Packers: Three ways they can make Super Bowl run

1. Don’t let special teams become a problem

I’m not asking for much here. The Packers’ don’t need to have the league’s best special teams play all of a sudden. They just can’t let this phase of the game cost them a victory.

No big mistakes. That includes fumbles, bad punts, or awful coverage. We’ve seen it all from Green Bay on special teams this year.

Excluding Mason Crosby, who was perfect on field goals, it’s been a disaster in this phase of the game for the Packers in 2020.

On kickoff returns, the Packers rank 31st. On punt returns they are 30th. When it comes to yards allowed on punt returns, no team is allowing a higher average per return than Green Bay at 17.1. Eight punts have been returned for touchdowns in the entire NFL this season. A quarter of them were against the Packers.

The good news is that Green Bay only punted 46 times in the regular season, fourth-fewest in the NFL. Long may that continue.

We can accept the Packers not picking up many yards on kickoffs or punts. They can manage that. Just don’t fumble the ball away as Tavon Austin did in Week 17 (fortunately, only leading to three points for the Chicago Bears) or give away touchdowns when punting away as we’ve seen the Packers do twice this season.

We don’t need to see perfect special teams. In fact, they don’t even need to be that good. Just don’t be so bad that it costs this team a playoff game.

Let’s root for OK special teams play from the Green Bay Packers.