Randy from Klamath Falls, OR
Just watched Sean McVay’s press conference from Thursday night after the Rams’ loss. If you only heard the audio, you might have thought it was our coach. He took the blame for not putting his players in a position to win at the end, for the play call, and more. Sounds like a real leader, leading. Plus, they have had four kicks blocked. I think we are going to be OK with the direction our coach takes the team.
The amount of blocked kicks this year leaguewide is staggering.
Wes, is it overly simplistic to think we could see a clear indicator in each phase that would signal the Packers have learned from Q1 of the season and are moving on up? What will you be looking for as a sign of growth (against the Bengals)?
Curtail the unforced errors – penalties, protection issues, etc. The Packers are going to make mistakes. Jordan Love will throw another interception at some point, and somebody will fumble this season. But correcting the mental/pre-snap errors can absolve of you of the competitive mistakes.
Clipton from Pasadena, CA
We Insiders have been critical of ML for game management but the Rams’ loss to the Niners offers some perspective. Sean McVay is considered one of the premier coaches in the NFL and yet has been criticized for losing two close games this year to game management. The NFL is a tough, competitive business with narrow margins for error. Even the best make mistakes. To quote the classic line from the film “Some Like It Hot,” finally a cultural reference for older Insiders: “Nobody’s perfect!”
The view is different in the arena, too.
Bret from Stevensville, MT
I have been a Packers fan for more than 60 years. That leads to occasional flashbacks to previous teams when watching games. The Cleveland game was a déjà vu moment to the Scott Hunter-led Packers. Great defense, no offense. The Dallas game was a reminder of the Lynn Dickey-led Packers. Great offense, no defense. My wife and I will be traveling from Montana to attend the Bengals game. Can you dial up a combination of the two? Explosive offense plus smothering defense? Thanks in advance.
As Matt LaFleur said before the break, Green Bay has yet to play a game where all three phases have been clicking in concert with one another. Hopefully, the Packers edge closer to that goal against Cincinnati.
Jonathan from Lake Geneva, WI
Earlier in the week you stated that the players during the bye week could not practice Thursday through Sunday. Did the team watch film or practice Monday through Wednesday this week?
The team worked through Wednesday, I believe.
Maybe a good question for a bye week. For the third year in a row, the Packers are the youngest team in the NFL. The Packers’ model is primarily draft and develop, with almost all draft picks making the team in the year drafted. That puts about 40 players on the roster on their first contract. Sprinkle in a handful of second contracts, free agents and specialists and you get to 53. So how do you get to not be the youngest team? Any stats on average number of players on their first contract?
The Packers committed themselves to this path during the transition from Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Love in 2023, but I don’t think it was purely wanting to “get younger.” Green Bay needed to clean up its books a little but also drafted well from 2022-24. When you have an abundance of homegrown talent, there’s less need to sign veterans like Brian Gutekunst did in his first few seasons as general manager.
Is it just me, or is Jordan Love not one of the best at handoff sleight-of-hand as to is he keeping it or is it already done? He fools the camera guys all the time.
The two biggest traits that carry over from Love’s time behind Rodgers are his ability to catch defenses with 12 men on the field and the guitar-fake handoff.
Is Chris Brooks injured? I don’t remember seeing any news item about that. He was conspicuously missing the last couple of games.
There’s only so many snaps to go around, especially with a workhorse No. 1 back like Jacobs. Wilson also played more snaps in Dallas.