Through the first quarter of the 2024 NFL season, sloppy play has been the story for the Green Bay Packers. The Packers are 2-2 to start the year. The common theme between the two losses is self-inflicted mistakes. Green Bay seemingly cannot get out of their own way. The Packers need to address this glaring concern. Sloppy football cannot become the norm in Green Bay or the Packers might be in for a frustrating season.
The Packers lost to the Minnesota Vikings 31-29 last Sunday after losing 28-0 at one point in the first half. Green Bay missed two field goals, accumulated 8 penalties, threw 3 interceptions, had 1 fumble, missed several tackles, dropped passes, and dealt with inconsistent passing accuracy. The Packers did all this, fell behind 28 points, and still lost by 2 points. That is remarkable. It just goes to show how high Green Bay’s ceiling can be if the team can clean things up. Playing a perfect game is unrealistic but limiting mistakes is a reasonable goal.
Jordan Love’s mistakes can mainly be blamed on rust. Loved look more comfortable as the game went on. In fact, in the 4th quarter alone, Love was 13-17 with 204 yards passing, 3 TDs, and 1 INT. His accuracy and playmaking improved as the game went on. Although Love took credit for the poor accuracy after the game Sunday, he did not get a ton of help from his wide receivers. Dontayvion Wicks had a very up and down day. Romeo Doubs could not complete a catch going to the ground and then had a ball bounce off his hands resulting in a INT. The WR group needs to make plays too.
Opportunity Awaits For Green Bay in Los Angeles
The Packers head out west this Sunday to take on the Los Angeles Rams. The injury bug is running rampant in Los Angeles. The Rams will not have star WRs Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua against the Packers. The Rams will also be without G Jonah Jackson, G Steve Avila, OT Joe Noteboom, and S John Johnson III. The Packers pass rush get an opportunity to play a depleted Rams offensive line. Hopefully, this could be a “get right” moment for Rashon Gary, Preston Smith, and co. Rashon Gary can take this defense and this team to another level but his play has to improve.
Matt LaFleur, Jordan Love, and Josh Jacobs must be licking their chops this week. The Rams defense currently ranks 31st in the NFL in points allowed and yards allowed. On top of that, the Rams are allowing a league high 165.5 rushing yards per game. The Packers are averaging a second best 174.5 rushing yards a game. If Green Bay can continue to run the ball effectively on Sunday, it will allow Jordan Love to settle in and attack down field. Establishing the run will open up the passing game, giving Love and his receiving core a perfect bounce back opportunity.
The goal for Green Bay, despite the obvious one of winning the game, should be to leave Los Angeles with few minor penalties, few turnovers, and a cleaner offensive operation. The perfect way for the Packers offense to catch fire is to focus on minimizing the self-inflicted mistakes. Green Bay has lost 2 games by 7 total points. Both losses were filled with mistakes and missed opportunities. Cleaning up the sloppy play, even a little bit, will go a long way for this Packer team.
