After last week’s collapse against the New York Giants, the Green Bay Packers return to the states for an inter-conference matchup against the New York Jets. With both teams looking to get to 4-2, here’s some things to consider in what will hopefully be a bounce-back game for the Packers.
Right Back to Work after London
When scheduling a London game, many teams will choose to take their bye week right after the game across the pond to try and give the team some rest after the out of the ordinary game week. However, Matt LaFleur chose to save the bye for later in the year — meaning there is what could feel like a quick turnaround for Sunday’s game.
Many fans will hope for a blowout win to make up for the frustration of the loss to the Giants, but it will be interesting to see if the Packers come out flat due to the fatigue of the past couple weeks. LaFleur has never lost back-to-back games in his tenure as head coach and will hope his team can fight past the fatigue to keep that stat intact.
Room for Improvement for the Packers O-Line
Throughout the second half, the Packers offensive line looked overmatched against a solid Giants front. A sack moved them out of field goal range on one of the drives and quarterback Aaron Rodgers was constantly distressed due to lack of protection, even injuring his thumb on a hit during the last play of the game.
Once again, the Packers will have to set the tone up front, this time against a Jets defensive line boasting John Franklin-Myers and Quinnen Williams among others. The o-line did a fairly good job in the run game as the Packers were efficient running the ball despite not giving Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon that many touches. For the Packers to be in control Sunday, whoever lines up along the line will have to be able to give Rodgers time to find his receivers.
Can the Packers Play a Complete Game?
Many things have been frustrating for Packers fans so far, one of them being that the team hasn’t played great football for four quarters. The last three games, although two of them were wins, the Packers, especially the offense, have been flat in the second half and have crawled to victories against Tampa Bay and New England.
Like they learned last week against Daniel Jones and the week before against Bailey Zappe, no game in this league is a layup. The Packers must go out and play as the better team to ensure victory. The Jets are in the process of a culture change with head coach Robert Saleh and it is clear they are slowly building a roster primed to compete. They will come ready to play Sunday and the Packers must show why they are truly an elite team in this league.
