GREEN BAY — Some teams hope the bye week comes in the middle of the season in order to break up the 17 games close to evenly.
This isn't the case, however, for the Green Bay Packers, who are one of a few teams that have the earliest bye week in the NFL. But given how the last two weeks have unfolded, this year's bye week may be coming at just the right time.
After a 2-0 start with wins over two of the NFC's best teams, the Packers are winless in their last two games, losing in Cleveland and then tying in Dallas.
Green Bay is currently dealing with injuries, and the last two games have been littered with mistakes.
“We had an opportunity in both games to win the game, and when you don’t win the game, it’s disappointing,” coach Matt LaFleur said.
At 2-1-1, there's still been plenty of good that has taken place this season from the Packers, so it's not as if a total reset is needed during the time off, but some self-reflection is a must.
Here are three questions the team needs to answer before its Week 6 game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Where are the takeaways from the Packers' defense?
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The 2024 Packers' defense generated 31 turnovers, good for the fourth best total in the NFL. This year, however, they’ve forced just two total through four games.
Defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, this year's Packers' defense is going after the ball more than they did a year ago, a point of emphasis that dates back to the early offseason.
“We're swinging at the ball more than we did last year," Hafley said before the Dallas game. "That's the truth, because we're even charting that. I mean, we're to the point where we're charting how many opportunities did we have to go after the football.
"For every play we feel we had an opportunity, and how many we didn't take, and guys are taking them, and they're going to come."
So it’s not for a lack of trying. But the execution needs to be better.
As for interceptions, Hafley said teams are being more careful about where they throw against Green Bay’s defense.
The reason may lie in the production of Xavier McKinney, "the best safety in the National Football League," as Hafley put it, and offenses are avoiding him.
While the Packers want turnovers, what they don't want to do is chase them either, because that's how mistakes end up happening.
Ultimately the takeaway results haven't been there for the Packers yet. But from a process standpoint and the emphasis that the defense has put on generating takeaways for months now, Hafley sees this turnover drought more so as a blip on the radar and is confident they'll start to come.
"It's like you just keep sharpening and sharpening and sharpening and swinging at that tree," Hafley said, "and eventually it's gonna fall down, and eventually we're gonna get the takeaways."
**How good is the Packers' offensive line?**
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The front five hasn’t been fully healthy all season, and four games is too small of a sample size to judge. But the group needs to provide more protection.
Due to injuries, right tackle Zach Tom has played just 31 snaps on the season, while left guard Aaron Banks has missed two games as well. This has forced the Packers to mix and match up front and really rely heavily on their depth in the early going.
The players on the field haven’t been good enough yet.
Out of 80 eligible guards, Sean Rhayn and Jordan Morgan have each surrendered 10 pressures, the sixth-most among their position group, according to [Pro Football Focus.](https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-offensive-line-rankings-week-5-2025)
At center, Elgton Jenkins has given up five pressures, along with two sacks, tied for the second most among his position, while Rasheed Walker's 13 pressures allowed are the 13th most out of 77 offensive tackles.
Through four games, Jordan Love has been pressured at the 10th-highest rate of any quarterback this season. And the running game has struggled at points too.
Green Bay is averaging just 3.8 yards per carry on the year, which ranks 26th, and has had to contend with heavy boxes from opposing defense often. But even so, there’s not enough push.
"I think it comes down to us executing better," offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said before the Week 4 game against Dallas. "We’ve done a good job at times of running the football, but for like an entire game, it’s one thing I think I’m excited about as we go forward is getting the running game going because once we do that, I think our offense is going to be pretty explosive.”
The offensive line has been called on numerous penalties too. Part of that is the constant switches in personnel.
Jordan Love can thrive in a clean pocket if afforded one, but it hasn’t happened yet.
**Who are the 2025 Packers?**
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After the first two games of the season, the Packers looked like an unstoppable force in the NFC who quickly thrust themselves into the Super Bowl contender mix.
Now, a little over two weeks later, the flaws that this team currently possesses have been exposed.
While the Packers should still be considered a good football team, the big question right now is, how good? Are they playoff-caliber good? Or Super Bowl contender good?
The first four games have provided a wide spectrum of play to analyze. The offense jumped out to fast starts against Detroit and Washington before sputtering a bit, but just recently scored 40 points at Dallas.
Green Bay's defense was one of the stingiest and most disruptive in football through three games, but struggled against a Cowboys squad that has just one win.
Then there is the litany of self-inflicted errors. Penalties, questionable decisions by LaFleur, a lack of communication in critical moments, lapses in execution and a special teams unit that has undergone some devastating miscues have all factored into the early season equation.
"When given the opportunities, you gotta maximize them, gotta capitalize on them," Matt LaFleur said on Tuesday. "When you don’t, you feel like we feel right now. I think this will be a good reset for us and we’ll get back together on Monday and get onto Cincinnati."
There’s still time to improve. General manager Brian Gutekunst mentioned the importance of the team playing its best football when the playoffs arrived last season. That’s still the goal.
However, in order to make that happen, the Packers have to first correct and learn from the blunders that have tripped them up in the early going this season.
"It’s a process to get there," LaFleur said. "I don’t expect us to play our best football in September. We’ve got to get better. I’m more worried about getting better each and every game and you can look at our record right now, we’re 2-1-1. Are we disappointed we’re not better? Absolutely.
"But I still think even in the two games we won, I don’t think we put together a full game of complementary football. So, we’ve got to somehow, some way be able to do that collectively in all three phases where we’re putting our best out there."
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