When the San Francisco 49ers travel to the Frozen Tundra this Saturday, it will be the fifth time the 49ers face the Green Bay Packers in the Matt LaFleur era. The Packers lost the first two matchups, including 2019’s NFC Championship Game. However, they won the next two, including Week 3 this year.
All four games took place at Levi’s Stadium. This fifth matchup will be the first battle at Lambeau Field. The Packers earned home-field advantage through the playoffs, and the cold weather should surely be an advantage for the Green and Gold.
Green Bay hasn’t lost a game at home this season. But even at home, they haven’t been able to overcome one of their biggest weaknesses this season: slow starts on offense. For the Packers to bring the Lombardi back to Titletown, they’ll need to overcome a weakness that has plagued the team all season long and in their previous playoff losses.
I’ve written about the Green Bay offense’s tendency to start games slow ad nauseam. Yet, since it remains an issue, let’s give a quick recap. Whether due to injuries, a need to get into a rhythm, or Aaron Rodgers‘ lack of practicing during the week, the Packers’ offense hasn’t been able to get moving in the first quarter. Week after week, they find themselves with a deficit entering the second quarter.
But then partway through the second quarter, the sleeping dragon awakes, and Rodgers and the offense go scorched earth. So far, the team has overcome their slow starts thanks to their energized play later in the game. But against better teams, Green Bay won’t have this luxury and playing from behind forces the offense to become one-dimensional.
In their past two playoff losses under LaFleur, slow starts were a common theme. All three phases needed to better, but you’ll be an offensive team when Aaron Rodgers is your quarterback. And an offensive team needs to put up points early and often.
In the NFC Championship Game, Green Bay entered halftime down 27-0 against San Francisco. The Packers didn’t put their first points up until an Aaron Jones touchdown with 8:44 in the third quarter. Green Bay would score 20 points, and Rodgers went 31/39 for 326 yards and two TDs. But it wasn’t enough to overcome the early deficit.
The loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the following season was much closer, but the same problems were apparent. LaFleur’s offense didn’t get on the board even in their own stadium until the early second quarter. They ended the first quarter down 7-0, and by halftime, they were down 21-10. Rodgers had a better outing than Tom Brady, with 33/48 passes completed, 346 yards, and three touchdowns. But it wasn’t enough to make up for the first-half lack of production.
Meanwhile, in the Packers’ playoff wins under LaFleur, the offense managed to strike first and control the game. A Davante Adams TD drew first blood in 2019 against the Seattle Seahawks, while a short Mason Crosby field goal put the Packers on the map against the Los Angeles Rams in 2020.
Green Bay is aware of the trend, as both LaFleur and Jones acknowledged the previous slow starts in their Tuesday press conferences.
“We’ve got to be the tone setters from the jump. I think that just starts out with us internally. We’ve got to get that done,” Jones told reporters.
“Obviously, you’d like to start fast,” LaFleur said.
Thankfully, there are reasons to believe the Packers can course correct. The Packers started much faster against the Detroit Lions with a promising opening script. LaFleur may dive deeper into his bag of plays in the playoffs, knowing the offense needs to score early, just like he did against Detroit.
The offensive line is also getting reinforcements, with David Bakhtiari and Josh Myers returning and a possibility of Billy Turner coming back. What Adam Stenavich did this season with a patchwork offensive line is nothing less than miraculous, but there is no substitute for getting your All-Pro left tackle and promising rookie center back. Finally, the Packers can play their best five offensive linemen.
A healthy offensive line brings the offense streets ahead. Rodgers can feel more confident in protection, allowing him to extend plays more efficiently. It takes pressure off the tight ends, running backs, and wide receivers in blocking, opening up more opportunities in the passing game. Run blocking should be much improved, letting Jones and A.J. Dillon feast more easily.
Rodgers has also been able to practice more after being limited by his toe the past two months. There shouldn’t be as much rust to shake off in the first quarter.
The Packers are in the fortuitous situation of getting healthy at a time where scoring early is critical. The excuses of midseason should be gone. To win the Super Bowl, Green Bay’s offense needs their offense to be boiling from the moment the whistle blows.
