The Green Bay Packers' 45-27 victory over the New England Patriots was a massive win for the team. Besides that, though, it showed just how well they can operate when playing this way and provided great reasoning for why they should.
The Packers' offense was obviously feeling itself. As a whole, the team earned 478 yards on offense, with Jordan Love totaling four touchdowns and both Christian Watson and Matthew Golden going over 150 receiving yards with a touchdown.
The much-maligned running game even got in on the fun, rushing for over 100 yards for the first time this season.
Packers' offense must maintain the fast tempo and aggression going forward
As a whole, the Packers' offense displayed a level of aggression and up-tempo play that, frankly, it rarely has this year. We've discussed in the past that one of the Packers' main issues, or Matt LaFleur's, to be more specific, is getting way too conservative when they shouldn't. The modern NFL is beginning to mirror the NBA in being a "game of runs," and a simple two-possession lead is no longer the safety net it used to be.
In many games both this season and in seasons past, the Packers have seen this play out all too well. Sunday's game against the Patriots also felt like it had the makings of that game. After going up 17-0, the Packers picked off Drake Maye for a second time, but promptly punted it away. After the Patriots scored, the Packers punted again on a drive filled with questionable plays.
Toward the end of the second half, after going up 24-14, the Packers' offense put up another questionable drive that included back-to-back plays to Savion Williams that resulted in a turnover on downs. In a game that felt like the Packers had been dominating for the entirety of the first half, owning only a 10-point lead showed that it was much closer.
Many, myself included, lamented the missed chances and wondered if the Packers would be heading toward another second half where they let a team back into a game they had no business being in.
That never happened, though. Instead, the Packers came out as aggressive as they'd ever been, and never let up. On their first three possessions in the second half, they scored 17 points and continued to display a level of play we haven't seen enough.
Packers lived up to Matt LaFleur's 'all gas, no brakes' mantra, but it must continue
It was pleasantly surprising to see the Packers keep trying to score on any given possession rather than simply run out the clock, and by the end of the third, their work had rewarded them. After being up 42-14, the Packers' offense essentially spent most of the fourth quarter in cruise control.
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They scored on just one of their three drives, but because they had spent the entire game being aggressive and going for big plays, there was little to no risk of the game getting close again. Better yet, the team's running game could even get some work.
Of course, the Packers can't win games like this all the time. As fun as it was, it's unlikely that a team will go into every Sunday throwing for 400 yards and scoring almost 50 points. However, while the exact game scripts are not replicable, the style of play certainly is.
Green Bay's offense is clearly at its best when it's attacking down the field and pushing the pace in the process. If the Packers want to reach their goals this season, they'd do well to think back to Sunday's game against the Patriots, which showed exactly why always keeping your foot on the pedal is worth it in the NFL.
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