Packers opening drive success must improve in 2023

The Green Bay Packers will face plenty of uphill battles this season, but there is one area that could make everything just a bit easier: Opening drive touchdowns.

Going back to 2021, the Packers have just four opening drive touchdowns. This is tied with two other teams (Broncos, Giants), for the second-worst mark in the NFL over that span. Considering that this was with future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers running the show, this is a big cause for concern.

Green Bay has nine fewer opening drive touchdowns than one of their division rivals, Minnesota, and has half as many as Chicago and Detroit. In fact, the Vikings are tied with three Super Bowl-contending teams in Buffalo, Kansas City, and Philadelphia atop the list while the Packers are bringing up the rear with teams who certainly need a lot of work.

While this number is far from a true metric to judge the success of a franchise, being able to put pressure on an opponent from the start is significantly better than the alternative of pressure being placed upon them.

Packers may not have an immediate turnaround with their quarterback change

Turning the keys of the offense over to Jordan Love may not result in a better performance at first.

Love is still a very green quarterback in the grand scheme of things and there are plenty of things he is yet to experience at the professional level. There is going to be an adjustment period for Love and that could mean some early-game struggles as he is still getting used to playing at the NFL level.

If there is one thing that could directly result in a better performance on opening drives it is the offense of Matt LaFleur.

This type of offense is known to be meticulous and methodical, with other teams running variants of it being more successful when opening games. Perhaps this trend transfers over to Green Bay as they look to ease Love into being a full-time NFL starter.

More Packers news and analysis