Porous Jaguars defense gives Packers a chance to get Christian Watson rolling

Jacksonville hosts Green Bay with one of the worst defenses in the NFL and provide the perfect chance to get one of the Packers' unsung heroes some looks.

Brian Gutekunst gave up two second-round picks for Christian Watson who went on to have a historic stretch as a rookie. Injuries scuttled a promising Year 2 campaign, but the peaks from the former North Dakota State standout jumped off the screen whether it was a leaping touchdown grab over a Kansas City Chiefs defender, or a slot fade touchdown to ice the game against the Detroit Lions last season. This year, Watson has played his role with aplomb, running seemingly every clearout route, making every block, and not offering any complaints. But he’s too talented to remain a secondary focus of the offense and a struggling Jacksonville Jaguars defense — OK, they’re just flat-out bad — offers the ideal opportunity to pay off Watson’s hard work.

Two weeks ago, Watson noticed the Arizona Cardinals defense wasn’t respecting his speed over the top. He went to the coaches and suggested a shot play designed to take advantage. Already up 17-0, Matt LaFleur decided to go for the kill shot and use Watson as the potential death blow. They ran an under-center play-action fake and used an in-breaking route from Tucker Kraft to draw up the backside safety. From there it’s Watson against Budda Baker, but really it’s Watson vs. grass.

Watson is going to win that matchup every time as long as the quarterback can put it on him.

But it’s not as if Watson only provides the deep-ball prowess. In the same game, Jordan Love found Watson on a nearly impossible throw on 4th-and-2 between a host of Cardinals defenders. Tracking the ball through a swarm of bodies would have been no easy task, but Watson plucked the pass and picked up the first down.

When Romeo Doubs went through his disagreement with the team over targets, Watson was there for Doubs while also providing an eloquent analysis of the situation to the media. Matt LaFleur has always insisted their offense is matchup based and one week it might be Doubs getting the targets, another it’s Jayden Reed and so on. It’s been the most egalitarian offense in football since Love took over as quarterback.