The Green Bay Packers had plenty of areas of emphasis to analyze over the break, with special teams blunders and a defensive collapse to consider, but the area that’ll be the easiest to remedy is the offense.
The week five bye gave the team a chance to rekey, and against the struggling Cincinnati Bengals, there’ll be plenty of opportunity to break out.
A Healthy Offensive Line
The most important facet of the early bye for the Packers was health, and there’ll be immediate returns from it, especially on the offensive line.
Both Zach Tom and Aaron Banks have returned to practice, hopefully for good, and any sort of consistency that can be established in the room would be huge.
Going into week six, the Packers had one of league’s highest counts in regard to offensive line combinations, and that has proved disastrous for the team, both in terms of blocking proficiency and penalties.
Head coach Matt LaFleur has never coached an offensive line that has finished outside of the top ten, and it showed in his inability to play-call effectively the past few games.
Moving forward, a lot of of the smaller stuff should clean itself up, at least to a more manageable extent, which will create bigger opportunities for the offense to excel.
Matthew Golden’s Utilization
Matthew Golden may not be as surefire as many Green Bay Packers fans had hoped thus far, but through five weeks, there’s no reason to believe he won’t grow into a bigger role in the offense as the season progresses.
Despite his lack of a flashy stat line, Golden has been one of the most consistently open pass catchers in the NFL per PFF, which is something that the Packers receiver room has struggled with historically.
Knowing that Golden is adept in creating separation should indicate that the numbers will come, and once they do, the Packers offense will benefit tremendously.
Although the Texas product has had his share of rookie miscues, there’s more than just raw data on his side. Golden’s usage has ticked up in the Packers’ last two games, likely due to the loss of Jayden Reed, and in those games, he’s showcased strong hands and blazing speed.
Golden’s game-saving catch on fourth and six last week proved he could come up in the clutch, and once he and quarterback Jordan Love truly gel, they should be able to hit on a few of the deep balls that they’ve narrowly missed in the first few weeks.
If the Packers can pencil in their first round talent for more than just short yardage and screens following the bye, the offense could unlock a whole new dimension, especially with regard to our next mention.
Christian Watson’s Return
There were rumblings throughout the bye week that wide receiver Christian Watson could return to practice for the Green Bay Packers this week, and as of Monday morning, he’s hit the field.
There’s certainly no need to rush a player who is already returning from a significant injury in such a short period of time, but now that Watson’s twenty-one day return window is open, it’s hard not to get excited about what he can do for the Packers offense.
Watson has been explosive in his career when he’s been able to stay healthy, and now that he has a speedy counterpart in Matthew Golden, the pass game could evolve into a nightmare for opposing defenses.
Romeo Doubs has stepped into the role of wide receiver one quite nicely early on, and Dontayvion Wicks has been more consistent in catching the football.
The addition of Watson to the room will force teams to shift their focus, and if the Packers are lucky, they’ll have too many mouths to feed.
Back at Lambeau
As the Green Bay Packers prepare to take on the Joe Burrow-less Bengals, they’ll get one more boost: home field.
After two rather taxing road games, the chance to play at Lambeau is refreshing, especially against a team who’s struggled mightily the past few weeks.
A reset is required on all fronts, and if the Packers are truly contenders, they should bring down the hammer.
