Green Bay Packers: Golden opportunties not turning to green in the red zone
OK, Green Bay Packers fans, how many times have we seen your team’s offense run and pass the ball down inside the 20 yard line and stall out?
How many times have you seen the Packers’ defense come up with a turnover in the opponent’s territory and give the ball to the offense – only to see the offense drop a pass or fail to convert a 3rd and one?
Plenty?
I agree.
But they aren’t as bad as one might think when thrown into the pot with the rest of the teams in the National Football League.
In fact, in 2015 they were nearly in the middle of the pack when it comes to scoring touchdowns in the red zone.
Of course, all that comes to mind are the opportunities this team had in the championship game last year at Seattle. The Packers could have put that game out of reach early in the first half had they scored one or two of the times they were in the red zone against the Seahawks.
Had they scored, they would have been in the Super Bowl.
This season, what comes immediately to mind for me are the games against Carolina, Minnesota and Chicago – when the Packers had chances at the end zone and couldn’t finish.
So many times we saw dropped passes, bad throws from Aaron Rodgers or receivers who couldn’t peel away from defensive backs. Some of the red zone instances to which I refer came with the clock running down and the Packers in do-or-die situations.
In those types of downs, defenses and offenses have a small field with which to work – a fact that favors the defense in many instances.
With only a small window of space in which to maneuver, it’s difficult for receivers to find the hole and open spots – that’s a fact. But there have been seasons when the Packers were one of the best in finding those holes and in coverting red zone opportunities into touchdowns.
Not so much in 2015.
According to teamrankings.com, the Packers found the end zone on 53.85 percent of their chances inside the red zone … that provided them with a league-wide ranking of 18th.
Clearly, that doesn’t cut it and could have made the difference in at least a couple of the games they lost in the waning seconds this season.
What’s really pathetic and frustrating for Packers fans are the statistics over the course of the final three games of the season when the Packers converted just 18 percent of their red zone opportunities into touchdowns.
Yes, that’s 18 percent!
Against the Vikings in the game when Aaron Rodgers said his team would “show up,” the Packers converted 25 percent of their chances.
Do you wonder why they scored just 13 points in that game for the NFC North championship?
Of all teams, it was the Detroit Lions who had the top ranking this season – converting touchdowns in the red zone 69.39 percent of the time. They were followed by the Carolina Panthers, who converted 68.25 percent of the time.
Rounding out the top five were the New York Jets (66.04 percent), New England Patriots (65.57 percent) and Cincinnati Bengals (65.52 percent).
While it’s clear that a high percentage of conversions in this category doesn’t guarantee overall team success (see the Lions and Jets), it surely has an impact on games when a team can score seven points over a three-point field goal.
Given the ineptitude of the Packers’ offense in 2015, even getting half of those opportunities back and turning them into touchdowns could have had a significant impact on the team’s overall record.
But that’s hindsight.
What the Packers need to do in the “new season” of the playoffs is try to improve on that 18 percent average they have turned in over the past three games. Green Bay needs to score touchdowns when they are in a position to do so.
More from Lombardi Ave
- Packers: Picks in NFL.com mock draft would be a home run
- Packers salary cap update following second week of free agency
- Packers’ cornerback depth chart after second week of free agency
- Packers’ edge rusher depth chart after second week of free agency
- Packers’ tackle depth chart after second week of free agency
Wasted efforts will sink ships quickly and when it comes to the playoffs, it will be important for Green Bay to put points on the board.
One touchdown and a couple of field goals ain’t gonna do it.
As a side note, the Packers opponent this weekend, the Washington Redskins was ranked eighth overall, converting red zone opportunities into touchdowns 61.22 percent of the time.
So when the Packers get inside the 20 this weekend, let’s see how they do.
Getting into the end zone is the name of the game.
If the Green Bay Packers don’t do it this weekend, we’ll be sitting at home next weekend watching the Redskins travel to Carolina to take on the Panthers in the second round of the playoffs.