The Green Bay Packers team isn’t good enough to win this year. The present is not bright, and the team has to be realistic about what they can do to make it easier for them to rebuild in the near future. That might include being sellers at the trade deadline and giving young pieces more playing time.
The offensive coaching staff is another consideration.
My colleague Matt Hendershott wrote last week that the Packers miss former offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett and former quarterbacks coach Luke Getsy. That’s even clearer after Sunday’s 23-21 loss to the Washington Commanders. The offense definitely lacks talent, but it’s not like the Commanders have a lot of talent. They had Taylor Heinicke at quarterback and were missing pieces in the offensive line. The New York Giants are also producing more with similar talent, and they beat the Packers two weeks ago.
It’s evident that there are coaching issues. Every Packers offensive player except for Aaron Jones is performing below expectations.
Moving Adam Stenavich to offensive coordinator made sense when the Packers did it in the offseason. He was a great offensive line coach who elevated the level of play of his unit for three seasons. Also, there were no other great options after Getsy decided to go to the Chicago Bears, where he could be the offensive play-caller.
But after seven weeks, it’s fair to say the experiment hasn’t gone well. The offense is inept, especially on third down. On Sunday, they were 0-6 in these situations, including two three-and-outs.
Moreover, the offensive line misses Stenavich’s presence. That’s why the unit needed to be reshuffled for the Washington game. Four of the five linemen were either not playing last week or in different positions.
If the Packers conduct a thorough review, they will probably find it necessary to add offensive minds next season — and maybe move Stenavich back to his old spot as an offensive line coach. If that’s the case, it’s also time to test new minds as soon as possible. Paramount among them is running backs coach Ben Sirmans.
Sirmans is a position coach with a solid track record. He’s worked in the NFL since 2012, and he’s been the Packers’ running backs coach since 2016. That means Mike McCarthy hired him, and Matt LaFleur decided to keep him, which is usually a good sign. Additionally, Sirmans coaches Aaron Jones, the only player on the Packers’ offense who has lived up to expectations.
The change would be a way to show a willingness to use Jones in more varied ways. It would also be an opportunity to test Sirmans should there be potential coaching changes next year.
The Packers have other offensive coaches who could have greater responsibilities, but it looks like they are not capable of excelling in their current roles. Green Bay brought Tom Clements back because of his relationship with Aaron Rodgers, but the quarterback is playing what might be the worst football of his career. Jason Vrable is the wide receivers coach and passing-game coordinator. He runs what is considered the worst unit on the Packers’ roster. While lack of talent is one reason for their struggles this year, they haven’t been able to perform. In general, the passing game has been significantly inferior to the incarnation of the previous two seasons.
At this point of the season, there aren’t many things the Packers can do to improve what looks like a broken unit. It’s hard to add significant talent, and one might argue the Packers shouldn’t spend now. Every dollar or draft pick will probably be more useful next year when a rebuild is on the horizon.
At the same time, there’s no reason to just roll along for the rest of the season doing the same things. LaFleur is a good head coach and will be in Green Bay for the foreseeable future, so the play-caller won’t change. But some tweaks are possible, and adjusting the offensive staff to try new things and go back to some strategies that worked before might be the only realistic modification the Packers can make during the season.
