The Green Bay Packers running game struggled early in the 2023 season. Aaron Jones suffered a hamstring injury in the season opener which set the ground game back. A.J. Dillon was struggling to run with authority, the offensive line had trouble blocking for the run and the team committed too many penalties that often put the offense in second or third and long situations.

Jones suffered another injury in the Packers win over the Los Angeles Chargers, but the Packers have managed to keep on winning without their starting running back. Furthermore, the running game has managed to be effective despite the absence of Jones, where earlier in the season it was not.

The Packers have rushed for more than 100 yards as a team in each of the last five games. In the first seven games of the season, they only topped 100 yards twice.

Part of this is due to better play by the offensive line. Sean Rhyan has been rotated in at right guard at times and he is a better run blocker than Jon Runyan, Jr. The offense is also committing fewer penalties and is scoring more in the first half which means the Packers aren’t playing from behind as much as they were earlier in the season.

But there are other reasons for the better run offense and much of that is due to coaching and the performance of various players.

Let’s start with A.J. Dillon who took over as the primary back in Jones’ absence. Dillon has run harder and with more purpose in recent weeks. He hasn’t gone down on first contact as often and is now picking up those tough, between-the-tackles yards that he is known for.

But head coach Matt LaFleur has done a very good job of allowing the Packers to still have an outside running game which they struggled to do earlier in the season when Jones was unavailable.

First, he has occasionally run Dillon to the outside. While this is not the stronger part of his game, it definitely keeps defenses honest knowing Dillon could go in that direction.

As always, LaFleur has also run different plays out of similar formations which helps keep defenses guessing and off-balance.

But rather than relying on Dillon to run outside too often, LaFleur has gone to alternatives. Against Detroit on Thanksgiving, for he faked an inside handoff and allowed Jordan Love to run a bootleg on a fourth-and-short play. Not only did Love pick up the first down, but he also gained 37 yards and that helped seal the upset win over the Lions.

The play was effective in more ways than one. Not only did it gain a crucial first down, but it set up more plays against the Chiefs the following week. Kansas City’s linebackers watched that play on film and knew Love could run out of that formation. That prevented them from keying on the inside run and gave Dillon an extra half second to hit a hole that was a little larger because of that brief hesitation.

The Packers also have run outside using other methods. Jet sweeps and end arounds have been called with Jayden Reed running twice for 16 yards against Detroit and Christian Watson gaining 15 yards on two carries against Kansas City.

Then, the Packers used toss passes instead of runs that got the ball to their receivers with very little risk. These plays are designed to keep the defense guessing and although they are officially passes, they function as runs for the purpose of creating doubt in the minds of defensive players. If the opposition knows a jet sweep or a toss pass could be run from the same formation they often use to run inside, they will not be able to key on any one aspect of the Packers offense.

All of these plays allow the offense to have an element of surprise and one play helps set up the success of a subsequent play. With many of the young offensive players catching on the offense, LaFleur has been able to run his complete offense and keep the running game moving without his best running back.

This success is a tribute to LaFleur, his coaching staff and the ability of the players to learn the offense. It’s also helped the Pack win four of their last five games and get back in the playoff hunt.