There are no moral victories or style points in the NFL. Just win. That's all that counts.
While that statement is correct for the Green Bay Packers, who have won four of their six games and only lost one, it's also fair to point out that they don't look like a championship team. The Packers have followed two dominant victories over NFC contenders with four underwhelming performances, including Sunday's late victory over the Arizona Cardinals.
All-Pro safety Xavier McKinney agrees, and he gave a brutally honest assessment after the Week 7 win.
"It shouldn't even come down to the fourth quarter. I think we have a better team, and I don't think we played really up to our standard as much," said McKinney, via Ryan Wood of the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
"We'll get back to the film room and find ways to be better, but we for damn sure can't do this against good teams, because it's not going to work. I think the guys know that. Yeah, we're happy about the win, but we've got to be a lot better."
Xavier McKinney says what all Packers fans are worried about
The Packers will take ugly wins over beautiful victories any week, but McKinney is right. This level of play won't translate to victories against the NFC's top teams. It'll just be an ugly loss.
Many had already handed Green Bay the Lombardi Trophy after outscoring the Detroit Lions and Washington Commanders 54-31, but it's been a different story since then.
Matt LaFleur's offense failed against the Cleveland Browns. A week later, the defense fell apart against the Dallas Cowboys. The Packers held double-digit leads in both contests but walked away with a loss and a tie.
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Green Bay then had a bye week to prepare for the Cincinnati Bengals, who entered the game with a starting quarterback they signed just five days earlier. The Packers won, and they looked relatively comfortable, but it was far closer than it ever should've been.
And the same happened against the Cardinals, who were without starting quarterback Kyler Murray. Backup Jacoby Brissett picked apart Green Bay's defense, no matter how much pressure the pass rush generated.
The Packers didn't lead until late in the fourth quarter. LaFleur boldly went for it on fourth down, which Jordan Love converted, and that's admirable. But that's how close they were to tasting defeat.
It's October. Stacking ugly wins early in the season is perfectly fine, as long as they piece it together later in the year. The Packers keep getting in their own way, but it's following a similar story to last year — and they never figured it out.
McKinney is right. If this team is to reach its potential and pose a serious threat in the NFC, they have to elevate their level of play considerably. Only time will tell whether LaFleur's squad can do what last year's team couldn't.