn’t really gotten going until the end of games. Left guard Aaron Banks and right tackle Zach Tom both went down in Week 1 against the Detroit Lions and were inactive in Week 2 against the Washington Commanders, leading to increased playing time for Jordan Morgan, Sean Rhyan, Anthony Belton and Darian Kinnard.
Going into the year, the plan was for Morgan and Rhyan to split time at right guard. When Banks dropped out of action, Morgan was played full time at left guard and Rhyan took over as a full-time right guard. In place of Tom at right tackle, Belton and Kinnard have split time at the position.
In the first halves of games this year, Jacobs has taken 18 carries for 50 yards (2.8 YPC), but has posted 24 for 100 (4.2 YPC) in second halves.
Hopefully, Banks and Tom can be healthy for this one. At the moment, the Browns have forced 13 tackles for losses this season, with 6 coming from All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett, who leads the team in the statistic. Garrett generally lines up on left tackles, though he does bounce around some.
For Jacobs’ sake, let’s hope Walker comes on the right side of those matchups with Garrett, who currently has the fourth-best get-off from the line of scrimmage according to Next Gen Stats.
