Week 1 was a solid start to the year in all three phases of the game for the Green Bay Packers. After a bitter loss to the Falcons, you might think the Packers might not stack up well against the rest of the league. In most categories, the Packers fell in the rankings, but a few stats jump off the page for the Packers. With another week of NFL behind us, let’s look at how the Packers stack up against the rest of the NFL.
Green Bay Packers Offense
Guess who currently leads the NFL in Touchdown passes and QB rating? If you guessed #10 for the Packers, you would be correct. Jordan Love currently leads the NFL with a 118.8 QB rating, followed by two other NFC North quarterbacks, Cousins (114.2) and Goff (109.0). If I told you that three quarterbacks from the NFC North would lead the league in QB rating after week 2, you probably would have called me crazy. Love is tied with Cousins for the most touchdown passes through two weeks with six. However, Love has no turnovers while Cousins has 4(3 lost fumbles and 1 Int). It’s still early in the season, but if Love keeps up this pace, he will have a monster season.
Overall, the Packers are ranked 25th in total offense. Sliding 14 spots from week 1. The Packers only ran 47 total plays while the Falcons ran 78 and dominated time of possession(36:15). It’s no surprise the Packers fell this far in total offense. Even though the Packers are ranked near the bottom in total yards, the Packers are 2nd in the league in Points Per Game (31 PPG). This ranks just one spot below the league-leading Cowboys(35 PPG).
It’s encouraging that even though they rank poorly in total offense, we still manage to put up points. Last season, the Packers only averaged 21.8 PPG during the regular season. Hopefully, once the Packers are healthy, they can continue to improve on that stat from last season.
Other Interesting Offensive Stats
Jordan Love currently leads the league in Aggressiveness (AGG%). The Aggressiveness stat tracks the number of passing attempts a quarterback makes into tight coverage, where there is a defender within 1 yard or less of the receiver at the time of completion or incompletion.
AGG is shown as a % of attempts into tight windows over all passing attempts. Jordan Love is currently leading the League, with 25% of his throws being considered aggressive. For a QB who has no turnovers, he is more accurate with his throws than people are giving him credit for.
Luke Musgrave is also 2nd in the league in separation, with an average of 5.2 yards measured between a WR/TE and the nearest defender at the time of catch or incompletion.
Green Bay Packers Defense
As you can imagine, the defensive numbers for the Packers aren’t very flattering. Currently, the Packers are 26th in the league in Total Yards allowed (378.5 YPG). That’s seven positions worse than week 1, where the Packers finished 19th.
Against the run, the Packers rank 29th. Currently, the Packers are allowing 166.5 yards on the ground per game. “I mean, you guys saw it. They shredded us…….. Consistently.” Coach Matt Lafluer said about the Packers run defense.
On the brighter side, the Packers are still +3 in turnover differential and are one of only six teams left in the NFL who haven’t had a single turnover. That number could have grown to +5, but Quay Walker and Jaire Alexander dropped routine interceptions against the Falcons.
The Special Teams Group
Not much changed from week one on the special teams front. The Packers are still in the top 5 in the return game and top 10 in average punt yards(49.8). Anders Carlson is still 100% on FG and extra points. The stats don’t show the missed opportunity on the opening drive against the Falcons, where the Packers took a delay of game penalty, which took them out of field goal range.
Coach Lafluer commented on the mishap during his Monday press conference, “I’m just pissed that we’re in that situation, quite frankly. I’ve got to be better. I need to keep an eye on the shot clock. Our operation has got to improve.”
Final Thoughts
There is much to clean up in all three phases right now. The defense needs to be much better. Before the season started, most people thought this would be a top-10 defensive unit. Right now, the Packers have a steep hill to achieve that goal. On offense, there are some favorable trends: if our young talent continues to work hard and get better, the sky’s the limit. Laird Hamilton said it best when overcoming adversity, “Make sure your worst enemy doesn’t live between your own two ears.”
Go, Pack, Go!
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