The Packers Biggest Issues Right Now

The Green Bay Packers in week five traveled to London to take on the New York Giants. In week four, the Packers had an ugly win against the New England Patriots. Coming into this game, many thought the Packers would get back on track and dominate this game. That didn’t end up happening. The Packers lost to the Giants 27 to 22 after completely falling apart in the second half. Going into halftime, the Packers were up 20 to 10 and looked really good. Just like every game this season though, the Packers only played one half of football. The defense didn’t stop the Giants offense from scoring except on the last drive where they were just trying to waste clock. The Packers offense only got the ball four times and one of those drives was with 11 seconds left in the game. The Giants killed Green Bay in time of possession in the second half and was a big reason why they were able to win. This game showed the same issues the Packers have been dealing with the entire season.

Inconsistency

The Packers are consistently inconsistent. This has been the case in every single game so far this season. In the first half of every game except week one, the Packers look like the best team in the NFL. They dominate the first half on both sides of the ball and just look unstoppable. Once the second half starts, this is a completely different team. The defense gets run up and down the field, while the offense has one hiccup and can’t move the ball. Most Packer fans thought this was going to be fixed after playing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the next four games, the Packers were going to be heavily favored. It hasn’t happened in the first two games of this schedule and their inconsistency finally lost them a game. Matt Lafluer after the game even talked about how inconsistent they are. “We’ve yet to put together a complete game as a team. It’s like every game is one good half.” Part of this inconsistency is his fault as well.

Play-Calling

Play-calling is the biggest thing stopping the Packers right now. It’s not just on the offensive side either. The defensive play-calling has been questionable. It really showed against the Giants. The Packers defensive coordinator, Joe Barry, has to figure out this secondary. Anytime you watch this defense, you most likely see the corners playing about 10 yards off the receiver. It allows for short throws that can eventually lead to big plays if a tackle is missed. The Packers talent wise, have one of the best secondaries in the league and shouldn’t have to play 10 yards off everytime. Another thing that seems to happen too often is blown coverages. There seems to be times where some guys are playing man and some are playing zone and it leaves wide open space. It has seemed to happen every game. This defense can be elite as long as they start cleaning up some of the little things.

On the offensive side of the ball, Matt Lafleur has hurt them at times with his play-calling. Against the Giants, the Packers were averaging almost five yards a carry. They were running very well and then in the second half, they just decided to stop running. It didn’t make any sense. They ran it 20 times total that game, but the week before they ran it 35 times for 199 yards. The Packers second and third best players on this offense are their running backs. It doesn’t make sense to stop running it and take two of your three best offensive players out of the game. Matt Lafluer needs to stay consistent with the run game which will end up helping them be less inconsistent.

Many Packers fans are freaking out a little bit after losing to the Giants. The Packers have their issues, but have had issues in the past and figured it out then. I see no reason why they can’t figure these issues out. Aaron Rodgers after the game said, “There’s a standard that we’ve played at for a long time. We’re just not quite there yet. We’re five weeks in. There’s a lot of football left.” Like Rodgers said, there is a lot of football left and they do have time to figure this out. If the Packers can fix these issues, they will be right back into the conversation as a Super Bowl contender.