close
close

Latest Post

Rookie Bo Nix takes on Sean Payton and stakes his claim as the leader of the red-hot Broncos Saints RB Alvin Kamara is on his way to doing something he has never done in his career

play

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The Green Bay Packers did what they had to against the undermanned Los Angeles Rams.

Taking advantage of the Rams' absence of standout receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua, the Packers put together a strong defensive performance in the final minutes of the game to leave SoFi Stadium with a 24-19 victory on Sunday.

But coach Matt LaFleur's team is still a far cry from the one that finished last season and is playing about as well as anyone in the NFL.

Even with this win, there's still a sense that the young Packers are struggling to adjust to the increased expectations of 2024 after a surprising turnaround in the second half of last season in which they weren't burdened by such weight had completed. This is especially true for quarterback Jordan Love, who carries the additional weight of a new contract.

Of course, Love's MCL injury, which cost him the second and third weeks of this young season, is also a factor in his uneven play early in the season. He is nearing, if not completely, full strength.

But either way, even with all of his receivers and tight ends back for 2023, LaFleur is still looking for the mix of personnel and play-calling, as well as good decision-making from his quarterback, that will have Love looking something like that down the home stretch play like he did last year.

“I talked to Jordan about it in the locker room,” LaFleur said after the game, “it seems like we're in a little bit of overdrive offensively in terms of either making the big plays and scoring points or it There are no big games and we punt. I would say we need to be a little more consistent, just make sure we get positive plays, stay in front of the sticks and try to stay out of (long) third downs as much as we can.”

Of course, winning counts the most and there are no style points. Just ask the undefeated Minnesota Vikings, who nearly blew a big lead in the final minute against the New York Jets in London on Sunday, just a week after nearly blowing a 28-point lead against the Packers. No matter how they got there, the Vikings are 5-0 and atop the NFC.

Jordan Love, the Packers offense lives and dies by the big play

But the Packers' offense needs to be better to put up points over the course of the season and keep the ball away from the likes of Detroit, San Francisco and the Vikings. The Packers were outgained 370 yards to 323 by the undermanned Rams, and Love lived and died by the big play – a high-stakes 53-yard bomb to Jayden Reed that set up a touchdown and a 66-yard catch-and- led by Tucker Kraft, who scored another goal.

It's looking more and more like LaFleur will have to execute his game plans for Malik Willis to get the best out of Love. It's certainly no coincidence that Love was at his best late last season when Aaron Jones was healthy and threatening defenses in the run game. Love's life will become a lot easier if the Packers lean a little more on Josh Jacobs, Emanuel Wilson and the versatile Reed in the run game, especially early in the game.

As Love gets healthier, he will also be able to take more snaps from center instead of pistol or shotgun, which will benefit the action game. But even in that game, where there wasn't much time under center, the Packers' offense sped up in the second half as Jacobs, Wilson and Reed combined for 15 carries and Jacobs added a whopping 21 yards with a pass on the screen .

“Something we can lean on a lot more going forward is the running game,” Love said. “(Jacobs) is a great player.”

Love has been a higher-risk pitcher this season than he was in the second half of last year. He threw five interceptions in three games after throwing only three in the last ten games (including playoffs) in 1923.

His interception on Sunday was a doozy and looked like an old young Brett Favre. Love was about to be sacked for a safety against the end line and tried to blindly hurl the ball out of bounds to Kraft. But the ball didn't make it out of bounds, and safety Jaylen McCullough intercepted it and returned it 4 yards for the pick-six that put the Packers behind 13-7 in the second quarter.

“I'm falling and I don't have enough strength,” Love said of the play. “Honestly, just throw it in the ground. Don't put air on the ball, just throw it up. I couldn't see where anyone was. Just throw it on the ground and don't allow any chance of a foul play happening.

“Try to cross the border. But don't put it in danger or try to make a bad game even worse. Looking back, a safety is definitely better than a pick-six.”

Still, the Packers benefited from Love's higher risk tolerance early in the game, as he fired a deep shot to Reed, who had three defenders around him as he somehow came down with the ball on the Rams' 2nd first Packers touchdown.

“It’s not necessarily encouraging,” LaFleur said of the throw, “but he also has a lot of confidence in the guys around him.”

Tight end Tucker Kraft becomes a problem for the defense

LaFleur is also finding that Kraft can handle an expanding role in the Packers' offense. Kraft's blocking is a boon for the run game, but his running after the catch has also become a real problem for defenses. On the 66-yard touchdown, he stiff-armed cornerback Darious Williams' tackle and then roped down the sideline with the help of Dontayvion Wicks' block. Kraft had a second touchdown catch as he fought his way into the end zone on a 7-yard screen, giving the Packers a 24-19 lead.

“Every time he touches the ball he's trying to score,” Love said of Kraft, “and he's not going to go down lightly, he's going to run over people and stay up top.” He does really good things when he puts the ball in has his hands, so I’ll definitely continue to try to find ways to get him the ball.”

LaFleur is to be encouraged that Love looked more mobile than he has in the last two weeks – he had a big 12-yard scramble that converted a third-down deficit on a clock-eating drive in the fourth quarter. It is a sign that love is actually getting closer to its full strength.

The coach also needs to realize that although Love makes the mistakes of a young quarterback, he led the Packers back to within a score last week after a 28-point deficit against the Vikings and then made his pick-six with haste At the end of the half, he managed to build a lead that put the Packers up 13-10, despite struggling for much of the game up to that point.

“That’s one of his superpowers,” LaFleur said of Love’s resilience. “We’ve seen it since the day he was drafted. He just doesn't blink when the pressure comes. Last year was a good example of this: the difficulties we had and his ability to overcome them. That drive where you naturally throw a pick-six is ​​never fun. I think that’s what he’s all about, being able to get us there on the two-minute drive and get us some crucial points even though it was really hard to get points.”

On By John Fenwick

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Post