For what it’s worth, the Green Bay Packers earned the hype that grew exponentially after the first two weeks of the season. Beating up on two NFC contenders from last year to open the season with a smothering defense is going to open eyes around the league.
But there’s a reason only one team has ever run the gauntlet, and it’s the same reason most teams don’t bother talking about a potential undefeated season after two games; it’s not just hard, it’s damn near impossible.
But the analysts, experts, and media folks can’t help themselves. After those two dominating performances, they strapped Super Bowl expectations on the Packers only to watch the team sputter into its BYE Week with an underwhelming tie. That speaks to the annoying nature of the industry, more than anything.
Still, the Super Bowl expectations, which can still be fulfilled, came with this air of perfection and utter dominance after just two games, as if Green Bay didn’t display some issues that shouldn’t have been so easily dismissed.
Hype machine ignored the obvious hurdles holding Green Bay back
Sure, Packers fans have had reason to draw parallels on why it’s fate that draws Green Bay to Super Bowl LX. Quarterback Jordan Love is playing at a new level in his age-27 season. Micah Parsons is the defensive piece the young unit needed to lean on. There are young playmakers everywhere you look to play the supporting cast of a championship-caliber team.
And all of that can be true. Even if the hype was overblown, the Packers certainly are capable of winning it all.
But the hype was overblown. Too many folks who claim to look over the game with a microscope overlooked the obstacles this team would have to overcome to get to that point.
Three things hold Green Bay back: youth, an inconsistent rushing attack, and poor special teams play.
The youngest roster in the NFL, understandably, is still learning how to win and how to play at an exceptionally high level every week. That’s not something that is learned overnight, or an upgrade you earn because you thrashed a representative of each of the past two NFC Championship Games. It grows over time.
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Still, one aspect where the youth of the roster is really holding the team back is in penalties. The Packers’ 35 penalties through four weeks are the third-highest total in the league.
The rushing attack’s shortcomings largely rest on the offensive line, which isn’t a healthy unit at this point in the season. The offense is trying to give Josh Jacobs opportunities, but even with his 80 carries leading the NFL, his 3.3 yards per carry average ranks 24th in the league.
Special teams play has been bad in Green Bay for a while, but the reality is that Rich Bisaccia isn’t going anywhere. Every team has a weakness; this one is Green Bay’s.
Each of these shortcomings was overlooked in the pursuit of crowning an early-season Super Bowl favorite. Only the struggles running the ball consistently well should come as a surprise, but the other two didn’t magically spring up out of nowhere.
Still, the NFL season is a winding story with curves and edges that shape teams by season’s end. Every team goes through something they have to learn from or find a few extra hurdles to overcome. Green Bay is no different.
Realistically, the Packers have solvable problems, and their strengths are enough to carry them very far into the postseason.