The Green Bay Packers are an Absolute Mess

The Green Bay Packers came into this season with high expectations after getting eliminated by the Chicago Bears in the Wild Card round last season. This season was supposed to be a rebound from last year and a chance to win the NFC North. After last season, questions arose about whether head coach Matt LaFleur was the right person to lead the team, and the team debated his future.

Ultimately, the Packers decided to extend LaFleur and have him around to lead the team once again. This decision, however, could come back to bite the Packers, as this season has not gone off the way the Packers had hoped for. The Packers could very well be 0-3 right now if it wasn’t for a late-game comeback in Week 2 against the Jets. 

Unfortunately for the Packers, they are coming off a very bad performance on Thursday Night Football, where they got embarrassed in their home opener against the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons won the game 35-14, and the whole time it seemed the Falcons had their way with the Packers and were able to run all over them with their superstar running back, Bijan Robinson Jr. Michael Penix Jr., who made his season debut against the Packers, looked comfortable throughout the whole game and was able to hit his players with easy looks and march down the field with ease at times. 

Penalties: 

One of the big reasons the Packers have been struggling is the amount of penalties that have been called against them. The Packers lead the league in penalties called against them with 26. Green Bay has given up over 200 yards in penalties, and that is not a good way to win football games. 

For the Packers, it was a highlight, especially in their week one game against the Vikings, where the Packers were seemingly in position to put the game away, but penalties during the fourth quarter prevented the Packers from doing so and ultimately let the Vikings come back and eventually win the game. If the Packers want any chance at a turnaround this season, they need to be more disciplined with the penalties and try to play clean football. 

Injuries and Suspensions: 

Another reason why the Packers have been struggling to start the season is injuries and possible suspensions that are looming. While we know that Packers star running back Josh Jacobs will be suspended some time this season, it’s still unclear for how long he will be out, as it could be as little as a couple of games or six games, or possibly even a season, depending on the severity of the punishment the NFL intends to give Jacobs. 

As far as injuries, obviously the biggest one is still star pass rusher Micah Parsons, who suffered a torn ACL last season and is still recovering from it. Parsons is still on the PUP list and will not be able to play until at least week five or possibly longer depending on his status. The offensive line already was banged up, but arguably their best offensive lineman, Zach Bako-Bewele, suffered a season-ending knee injury in week two, which will put him on the shelf. In week three’s game against the Falcons, the loss of him showed as the Packers couldn’t handle the Falcons blitzing and were able to cause Jordan Love trouble in the pocket.

There’s now a big question of how much longer the Packers front office can give Matt LaFleur before ultimately cutting ties altogether. What once was a team destined to pick up where they left off last season is now a team fighting to keep up not only in the division but in the NFC altogether. If the Packers don’t get it together soon, we could see a major shakeup in Titletown.