How The Packers Avoid A Letdown In Week 15

When Green Bay won Super Bowl II, coach Vince Lombardi had the words, “Run to Win,” engraved on his championship rings—a reference to the Bible verse in 1 Corinthians 9:24: “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.”

Lombardi was blessed with a great running game powered by a legendary offensive line in the 1960s, but the modern version of the Packers would benefit from their former coach. The current running attack is led by Josh Jacobs, who has 817 yards rushing this season and is on pace for his fifth 1000-yard season.

Green Bay is currently 9-3-1, and while their wins are important, it is just as vital to investigate their losses.

Thus far in 2025, the Packers are averaging just over 117 yards rushing per game and 4.1 yards per carry. Over their last four games, all wins, they have gained 123 yards on the ground per contest.

Any offensive coordinator at any level of football would argue that a team that can run the ball successfully puts itself in a better position to win. Many things happen as a result of a powerful ground game. The biggest bonus is that the opponent’s defense is forced to stay on the field longer and face fatigue earlier than usual. In the last four games, the Packers have held the ball for 30:53 of the game’s 60 minutes. By way of comparison, their overall average time of possession for all 13 games dips to 29:47.

Another plus of a prosperous running attack that does not show up on the stat sheet is the psychological effect it has on a defense. The pounding the front seven absorbs takes its toll physically and mentally over the course of a football game. The will to keep coming back for more punishment wanes as the yards pile up.

The Packers will face a stiff challenge to continue their positive ground game in Denver on Sunday. The running lanes will be a little tougher to manage against the stingy Broncos defense, which is second only to Jacksonville in giving up just 89 rushing yards per game.

LaFleur described the upcoming meeting with Sean Payton’s team as a “hell of a test,” via Matt Schneidman of The Athletic.

Denver ranks fourth in the league in both yards and points allowed, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. The Broncos’ formidable unit ranks first in fewest yards per carry allowed (3.7) and tied for first in yards per pass attempt (5.0).

The biggest reason for the second number is a league-best 55 sacks, which is 11 more than any other team and on pace to break Denver’s single-season franchise record of 63 sacks, which the Broncos set just last year.

LaFleur knows the test Denver poses to his team.

“Every week’s a new challenge, and this is going to be one of the toughest challenges to date,” he said. “We’re going to have our work cut out for us.”

Packers Fans Are Singing “All You Need Is Love”

As Jordan Love goes, so do the Packers. The statistics explain this saying crystal clearly in 2025.

In the Packers’ nine wins, Love has a quarterback rating of 111.9, which would rank him third behind the Rams’ Matthew Stafford and New England’s Drake Maye.

It is what happened in Green Bay’s three losses that tells the story. Against Cleveland (89.2), Carolina (80.1), and Philadelphia (68.8), Love registered three of his four worst quarterback ratings of the season. His performance in those three games averages out to a rating of 79.4, which would place him 32nd in the league.

For the entirety of the season, Love ranks fourth in quarterback rating with an exceptional 105.4. Because of Denver’s propensity for stopping the run, he must maintain his clutch play, especially on third downs. Against the Bears, Green Bay converted on eight of its 12 times facing third down. Keeping the offense on the field–and their defense off of it–may be the recipe Love needs to continue cooking in December.

End Of Packers Rant: Green Bay Has A Chance To Make A League-Wide Statement

The Packers currently find themselves as the NFC’s second seed, but they are just one-half game ahead of the 7th-seeded Bears in the NFC North. In other words, there is very little margin for error when playing December football.

Green Bay has a wonderful chance to announce its presence with authority on Sunday. Beating the AFC’s top team will make a statement not only to themselves and Cheesehead Nation, but to the rest of the league that they are for real. For that to happen, they must avoid a complacent letdown at all costs.