Josh Jacobs looks to extend his
rushing TD streak to 12 games when Packers visit Browns
[September 19, 2025]
By JOE REEDY
BEREA, Ohio (AP) — Green Bay's Josh Jacobs would put himself in an
elite group of running backs if he reaches the end zone on Sunday at
Cleveland.
Jacobs could become the fifth back in NFL history to rush for a
touchdown in 12 straight games, including the playoffs.
“I don’t really know too much about it,” Jacobs said Thursday about
the streak. “It’s definitely a great honor, but I don’t really too
much dig into it or look into it. I’m more concerned with wins or
losses, for real.”
The last player with a 12-game run of rushing TDs was LaDainian
Tomlinson for the San Diego Chargers in 2004.
The others to do it were John Riggins (15 straight in 1983), Emmitt
Smith (14 in 1995 and 13 from 1994-95) and George Rogers (13 in
1985-86).
The Browns are allowing 2.1 yards per carry and have held opposing
ballcarriers to no gain or negative yardage on 10 of 36 designed
runs. That 27.8% rate is fourth highest in the league. The Packers
have been stuffed on only seven carries, a rate of 14.3% that's
sixth lowest in the NFL.
“He’s a very powerful runner. He runs with a lot of effort, too, and
so for us it’s the first guy in being able to hold him up and then
we got to rally to the ball,” Browns rookie linebacker Carson
Schwesinger said.
Jacobs and the Packers are seeking their first 3-0 start since 2020.
Green Bay hasn’t trailed in either of its games and has built 17-3
leads in wins over Detroit and Washington. Jordan Love has not
thrown an interception in his last eight regular-season games.
“I think we’re always confident. Every week is obviously a new
journey. First road game, so it’s gonna be a test,” Love said.
Cleveland is 0-2 for the first time since 2017, when it became the
second team in NFL history to go 0-16. The Browns have held the lead
for only 4 minutes, 32 seconds — fourth-lowest in the league — and
that happened in their opener against the Bengals.
While the Packers are rolling in all three phases, the Browns have
struggled on offense and special teams, despite the defense allowing
the fewest yards in the league.
Last week at Baltimore, a blocked punt and pair of turnovers
resulted in 21 points for the Ravens and a 41-17 loss.
“You have to stay on the field and score points, and certainly have
not scored enough points the last couple games. And it’s really
incumbent on us as a team to play complementary team ball,” coach
Kevin Stefanski said. “Of course, we would like to play well on all
three sides of the ball, and there’s opportunities to always do
that, but we have to play really good, complementary team ball.”
Pass-rushers summit
Sunday's matchup features two of the league's best pass rushers in
All-Pros Myles Garrett and Micah Parsons. Since Parsons came into
the league in 2021, Garrett has an NFL-best 63 1/2 sacks, while
Parsons is fifth with 54.
[to top of second column] |
Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs (8) celebrates his
three-yard touchdown with Matthew Golden (0) and quarterback Jordan
Love (10) against the Detroit Lions during the second half of an NFL
football game Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry
Gash)
Garrett is tied for the league sack lead with New
Orleans' Carl Granderson at 3 1/2, tied for fifth with five
quarterback hits and tied for 11th with nine QB pressures.
“He’s a game-wrecker. Yeah, you’ve got to be really intentional
about what you’re trying to get done, because if you have a bad
matchup, forget about it. This guy can make it ugly in a hurry,"
Packers coach Matt LaFleur said.
Parsons' snaps have been limited since he was acquired from Dallas
on Aug. 27, but he has 1 1/2 sacks and is tied for fifth with 11
pressures.
“We have to expect him to be anywhere. He could be off the ball. He
can be on either side, he can be up the middle. So, there’s really
no telling on where they can utilize him, especially in a small
sample size,” Stefanski said.
Packers’ injury concerns
Green Bay tight end Tucker Kraft hurt his knee in practice Thursday.
Kraft had six catches for a career-high 124 yards last week and has
scored a touchdown in each of Green Bay’s first two games. If Kraft
is unable to play, it likely would result in more playing time for
Luke Musgrave, who has three catches for 36 yards this season.
Wide receiver Jayden Reed is out with a broken collarbone. That
could mean more opportunities for rookie first-round pick Matthew
Golden and third-round selection Savion Williams. Neither player
caught a pass against the Commanders.
“We’ve got a lot of guys in that receiver room who can step up,
who’ve played a lot of good minutes and this won’t be their first
time getting in there,” Love said. “So just got to keep leaning on
those other guys and guys got to step up and keep making plays, but
we got a deep receiver room, so it won’t be too big of an issue.”
Stuck in neutral
Joe Flacco has been responsible for all four of the Browns'
turnovers (three interceptions, one fumble). Flacco has also
struggled to find any semblance of a downfield passing game, going
11 of 28 on throws of at least 10 air yards. Flacco's 70.1 passer
rating on downfield throws is fourth worst of QBs who have played
two games.
“He understands the way we’re built and how we want to have success.
So, it’s something we continue to reiterate and, you don’t want to
stifle him to make throws and make good plays,” offensive
coordinator Tommy Rees said. “But you want him to recognize, for any
player, like, ‘Hey, these are the looks that we want those big plays
to occur. When we don’t get that, this is the answer.’”
___
AP Sports Writer Steve Megargee in Milwaukee contributed to this
report.
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