Alright. The early bye week has passed us by already, and it’s time for the Green Bay Packers to get back to business.
It’s a little hard to believe we’re already at the point where this team needs a “get right game,” but here we are. Really, that game was supposed to be the one in Dallas. And, to be fair, the offense *did* get right. It was just… the defense inexplicably fell apart, and the special teams continued being about what we’ve seen from that unit for the last decade.
But this weekend against the Bengals, there are no excuses. This is a team that has looked utterly hapless since the loss of its quarterback. And even with Joe Burrow playing at an MVP level in 2024, the Bengals couldn’t even get into the playoffs. This is a straight up bad roster with a couple all star players in Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase that are able to cover some of it up.
This is exactly the kind of game the Packers’ defense could use. The hope is that the Cowboys game is an aberration. Of course, 40-point aberrations tend to not happen for teams with truly great defenses, but this is a very different NFL than that of the eras that featured many of those all-time great units.
The Bengals have had an extremely difficult time moving the football and have turned the ball over quite a bit. The Packers, despite having generally shut down opposing offenses until the Dallas game, have only generated two turnovers on the season and could use a bit of confidence injected into that part of their game.
The pass rush desperately needs to get its groove back as well. The first three weeks featured the Packers harassing opposing quarterbacks to the point where they hardly had time to throw. The result: the secondary was able to play looser and more confidently and had a lot of pass break ups. With the pass rush being stymied in Dallas, suddenly a lot of those secondary deficiencies were exposed, and Dak Prescott had no problem carving up the defense.
Again, now we get to see if that was a one-week aberration. A strong four-man pass rush is worth its weight in gold in the current NFL, and so long as it is consistent, this is a team that can potentially shut down any offense in the league. It really is that simple–disrupt the passer or face the consequences.
Finally, it’s a bit of a get right game for Matt LaFleur as well. LaFleur in his seventh year continues to make some inexplicable decisions in crucial situations, frequently demonstrating a lack of aggressiveness in his coaching philosophy that allows opposing teams to hang around for far too long. He needs to keep his foot on the gas and make sure he is making decisions that put his team into position to win rather than just avoiding defeat. It sounds like a cliche, I know, but it is so true. We’ve seen it over and over again, and it has to stop happening.
Hopefully this weekend we can sit back and watch a well-oiled machine that puts those last couple games clearly in the rearview mirror. But the Packers under LaFleur have been a bit of a mixed bag coming out of the bye, so we’ll see what happens.
Wisconsin Beer of the Week
We’re in the season of malty beers and pumpkin ales, and I do enjoy this time of year for beer drinking. While my absolute favorite pumpkin beer (Warlock by Southern Tier, an imperial pumpkin stout) was off the shelves at Woodman’s when I went there the other week, I was able to grab another one of my personal favorites: Headless Heron by Central Waters Brewing.
Headless Heron is an imperial pumpkin ale that, while not quite a stout, definitely features a dark complexion and plenty of heft. This is important because there are a lot of other pumpkin beers that I really cannot stand. They tend to be the spiced lagers and lighter pumpkin ales. To me, they taste like straight potpourri. There are also the ones that feature coffee, and as much as I don’t like coffee (I know, I know), I like it even less when it’s the pumpkin spice latte version.
But a dark, imperial pumpkin ale… that’s good stuff, and if you’ve been someone hesitant to try a pumpkin beer yourself but find yourself usually liking barrel aged beers, then this might be in your wheelhouse.
Central Waters’ mascot is the heron, and the Headless Heron is, of course, a reference to Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and the Headless Horseman. This beer weighs in at 12 percent ABV.
“Generously spiced with nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves, this barrel-aged pumpkin spice ale overflows with dark fruit, dried fruit, and hints of bourbon. Perfect for settling in to watch a few leaves fall to the ground.”
To me, the barrel aging process really does a lot to mellow out those other flavors, especially the cloves, which I’d be typically fine avoiding otherwise.
To me, there is no better pumpkin beer than Warlock, but in its absence, a good barrel aged pumpkin ale will certainly do. This is a solid one, as is the Lakefront barrel aged edition.
Speaking of post-bye malaise
I mentioned briefly in the opening section that the Packers have been rather iffy coming out of a bye week under Matt LaFleur.
In fact, the team has lost more games coming out of the bye than it’s won under LaFleur, posting a 4-5 record in these contests. While the bye week is generally seem as a time to rest, recuperate, and prepare, the Packers under LaFleur have tended to look like the opposite coming out of a bye, often appearing rusty or asleep at the wheel.
In the regular season, the Packers are 3-3 after the bye under LaFleur with a -31 point differential. Two different times the Packers have lost the game coming out of the bye by at least four touchdowns. So there is a history of absolutely abysmal play that the Packers must avoid this weekend if this truly is to be a “get right” game.
Additional struggles coming out of the bye could put more attention on LaFleur, who, in his seventh year, was expected to be guiding this team toward Super Bowl contendership.
Around the NFC North
As always, it’s time to go around the NFC North.
The CHICAGO BEARS are back after a bye week and preparing for a rematch of one of last year’s most memorable games against the Commanders on Monday Night Football. There will be a whole lot of coverage leading up to the game about the inexplicable gaffes the Bears made on the final play to allow the Commanders to win on a Hail Mary. For the Commanders, it was a game that propelled them to the playoffs. For the Bears, it was also a turning point in the season; they promptly collapsed, signalling the end of the short-lived and ill-advised Matt Eberflus era. The Bears enter with some positive momentum, and the Commanders may be feeling some pressure to demonstrate that they’re not just a team of old guys. It will be interesting to see what comes of this.
The DETROIT LIONS had what basically amounted to a bye week against the Jake Browning Bengals, and now they’re heading into a primetime contest with the Chiefs that could tell us a lot about both teams. Are the Lions all the way back? Are the Chiefs more the team that embarrassed the Ravens or the team that lost to the Jaguars? This one happens in primetime, so the whole nation will get to decide for themselves. But right now, the Lions suddenly look like they’re once again the team to beat in the NFC North.
The MINNESOTA VIKINGS once again won a game while looking absolutely awful in a one-score contest–something that’s happened for this team quite a lot since Kevin O’Connell began coaching. There are still a lot of concerning signs for this Vikings team, but when you can win games while playing that poorly, there is also a lot of reason for positivity, especially this early in the season. JJ McCarthy should be returning to the lineup soon, but it’s difficult to know how much of a difference it makes who’s playing quarterback for this team.
Mr. Backes’s “This or That”
Every day I put a different “this or that” poll up on my whiteboard and have students leave tallies throughout the day. I then compile this information and post it here for laughs.
Here’s what we’ve seen over the last week:
Holiday Reese’s barely edged out normal Reese’s
Taylor Swift defeated Charli XCX by one vote
Riding a dragon defeated riding a unicorn
Apple pie defeated pumpkin pie
October defeated September
Week 6 NFL Picks
I think I’ve made my Packers pick fairly clear already, but this is a game the Packers cannot and will not lose. I think we’ll be seeing something much closer to the team from weeks one and two than to the team from weeks three and four.
Packers 33, Bengals 10
EAGLES over Giants
BRONCOS over Jets
SEAHAWKS over Jaguars
CHARGERS over Dolphins
RAMS over Ravens
COLTS over Cardinals
COWBOYS over Panthers
PATRIOTS over Saints
STEELERS over Browns
RAIDERS over Titans
BUCS over 49ers
PACKERS over Bengals
CHIEFS over Lions
BILLS over Falcons
COMMANDERS over Bears