Now that the trade deadline is behind us and Rasul Douglas is gone. Let’s see how the Green Bay Packers stack up against the rest of the NFL after another mind-numbing loss.
Green Bay Packers Offense
Much hasn’t changed for the Packers on the offensive side of the ball. They aren’t very good. The first half struggles continue to plague them. Jordan Love has been taking it on the chin for the team’s struggles so far in the mainstream media. So, instead of giving an average stack-up analysis, I will share what I believe are the three most significant issues right now. This doesn’t mean that Jordan Love isn’t part of the problem, but he isn’t getting much help.
Receivers and Tight-ends:
PFF has the Packers receiver and tight-end groups ranked 28th in the NFL. That is ranked lower than the Jets, Cardinals, and Steelers and ranked above the Broncos, Browns, and Giants. That ranking shouldn’t be surprising due to the number of drops, incorrect routes ran and missed blocking assignments. Some of this has to do with the scheme and Lafluer possibly asking too much from our young receivers. However, something Matt Lafluer can’t control is physical and mental mistakes. The Packers are at the bottom of the league in two receiving categories.
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- Contested catch rate (25.5 %) The Packers highest rated player is Romeo Doubs, with a 38.5 contested catch rate. That ranks #73 in the league.
- Dropped ball percentage (9.3%) According to PFF, Jordan Love ranks #3 behind P.J Walker of the Browns and Zach Wilson of the Jets.
Offensive line:
According to all the Green Bay coaches, the Offensive line is having a good season. PFF tells a different story—currently, the Packers grade out as the 28th run-blocking offense in the league. Only the Chargers, Jaguars, Panthers, and Giants grade out worse. The Packers do rank 4th in pass protection. Only the Buccaneers, Lions, and Vikings grade out better. All things considered, PFF isn’t everything, and results matter. Jordan has had an average of 2.76 seconds to throw. That ranks 19th in the league behind Washington and Pittsburgh.
Penalties:
The Packers are the 8th most penalized offense in football. That is, however, with the seven teams ahead of them having an extra game on their resume. In short, they are the most penalized offense in football. They have 52 total offensive penalties. Fifteen of which have come on first down. Coaching matters to an extent, but you can’t coach a player to remember the snap count. This is probably the lowest-hanging fruit to fix the offensive problems this season.
Green Bay Packers Defense
Up until this point, the strength of the Packers defense has been pass coverage. They are currently giving up 207.1 yards per game through the air. That is 11th best in the NFL and one spot behind the Buffalo Bills. The team we just traded Rasul Douglas, too. While Rasul wasn’t the Packers most talented corner, he was playing like he was. Rasul graded out as the 13th-best corner in the NFL in pass coverage, according to PFF. The Packers will miss his presence on and off the field.
With Rasul gone, the Packers will need to get better in other areas. The first and most noticeable weakness is against the run. The Packers are giving up 132 yards per game on the ground. That ranks 26th in the NFL behind the Cardinals and Giants.
Another defensive statistic that has slipped a bit is 3rd down-stop percentage. The Packers are getting off the field 39.2 percent of the time. That is 17th in the league. The Titans and Broncos are ahead of the Packers with 38.5 percent.
The last area I want to bring up is penalties against the defense. The Packers are 14th best in defensive penalties with 47 total. The flip side of that coin is the amount of yards the Packers have given up on those 47 defensive penalties. They are 5th worst in the NFL, with 466 total defensive penalty yards. I said it for the offense, and the same goes for the defense. If you can clean this up, you will give your team a better chance of winning on Sunday.
Rashan Gary
Usually, the last segment of this article ends with special teams. Instead, I decided it might be fun to look at Rashan Gary compared to the rest of the NFL. Now that the Packers have extended him and made him a part of the long-term plan in Green Bay let’s see what that money is paying for.
Let’s start with the contract. Gary’s contract makes him the 8th highest-paid edge defender in the NFL. Notable players being paid more than Gary are Nick Bosa(170 M), Khalil Mack(141 M), Joey Bosa(135 M), Myles Garrett(125 M), and TJ Watt (112 M). Gary’s contract is worth 96 million. This puts him above Maxx Crosby of the Raiders, who has been making 94 million over four years. When it comes to average annual value. Gary ranks 5th in the NFL. Only the Bosa brothers, TJ Watt and Myles Garrett, are paid higher on average.
Production was a large part of what earned Gary this contract. Currently, PFF has Gary ranked as the 20th-best edge defender in football. His highest-ranked attribute is in pass rush, where Gary is ranked 10th overall, which matches up pretty closely with how he is being compensated. Gary has 4.5 sacks this year, which is 29th in the NFL. That ties him with Aidan Hutchinson and his teammate Preston Smith. Gary also has 13 pressures on the season. This is 33rd in the NFL, but that is with Gary being one game behind most other players. All things considered, this is a team-friendly deal that helps solidify the Packers defense for years to come.
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