The Green Bay Packers prepare to host their second straight home game against the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams, coached by Sean Mcvay, are 3-5 on the season and may play their 9th game (between last year and this year) without Matthew Stafford. Stafford suffered a thumb injury against the Cowboys late in the third quarter of last week’s blowout loss. If the Packers were looking for the Universe to hand them a break, they got their wish.
This feels like the Packers last chance to get this season on track. If they cannot beat a team without its Super Bowl-winning quarterback, this season may be over. Let’s review the three keys for the Packers to avoid losing their 5th straight game.
Green Bay Packers Discipline Issues
This one feels like it could solve the vast majority of the Packers offensive struggles. The Packers are the number-one team in the NFL in penalties. When you mix penalties with inconsistent play, you get an offense that can’t move the chains, which is precisely how the Packers first-half offense has played out so far.
If the Packers can get rid of penalties, this offense should start to see better production overall. In my opinion, this should be the easiest thing to clean up from a coaching standpoint. Coaching matters in the NFL, and that technique and skill can eliminate some of these issues. However, at some point, the blame needs to be solely on the player shoulders. There’s only so much you can do as a coach to get your players to remember the snap count or to remember what the play is. These are professional athletes who, in most cases, have been coached their entire lives on correct technique and form.
From here on out, the only blame I will place on the coaches is if they allow these penalties to go on without benching the players responsible. This is the NFL. Someone else is always ready to take your job if you are unprepared to get the basics right.
Green Bay Packers First Half Offense
Another obvious but important problem to solve is the first-half offense. The Packers need to come out of the gates like they are down 21 points. That might mean starting the game in the two-minute drill and going for it on 4th down more often. It needs to be a whatever it takes attitude. The Packers are essentially in a “we have nothing to lose” situation. Take a page from the Lions playbook last season and use that to your advantage.
Lafluer commented earlier in the season about the defense. His comment was about doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result. That is the definition of insanity, but guess what? The offense is guilty of the same sin. It’s the same issue every week in the first half. Be creative. Try trick plays. Go for it on fourth down. Do whatever you have to give yourself a chance in the second half of these games.
It’s hard to blame one individual player, but Jordan Love needs to get things going early. Jordan has ten games left to prove he is a future quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. If he wins a few more games, the Packers might not be in range to draft a top QB prospect. If the Packers continue to struggle, it may be too hard to pass up a top-end quarterback in this coming draft. Ultimately, it’s up to Love to make the decision. Play well and keep your job, or continue to struggle and call your starting job into question next season.
The Defense
I’m generically putting the defense down as the 3rd key. If the Rams are without Matthew Stafford and this Green Bay Packers defense can’t hold this team to less than 20 points, it might be time to put Joe Barry on the hot seat. I understand that the Packers just traded away their statistically best corner in Douglas, but there is loads of talent on this defense, and it’s time we start to see it. Injuries played a large part early in the season and are still playing a role now, but at some point, there needs to be some accountability.
Like in weeks past, stopping the run will be at the top of the list. The Rams are ranked 17th in the league in average rushing yards per game (109.5 YPG). The Rams are also coming into this game down several running backs. Currently, Darrell Henderson and Royce Freeman will be sharing the workload. Now that the Packers are healthy at inside linebacker, I expect them to make Brett Rypien beat them with his arm. Rypien has only played in nine games over his four-year career and hasn’t looked great. He has thrown four touchdowns and eight interceptions while completing 60 percent of his throws.
The last thing I want to mention on defense is the trenches. This week might be the most favorable matchup the Packers have had thus far in 2023. The Rams have one offensive lineman ranked in the top 20, according to PFF. The one lineman that is ranked is number one in the NFL, Kevin Dotson has had a fantastic 2023 season for the Rams. I would look for them to run behind their 4th-year stud out of Louisiana.
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