The Green Bay Packers, not unlike their charter plane, need to show more consistency and reliability moving forward.
Matt LaFleur talks about complementary football often enough during press conferences for us to know it’s a point of emphasis for the Green Bay head coach — and rightfully so.
To win in the NFL, all three phases of the team must complement one another to achieve success. And even though the Packers currently hold the second-best winning percentage in the NFC (the Buccaneers sit at .883 while the Packers are at .700), Green Bay honestly hasn’t shown enough complementary football to truly reach their goal — the Super Bowl.
This is especially true on the offensive side of the ball. Of course, the team needs to be smart when being aggressive, but punting on fourth and short isn’t always the answer. I’d also argue that not giving Jordan Love more opportunities to “cook” is another sign of a lack of aggressiveness.
Don’t get me wrong — Josh Jacobs is an absolute beast. But when Love has been given opportunities, he’s looked great — like a possible MVP-caliber player. If the offense can just be a little more consistent, it will allow the defense to stay off the field longer and not get overworked. That consistency needs to flow through Love, not just the running game.
In several games this season — as recently as against the Bengals — Green Bay has dominated in total yardage, but not on the scoreboard.
At halftime against Cincinnati, the Bengals had just 65 total net yards and four first downs, compared to the Packers’ 240 yards and 14 first downs. Yet, Green Bay led only 10–0.
That’s a lack of consistency and aggressiveness when it matters most.
The offense isn’t alone in the team’s lack of consistent complementary football. The defense is part of the equation too. Don’t get me wrong — the defense has played well — but they haven’t generated much in the way of turnovers.
The Green Bay defense ranks 31st in the NFL in takeaways. And while they’re forcing plenty of three-and-outs and red-zone stops, just having two turnovers isn’t enough. Turnovers set the offense up with great scoring opportunities — and the Packers defense hasn’t provided many of those. They need to find ways to be more aggressive in attacking the ball and forcing turnovers.
The Green Bay special teams unit seems destined for mediocrity. Actually, if they’re consistently near the bottom of the league, that’s worse than mediocre — that’s just bad. And special teams are crucial to ensuring complementary football.
If a return is botched or a penalty occurs, the offense’s chances of scoring drop significantly because they have a longer field to work with. The same goes in reverse — if the defense has to defend a short field, the opponent’s scoring chances increase.
And what determines starting field position more than anything? Special teams.
For the Packers to beat the Cardinals today (or if you’re reading this after the game, hopefully they already have), they need to build on consistency, aggressiveness, and complementary football.
If Green Bay does that, they’ll come out on top against the Arizona Cardinals:
Packers 31 – Cardinals 17
ChatGPT Prediction: Packers 30 – Cardinals 17
Green Bay establishes the lead, forces Arizona to play catch-up, and maintains control. The Cardinals may claw back somewhat, but the Packers won’t let it slip.
But either way —
Go Pack Go!
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