The ending of the story of the Green Bay Packers season has not yet been written, but we have a pretty good idea of what’s likely to happen.
If the Packers and Washington Commanders win next weekend, Green Bay’s path to the Super Bowl would include a stop in Philadelphia and then Minnesota or Detroit. Green Bay is 0-5 against those three teams this season. While they’ve been somewhat competitive in most of those games, they have given us no indication that they have what it takes to get over the hump.
The loss in Minneapolis was just the latest example. Much like the first meeting, the Pack started slowly, then fought and clawed their way back from a three-score deficit to make the Vikings sweat just a little. This one didn’t feel as lopsided early. But, like the Week 4 matchup, Minnesota looked like the better team for more than 75% of the game.
The Pack wins the toss, takes the ball, and drives into Minnesota territory, only to see Josh Jacobs kill the momentum by putting the ball on the ground. The defense gets a stop, and Green Bay marches down the field, gets inside the five, and, tail between their legs, settles for a field goal. The next time they approach the red zone, they pass on the field goal and go for it on fourth down, only to watch Jayden Reed whiff, and they turn it over on downs.
Green Bay has a chance to move into field goal range at the end of the half to cut Minnesota’s lead to four, only to have two pre-snap penalties swing the game by six points. The first negated a third-down conversion into Vikings territory, and they punted one play later. The second gave kicker Will Reichard a second, shorter chance at a long field goal to extend the lead to 10 at intermission.
Those kinds of sequences turn games, and they’ve been an all too common occurrence this season. But, big picture, the offense looked shaky all afternoon. Jordan Love was never comfortable because none of his receivers were open. I was sitting in the end zone – trust me – the WRs were getting no separation. Brian Flores switched things up by playing a ton of man coverage, correctly assuming that without Christian Watson on the field, he didn’t have to worry about the Pack stinging his defense deep.
Why didn’t Matt LaFleur counter by using Jacobs as a receiver and hitting them with screens, like Kevin O’Connell did to Jeff Hafley? Where was the creative, punishing running attack that sometimes includes eight guys getting carries? Why did Jayden only account for six more yards than I did? The Vikings struggle big time against slot receivers, and Love only looked Reed’s way four times.
Why weren’t the tight ends more involved if the receivers were having a tough time shaking free? It was just a disjointed offensive game plan that wasn’t up to the task against one of the league’s best defenses.
The defensive performance wasn’t any better. Once again, the unit was stout against the run, one of the team’s most positive developments this year. The pass rush? Not so much. With Hafley not willing to blitz, as short-handed as he was in the secondary (and it got worse when safety Zayne Anderson was lost due to a concussion), it was incumbent on the pass rush to win often and hassle Sam Darnold.
Remember, Minnesota is playing without stud left tackle Christian Darrisaw. It’s inexcusable not to exploit the matchup with Cam Robinson. The Vikes’ mushy interior of the line is mediocre at best, but they got the upper hand on Sunday.
Rashan Gary has been an extreme disappointment this season, and Lukas Van Ness and Kingsley Enagbare look like depth pieces for your front seven – not necessarily guys who can impact the game play in and play out.
Yes, it was nice to see the team battle back late. It was encouraging to see Love get a rhythm going, with Romeo Doubs and Tucker Kraft making some big plays to help get the Packers on the scoreboard and make it look like a closer game than it actually was.
The Packers are 1-4 in the North and will have a chance to beat the Chicago Bears again on Sunday to prove they can handle one division opponent this year. It remains to be seen which players who missed Sunday’s game will be back and, more importantly, how healthy this team will be come Wild Card weekend.
We know the Packers have very little margin for error when they play the NFC’s best teams. Have they learned from the mistakes that have plagued them all season? Will LaFleur be ready to counterpunch against the elite defensive coordinators he’ll likely face in January?
It would be fun to flip through the book and read the last page of Green Bay’s 2024 story, but that ending hasn’t been written yet. Narratives and storylines can flip on a dime.
The Packers are hoping that becomes the moral of their 2024 story.
