So where do the Packers go from here?
The Eagles come to town on Monday coming off a bye and having added edge rusher Jaelan Phillips and defensive backs Jaire Alexander and Michael Carter II at the trade deadline.
Surprisingly, the Packers are still favored by 2.5 points, even though Tucker Kraft was lost for the year with an ACL tear. Kraft’s presence will be felt because Jordan Love’s passer rating when targeting Kraft was 150.3.
And defensively, the Packers have allowed five yards per carry to both Pittsburgh and Carolina. The Steelers handed the ball off to Jaylen Warren and the Panthers gave it to Rico Dowdle. Both of those guys are solid, but they don’t hold a candle to the backward-jumping, reigning NFL rusher of the year in Saquon Barkley.
Even if the Packers cannot scrape out a win, they have to muster more than the six points they put up for 80 percent of the game vs. Carolina. Expect Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio to show an assortment of blitzes, even though the Eagles have only blitzed 22 percent of the time this year.
Love has proven that he has issues when blitzed and pressured as evidenced by his 38 percent completion percentage when under pressure. Love has been blitzed 76 times, which is the seventh-most in the NFL.
Which means, that Love has to get the ball out quick. The reason why Love was outdueling Aaron Rodgers in Pittsburgh was because he never gave the Steelers a chance to get to him. The quickness that he was able to get the ball out actually reminded me of Tom Brady. If Philadelphia consistently plays a two-high safety look, which I’m sure that Love will see plenty, he has to recognize that and be fine with completing passes underneath and count on his pass catchers to make a play.
It also comes down to Packers coach Matt LaFleur. The Packers have been very hamstrung on offense because they are so bad under center, rendering the play-action just about unusable. They need to do more crossing routes, slants and corner routes. Those aren’t big-play material but they will move the chains and keep the linebackers honest so Josh Jacobs can get a few open running lanes. Jacobs is fourth in the league in rushes but is 14th in yards because he has nowhere to go. He has 534 rushing yards and 289 of those are after contact. That’s not the best recipe for a team that wants to be run-first.
Then again, who are the Packers? Are they an impromptu team led by Love that allows him the autonomy to sling it all over the field? Sometimes he’s going to make good decisions and sometimes he’s going to make terrible ones like in the Cleveland and Carolina games. Or are they a hard-nosed running team that wants to chew the clock up and own the time of possession and field position battle?
I’ve heard it all week and it drives me nuts — “The Packers don’t have the horses. It’s time to hit the reset button.” What the heck are you talking about? This team is loaded at wide receiver, it has a very capable quarterback who has shown flashes and it has a true bellcow running back that can handle the rock at least 20 times a game.
The Packers can win on Monday, but first they need to look in the mirror and figure out who they are first. Because this team is only going to keep beating itself until it can understand what they are and what they do best.
And if that means toning down the potential for explosive plays, so be it as long as it leads to more wins.
Beating the Eagles seems like a tall task, but their toughest opponent this season has been themselves.