The Packers Play Thirteen More Games for a Reason

What do you get when your team takes a tough loss to a divisional rival at home early in the season? You get members of the fan base doing their best Chicken Little impression outside the stadium believing the sky is falling. They think this is it, my team isn’t going anywhere this year unless a drastic change is made immediately.  They think it’s over, this team can’t get it done, and they look towards the distant future. The problem with this is, in the Packers’ case at least this season, it’s only week 5, there’s a whole lot of ball left to be played.

Sunday’s game surely stung. We got Jordan Love back from an injury that on the night it occurred in week 1, many thought there was a good chance that he was done for the season. But that wasn’t the case. Instead, after Malik Willis managed to get us wins in the next two games, Jordan Love was set to return against a division rival. Mind you, a division rival that many were shocked had cruised out to a 3-0 start. It was supposed to be Jordan Love making a superhero’s return to knock the Vikings back to reality. Instead, Love looked like he maybe wasn’t quite as ready as thought and neither was the defense as Minnesota got off to a devastating lead and despite a Packers comeback attempt, the Packers fell to 2-2 while the Vikings continued their rise at 4-0. This loss was hard to swallow given who our opponent was, but it was hardly devastating. 

I’ve heard a lot of crazy talk in the last few days since the Packers’ 31-29 loss to the Minnesota Vikings at home. One of my favorite comments is that Malik Willis should be starting over Jordan Love just simply based on that Love is now 0-2 as a starter and Willis is 2-0. This is simply emotions talking without considering the quality of the opponent each Quarterback faced in each game. I seem to remember that it was this time of year last year when the Packers ended up 3-6 at one point and some were throwing around the idea that the Packers will have a top-10, top-5 pick and that they should use it on a quarterback. But it was then that the Packers went on a 6-2 run in the final 8 games of the season earning themselves a playoff birth where they were considered one of the hottest teams in the playoffs before they fell to San Francisco in the Divisional round. 

Case and point, there are a lot of ball games left. When at best you could finish 15-2 and at worst you could finish 2-15, your season is far from over. This team has experienced adversity before, and they won’t back down from it.

Getting it done

Of course, if the Packers are going to have a surge like they did last season to make sure they don’t fall by the wayside and that they do make the playoffs, they’ll have to do several things to ensure they don’t step on their own feet. 

Limiting Penalties:

The Packers are currently fourth in the league for most penalties called against them with 34. They’re tied for first in the league in offensive holding calls with 9. Most of those holding calls brought back big plays, and at least one wiped out a touchdown. We need to stop shooting ourselves in the foot by allowing the yellow laundry to fly. Our offensive line is actually off to a pretty good start. But we need to take away those penalties before we can consider them great. 

Letting the offensive line pave the way:

Perhaps the most underrated part of the Packers’ season so far is how well their offensive line is holding up. They’ve plowed the streets allowing Packers running backs to amass 698 yards on 130 carries, that’s a 5.4-yards per carry average. They also have kept the Quarterbacks pretty clean only allowing six sacks in 4 games. Also, each offensive lineman ranks in the top 10 at their respective position when it comes to total pressures allowed with three in the top 5 according to PFF. This team’s success could live and die with the efficiency of the offensive line, so it’s important we continue to play-call to their strengths as well as the skill players. 

Blitz/Pass Rush:

Despite ranking eighth in the league in sack totals, the Packers’ pass rush has not been all that effective. We were told that in the first two games against mobile quarterbacks, the Packers were more focused on containing the QB than rushing. Which is understandable. However, the last two Quarterbacks have not been very mobile. Against Tennessee, the defense sacked Will Levis eight times, Sam Darnold though against Minnesota, only twice, and otherwise he seemed pretty cozy in the pocket most of the game. We were told Jeff Hafley is not shy about blitzing. Well, against a QB like Darnold who can be prone to mistakes if pressured, we did not try at all. Most of that was due to a lack of blitzing. If the chance arrives, the Packers need to take better care to blitz more and they should have their chance to start in week 5.

Kicking:

The Packers have now lost two games that could have been won if field goals attempted earlier in the game were successful. It appears Brayden Narveson isn’t the answer the Packers thought he might be as he’s now 9/13 on the season. At this point, I wouldn’t care if the Packers offered a third-round pick and Brayden Narveson to Dallas for Brandon Aubrey or someone similar.  To have a kicker that’s only missed once and that was a 50+ yard attempt? Sounds heavenly to me, I’d pay the 3rd round comp. We know we won’t get that lucky, but we have to find some solution to this problem before it hurts us yet again like it did last year in the playoffs with Anders Carlson. 

Yes, last week’s loss was rough, but this team still has the tools to make this a very successful season. The sky is far from falling and a few adjustments here and there and the Packers could be serious contenders in a few months.