Packers: Positives can be taken away from important Week 2 win

It wasn’t as easy as the Green Bay Packers would’ve expected after a dominant first quarter, but a win is a win, and many positives can be taken away from the Week 2 victory against the Minnesota Vikings.

How about this fact? The Green Bay Packers have now won consecutive games for the first time since Weeks 13 and 14 of the 2017 season. And they are 2-0 for the first time since 2015.

Not only are they 2-0, but both victories came against division opponents. It means the Packers are the only team in the division with a perfect record after two weeks, and it puts them in first place.

So let’s talk about the game.

It couldn’t have started any better.

The offense got things rolling with three straight touchdown drives, and they made it look easy. In between, the Vikings missed a field goal and then the Packers defense forced a fumble.

But the Packers lost all that momentum when Dalvin Cook broke out a 75-yard touchdown run out of nowhere. It was back to a two-score game, and mistakes began to pile up for Green Bay.

A Geronimo Allison fumble. A turnover on downs. A botched snap leading to a turnover. Jaire Alexander missing two potential interceptions, one resulting in a touchdown. You name it.

But once again, it was the defense that came through. It was far from a perfect performance by Mike Pettine’s defense. They allowed 198 yards and a touchdown on the ground and gave up too many big plays.

However, all that matters is the final scoreline. And the Packers defense allowed just 16 points, four conversions on 13 third downs, and they forced four turnovers. That’s a strong performance overall.

There’s a lot to be learned for this team moving forward. The offense is still very much a work in progress. But the key word there is progress — they showed it in the first quarter. It’s now important to build on those positives, address the negatives and aim to remain undefeated when the Denver Broncos visit Lambeau Field next week.