Getty Allen Lazard #13 of the Green Bay Packers catches a touchdown against the New York Giants during their game at MetLife Stadium on December 01, 2019 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
After an afternoon where Allen Lazard caught nothing but big-time passes for the Green Bay Packers, star quarterback Aaron Rodgers is convinced the second-year wideout can deliver those types of performances on a regular basis.
Lazard hauled in all three of the passes thrown his direction in the Packers’ 31-13 road win over the New York Giants, leading his team with a career-high 103 receiving yards and coming down with a 37-yard touchdown pass near the end of the first quarter that put Green Bay ahead for the rest of the afternoon. He also made an excellent move on a far-left pass to come down with a 43-yard gain on the Packers’ opening drive.
“He made a couple of big plays today and, obviously, the first catch got us going when it looked like we had them offsides,” Rodgers said in Sunday’s postgame. “He just flashed a hand and, when I threw it, the ball just came off a lot farther left than I was hoping. What a great adjustment, and in the weather and a wet ball, to come down with that while he’s going to the ground was pretty important and special.”
Lazard has flashed breakout potential in his second season with the Packers after making just one 7-yard reception as a rookie. In his first game of the season, he caught five passes for 65 yards and a touchdown to help the Packers rally against the Detroit Lions in Week 6. He has also come down with the ball on 22 of 29 targets through seven games with a remarkable 15 yards per reception.
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Rodgers Has Repped Lazard for Awhile Now
It didn’t take Lazard’s recent numbers for Rodgers to start talking about the young receiver’s merits. The two-time MVP quarterback has been talking about him since training camp and made a pitch for him to make the 53-man roster in August. After Lazard was promoted from the practice squad in October, Rodgers also “put in a good word” for him to come into the game in their Monday night win over the Lions.
“I’ve always said about Allen, he just has a calm demeanor,” Rodgers said. “He expects to make those plays and you love that as a quarterback because he gives you confidence back that it’s almost like, ‘Hey, the ball should be coming my way.'”
After making two huge receptions in the first half, though, Lazard was featured much less in the second half of the game as other targets became the focus down the stretch. Packers coach Matt LaFleur praised the youngster in the postgame but also added his team thrives when they turn to multiple pass-catchers.
“We’re best when we have all those guys rolling through there,” LaFleur said.
Will the Packers Ever Solidify a No. 2 Receiver?
Lazard putting up his best performance to date continues the conversation about who holds claim over the No. 2 spot in the Packers receiving corps, as other candidates have fallen by the wayside with their production in recent weeks.
One of the biggest surprises has been how little Marquez Valdes-Scantling — who earned a starting role opposite Davante Adams at the start of the season — has been featured since he logged a career-high 133 yards with a touchdown against the Oakland Raiders in Week 7. He has just two catches for a lifeless 11 yards in the five games since with no catches Sunday against the Giants.
Geronimo Allison, who becomes an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, has also struggled to make an impact in the slot beyond a scattered few plays. He came down with a big 15-yard reception against the Giants, but a number of dropped passes have also made him less dependable as a fourth-year receiver.
Still, Rodgers recognizes when his receivers make plays beyond what shows up in the box scores, as occurred on one of his big completions to Lazard.
“I couldn’t quite see him, to be honest, that’s why I was late on the ball,” Rodgers said of his last completion to Lazard. “I was a little nervous that the underneath guy was going to be in that zone there, but I think it was Geronimo or Marquez, one of those guys ran down the seam and he went with him and that was the key to the play. You see the completion to Allen, but the seam route opened everything up.”
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