The Green Bay Packers need to give their defense a break. The best way to do that this week is to finally put an offense on the field that can stay there.
Big plays will always have a place in Matt LaFleur’s offense. With Jordan Love at quarterback and weapons in the passing game, the Packers should take advantage of those opportunities. But they cannot keep waiting for one throw to make up for everything that went wrong before it.
Against Tampa Bay, we need to see Green Bay put together complete possessions. Move the chains. Find some rhythm. Give the defense enough time to catch its breath before asking it to get another stop.
That starts up front, but it doesn’t end there.
The Packers Have to Start Winning the Ordinary Plays
An explosive touchdown can change a game. It cannot fix an offense that struggles to pick up the next first down.
The Packers need to become more reliable on the plays that do not make the highlights. A four-yard run on first down. A quick completion that sets up third-and-short. A clean pocket that allows Love to work through his reads without immediately looking for an escape.
Those plays build drives. They also give the offense options.
When Green Bay falls behind the chains, the defense knows what is coming. Pass rushers can attack, coverage can tighten around the sticks, and Love has to solve another difficult situation. That is a tough way to play when the offensive line is already struggling.
We saw how far the balance slipped against Atlanta. Love threw 53 passes, while the Packers ran just nine times for 17 yards. The game stayed within 10 points until late in the third quarter, so this wasn’t simply an offense forced to throw throughout a blowout. Green Bay abandoned a part of its offense that it desperately needs to get working.
LaFleur has to give the running game a chance to contribute. The players have to give him a reason to keep calling it. That all starts, as we all know by now, with the Offensive Line.
The Offensive Line and Running Backs Have to Work Together
Green Bay is finally bringing in help, and Wednesday’s signing of veteran guard Kevin Zeitler gives the Packers another option to stabilize their offensive line. Zeitler brings 213 career starts and enters his 15th NFL season. That is valuable experience for a unit struggling to find its footing.
He joins fellow newcomers Laken Tomlinson and Mekhi Becton as the Packers try to get things corrected up front. Tomlinson joined the active roster Monday, while Becton joined the practice squad. Their roles against Tampa Bay still need to take shape, but Green Bay has clearly recognized that this group needs help.
The question now is how quickly those additions can turn into better football.
Whatever combination the Packers put on the field Sunday has to communicate, handle movement and finish blocks. A missed assignment can wipe out a run before the back can decide. Pressure through the middle can force Love to rush a throw before his receivers finish their routes.
Zeitler’s experience gives Green Bay reason to expect more stability inside. But the Packers need that improvement to show up in the running lanes and in the space Love has to step into his throws.
The running backs have responsibilities here, too. When a crease opens, they have to recognize it and get through it. There is a difference between letting a block develop and hesitating until an available hole closes. The Packers cannot afford to leave yards on the field while they search for the perfect opening.
Not every carry needs to go for 15 yards. Sometimes, taking the four yards in front of you is exactly what the offense needs. Those gains create manageable second and third downs. They give LaFleur more options and keep Love from having to rescue another possession with a difficult throw.
That is what these additions need to help Green Bay establish: an offense that can line up, win a block, and consistently take the available yards to keep a drive alive.
Jordan Love Needs to Trust the Pocket Again
Watching Love this season, I keep thinking about his first career start in Kansas City.
The circumstances are different, and Love is a much more experienced quarterback now. But some of the discomfort looks familiar. At times, he seems to react to the rush before the passing play has a chance to develop.
There is a difference between getting the ball out quickly because the offense calls for it and getting it out quickly because you expect to get hit. Too often, Love’s early throws have looked like the latter to me.
That is an observation, not a claim that we can know what he is thinking on every snap. But when a quarterback cannot get comfortable behind his line, it can affect his feet, his timing, and the decisions that follow.
Kansas City overwhelmed Green Bay with pressure in that 2021 start. Afterward, LaFleur acknowledged problems with the protection, the answers he provided against the blitz, and the offense’s run-pass balance. That game reminded everyone that helping the quarterback takes more than asking him to handle everything himself.
Love needs cleaner protection and accessible answers against pressure. He also needs to take the completions that are available, reset his feet when the pocket allows it, and avoid letting the previous hit dictate the next throw.
A few successful possessions can help rebuild that trust. It is easier to settle into a game when the offense can run the ball, complete a manageable throw, and pick up a first down without needing something extraordinary.
Give the Defense More Than Another Short Break
We can talk about what the Packers need to fix defensively, but the offense has a role in how that unit holds up.
Repeated short possessions send the defense back onto the field before it has much time to recover. Over a full game, that workload can become a problem. Green Bay cannot keep asking its defense to make another stop while the offense struggles to string together first downs.
A touchdown on one explosive play is still a touchdown. Nobody should complain about taking six points when the opportunity is there. The concern is what happens when that opportunity does not arrive.
Can the Packers move the ball anyway? Can they convert a third down, overcome a modest gain, and finish a possession without relying on a defensive mistake?
Longer drives only help if the offense does something with them. Holding the ball for several minutes and coming away empty is not the goal.
Green Bay needs possessions that produce points while also giving its defense a chance to recover. That is how the offense can start helping the entire team.
The Packers Must Take A Step Forward in Tampa
The Packers do not have to solve every offensive problem this week. They do have to show us that they can put a drive together and then do it again.
That means blocking well enough to establish the run, backs finding the available holes and Love looking comfortable enough to execute from the pocket. It also means LaFleur staying patient with an approach that can build momentum instead of constantly searching for a play that changes everything.
We know a big throw can wake this offense up. What we need to find out against Tampa Bay is whether the Packers can sustain that energy.
Give us a drive that crosses the field one first down at a time. Finish it with points. Then come back out and build another.
The defense needs that help, and the offense needs that confidence. Green Bay has to start giving both units a reason to believe the next possession will be better.
