Valdes-Scantling giving Packers pass game options

The Green Bay Packers decided not to bolster their receiving corps at the trade deadline, which meant guys already on the roster needed to step up to give quarterback Aaron Rodgers more options in the passing game outside receiver Davante Adams.

In the team’s two games since the deadline, third-year wideout Marquez Valdes-Scantling has stepped up in a big way.

On the team’s third possession against the San Francisco 49ers on Nov. 5, Valdes-Scantling dropped a pass that would have helped the team convert a third-down opportunity. Drops have plagued MVS early in his career, but he responded in a big way.

It took a couple drives for Rodgers to look the wideout’s way again, but when he did, MVS delivered. Coming out of the two-minute warning in the second quarter, Valdes-Scantling used his top-end speed to outrun a defender before settling under a deep ball from Rodgers, and he hauled it in for a 52-yard touchdown.

On the first possession of the third quarter, Valdes-Scantling caught another touchdown. That one was a 1-yarder as Rodgers scrambled to his right. Valdes-Scantling broke free from his defender before making a sliding catch in the back right corner of the end zone.

“To see somebody be resilient and be tough-minded, that’s what we’re looking for on this football team,” said coach Matt LaFleur after the Niners game when asked about Valdes-Scantling.

“It’s always fun to see a guy come through. I thought he played an outstanding game. Yeah, he had the drop, but again he bounced back, scored two touchdowns and (I’m) really happy overall with his effort and his ability to respond.”

Over Rodgers’ career, typically when a receiver starts making catches on scramble plays, it shows that a connection is building and usually big things follow. It certainly came true for MVS this past weekend.

The receiver backed up the two-touchdown performance with arguably his best game as a pro, hauling in four passes for a career-high 149 yards and another touchdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.

His first catch of the game was also a touchdown, as he again used his speed to burn past the defender before catching the ball and eluding a pair of defenders on his way to a 78-yard touchdown.

After the game, MVS said the deep play was set up by the previous one, when he didn’t feel his defender was respecting the deep ball. “I went back to the huddle and told Aaron ‘I can get by him.’”

That’s exactly what the receiver did on the next play.

“I expected the ball to kind of float to the right a little bit (in the wind), and Marquez did all the separation at kind of the 20-yard mark, and then did a nice job catching it, switching field and kind of using the ref to get in the end zone there,” said Rodgers of the long touchdown.

Valdes-Scantling’s next three catches all resulted in first downs, which was key with Adams sidelined for a bit.

Facing third-and-6 and trailing by three, MVS caught a 22-yard pass. Later in the drive, the Packers scored to take the lead.

On the drive where Rodgers was intercepted, a 31-yard catch and run from Valdes-Scantling got the offense going.

Down three points early in the fourth quarter, MVS came through again, hauling in an 18-yard pass. The next play resulted in a 6-yard touchdown to Adams, but it was actually a play drawn up for Valdes-Scantling — a sign he’s gaining the trust of Rodgers, LaFleur and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett.

In his press conference Monday, LaFleur said he was most impressed with Valdes-Scantling after the catch, when he showed some elusiveness and broke a couple tackles for some additional yardage.

Should Valdes-Scantling be able to keep building on his recent success, the Packers offense could be on the verge of reaching another gear, as receiver Allen Lazard is also expected back in the lineup. LaFleur hopes Lazard can play this Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts, which boast a defense that ranks near the top of the league in several statistics.

Before getting hurt, it was Lazard who had been stacking up big performances.

In his three games, Lazard had no fewer than three receptions or 45 receiving yards. He also had a pair of touchdown grabs.

In the game he was injured, Lazard caught six passes for 146 yards and a touchdown.

Solid play out of Valdes-Scantling and Lazard could force defenses to take some of the attention off Adams, which could be the key to more consistent play on the offensive side of the ball.

Throw in tight end receiving threat Robert Tonyan, and the Packers passing game suddenly looks like it has enough pieces to carry the offense by itself.

Add in what running backs Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams can do as ball carriers and as receiving threats, and the Packers’ offense looks that much more difficult to keep down.

Should the offense start clicking, it could be the team’s ticket to becoming the favorite in the currently wide-open NFC.

This week’s test will be a good gauge, and if the Packers’ offense leads the team to a big road win, look out.

sports@newmedia-wi.com