Can the Green Bay Packers replicate Week 1's success against Jahmyr Gibbs and the Detroit Lions? Here's how the Packers can contain the NFL's most explosive back.
The Green Bay Packers have done it before. In Week 1 against the Detroit Lions, Jahmyr Gibbs was held to just 19 yards on nine carries. Through the air, the Packers bottled him up for 31 yards on 10 catches.
Slowing down Gibbs was one of the reasons the Packers left Week 1 with an impressive 27-13 win, but things have changed in regards to the Lions' third-year running back out of Alabama.
He's quickly become one of the most explosive and hard-to-stop running backs in the NFL. That was true in 2024, when he rushed for 1,412 yards and 16 touchdowns while adding 517 yards and four touchdowns through the air.
It's even more true as we approach a massive Thanksgiving Day matchup between the Lions and Packers in Week 13.
Gibbs is coming off a game against the New York Giants that saw him rush for 219 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries while catching 11 passes for 45 yards and a touchdown. In sum total this season, he's rushed for 951 yards (third in the NFL) and 10 touchdowns while adding 379 yards and three touchdowns through the air.
So how do you stop a guy who can do this?
Or this?
According to Green Bay insider Mike Spofford, it simply comes down to fundamentals.
Spofford was asked in a mailbag feature just how the heck the Packers are supposed to stop Gibbs.
"Set edges and don't miss tackles," Spofford wrote. "Easier said than done, but the Packers did it against Barkley and need to bring that run D to Detroit."
Spofford brought up Saquon Barkley and how the Packers bottled him up a few weeks ago, and that's a great comp. Barkely has been the best running back in the league over the last few season, but that's a mantle that has been quickly taken by Gibbs.
In that 10-7 loss to the Eagles, the Packers held Barkley to 60 yards on 22 attempts, which is just 2.7 yards per carry.
In that game, the Packers played their safeties close to the line of scrimmage, and it was a strategy that worked -- the defense was far from the problem in that one. Xavier McKinney and Evan Williams led the team in tackles, and they may have to do so again if the Packers hope to slow down Gibbs on Thursday.
Load the box, let Micah Parsons and Rashan Gary loose, and make Jared Goff beat you. He's one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL when he's in rhythm, but he's one of the worst when he's under pressure -- and that's something the Packers can do at a high level thanks to Parsons.
That's got to be Green Bay's strategy in this one, alongside setting the edge and tackling well.
It seems overly simple, but sometimes the simplest game plan is the best -- especially in a big spot like this one.