Packers: No such thing as a meaningless win

Even though the Green Bay Packers’ game against the New York Jets had zero playoff implications, there were a lot of positives that came out of the win.

For the second season in a row, the Green Bay Packers will play their final few games knowing they will not be playing football in January.

However, winning these final games can do a lot of good for this football team.

Now, some fans may be upset that the Packers “hurt” their draft position or say that the win doesn’t matter, but a lot was accomplished in their victory against the Jets and more can be done against the Detroit Lions.

Young players need to learn how to win

During most of the Aaron Rodgers era in Green Bay, the Packers have been a winning football team, but over the course of the last two seasons that is not the case.

This will mark the second straight losing season, and for a roster with a number of young players in significant roles, they have yet to experience the winning nature that we have become accustomed to in Green Bay.

Although the Packers’ taped together defense struggled in New York, they held the Jets to just three points in the fourth quarter and overtime. They also held New York to a field goal at the end of regulation when their backs were against the wall after another special teams miscue.

It is instances like these that young players need to experience in order to improve, rather than just throwing in the towel.

Receivers building trust with Rodgers

It has been well documented that a reason for the Green Bay Packers’ offensive struggles this season has been because Aaron Rodgers and his young receivers have not been on the same page, or there is a lack of trust between them.

Well, for the most part against the Jets, we saw the Aaron Rodgers of old and a chemistry between him and his young receivers that we have rarely seen this season.

On Sunday, when Rodgers targeted Jake Kumerow, Equanimeous St. Brown or Marquez Valdes-Scantling, he completed 13 out of 17 passes for 237 yards and a touchdown.

Something has been missing this season in the passing game, and Sunday’s performance against the Jets will give Rodgers and these receivers something to build off of heading into the offseason.

Securing a road win

To put it simply, in recent seasons the Packers have been awful away from Lambeau. Before the Jets game, Green Bay was winless on the road and had they lost, it would have been the first time since 1958 that they went an entire season without a road win.

Green Bay’s win Sunday also marked their first win on the road since Dec. 10, 2017 in Cleveland.

Had the Packers lost to New York, their winless season on the road would be talked about during the offseason and it would be a question that they would have to address in 2019 before every road game until they finally won.

Although it may seem minor, it is one less distraction this team will have to carry with them into 2019.

Carrying momentum into the offseason

The 2017 and 2018 seasons are set to end the same way, with the Packers missing the playoffs. However as it currently stands, Green Bay will be entering the offseason on a completely different trajectory than they did a year ago.

Green Bay’s final two games of 2017 against the Vikings and Lions were quite disappointing to say the least. Not because the Packers lost but because of how they lost. A number of players appeared uninterested and had no desire to be there, not how you want to end a season.

Yet against the Jets, we saw a team that was down at least 14 points at two different times, battle back through injuries and poor special teams play to win the game.

The effort and mindset within the locker room is far better than what we saw just one season ago and is something that we want this team to carry into the offseason.

Unfortunately the Packers are no longer fighting for a playoff spot, but these positives are something that they can build off of with one more week left in the season and looking ahead to 2019.

In what has been quite a disappointing season, it is important that the Packers win every game they can.