If there's one thing most Green Bay Packers fans can agree on, it's the fact that the team has to improve at their ability to get stops and help out their offense. Jordan Love has been doing some seriously heavy lifting to begin this season, but he cannot do it alone.
The team traded for Micah Parsons to add to an already formidable defensive line, but so far, the defense in general has been too inconsistent. That was on full display in Week 4 against the Dallas Cowboys, and it's something the team looks to work on during their bye week.
One thing they can rest their laurels on, though, is their proficiency at this one clutch stat that could do them a major justice come the postseason. The Packers are one of the best teams in the NFL through four weeks of action at both 3rd down conversions as well as at stopping other teams from getting a conversion on 3rd downs.
Packers excelling in this one clutch category
In a writeup on the status of NFC North teams, Detroit Lions team reporter Tim Twentyman shared the following statistical roundup:
"The Packers are the second best offense in the NFL on third down, converting on 53.7 percent (29-for-54) of their third down attempts on the season. Defensively, Green Bay ranks third on third down, limiting opponents to just a 32.7 percent (18-for-55) conversion rate."
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He added of the Packers' current struggles, "It's hard to get an early gauge on Green Bay given how good they've played in a couple games and how inconsistent they've been the last two weeks. It's still a very young roster - the youngest in the NFL - so the expectation is they'll continue to get grow and get better as the year goes on. They've let a couple opportunities slip through their fingers the last two weeks and those can end up being big when everything is added up and the playoff brackets are formulated at the end of the season."
Youth, inexperience, and growing pains seem to be the huge theme surrounding this Packers team seeking to establish themselves in a powerful division. Love isn't a neophyte anymore, and he's seen as the leader of a team looking to shake up the NFC North and the NFC in general. But, they can't do that with so many mental lapses holding them back on special teams and defense.
Still, while those lapses can bury them in the postseason, this proficiency at third downs on both sides of the ball can save them. Getting huge stops can be key against high octane offenses like that of the Lions, Los Angeles Rams, or even Philadelphia Eagles. This is a huge silver lining to think about when taking stock of these first four games of the Packers' season.