Several milestones in sight as Packers wrap up…

The Packers’ duo became just the fourth pair of running backs in team history – and the first since 1980 – to both eclipse 1,000 yards from scrimmage (rushing and receiving combined) in the same season, and they have a chance to compile the most yards of the four dynamic duos.

Jones (1,190) and Dillon (1,049) currently have 2,239 combined yards, 138 away from breaking the top total posted by John Brockington and MacArthur Lane in 1972. With Brockington at 1,270 and Lane at 1,106, they had 2,376 combined yards.

The other pairs were Eddie Lee Ivery (1,312) and Gerry Ellis (1,041) with 2,353 yards in 1980, and Brockington (1,203) and Donny Anderson (1,063) with 2,266 yards in 1971.

Rashan Gary & Preston Smith

With Gary at 9½ sacks and Smith at nine, both are on the verge of double-digit sack seasons, and their value to the defense has been immense, particularly in the wake of what amounted to a season-long back injury for Za’Darius Smith.

“They’re kind of the tone setters to our defense, ’cause any time you have a pass rush, it elevates the play of everybody around them,” Head Coach Matt LaFleur said. “Those guys are obviously really great off the edge.”

If both Gary and Preston reach 10 sacks, it would mark the second time in three years the Packers would have a pair in double digits in the same season, following Preston (12) and Za’Darius (13½) in 2019.

It’s still a rare achievement, though, because prior to the Smith Bros. two years ago, the last time two Packers posted double-digit sacks in the same season was back in 1993, with Reggie White (13) and Bryce Paup (11).

Already with the most regular-season victories by any NFL head coach in his first three seasons (39), LaFleur can match the most victories in any three-year stretch with one more win.

Chicago’s Mike Ditka posted 40 wins from 1985-87, going 15-1, 14-2 and then 11-4 in the strike-shortened ’87 season that included three games with replacement players.