Three things Packers must improve vs. Vikings in Week 2

1. Third-down offense

Part of the Packers’ struggles on offense last season was the low third-down conversion. According to Team Rankings, the Packers had a third-down conversion percentage of just 36.76 in 2018, which ranked 22nd in the NFL. Or in other words — not good enough.

Matt LaFleur’s first game in charge of the offense didn’t lead to any improvements in this area. The Packers converted just two of 12 third-down attempts against the Bears last week, which works out at 16.7 percent. Again — nowhere near good enough.

Whether you’re up against an elite defense or not, that’s not a recipe for success.

And many of the same problems were there from last year, including the play clock draining all the way down. What this does is allow the pass rushers to fly off the snap as they know when it’s going to happen. You don’t want to give edge rushers like Khalil Mack that extra advantage. It’s no surprise, then, that four of the five sacks Green Bay allowed came on third down last week.

To have any success on offense not just this week, but all season, the Packers need to be more effective on third down. And that will likely come as a result of setting up more manageable third downs on the earlier downs.

Atlanta’s offense converted only two of eight third-down attempts against Minnesota last week. Green Bay will need to be much better.