The Good
Offense – let’s start with the obvious…the offense. Everything was clicking for the offense on Sunday and it was a joy to watch. The offense totaled 478 yards (349 passing and 129 rushing), they actually got over 100 yards rushing in a single game this season. This was the best offensive performance for the Packers since their 2023 Wild Card game in Dallas (Jan ’24). The same goes for Jordan Love, who finished with a stat line of 23/29 (79.3%), 372 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT, a 153.2 passer rating, and a 13-yard rushing touchdown, to give him 4 total for the game. Green Bay was also able to get the ground game going, even if just a little, rattling off 129 yards on 32 carries for a 4.0 yards/rush average – absolutely incredible relative to what the season has shown so far.
Sticking with the offense, both Christian Watson (#9) and Matthew Golden (#0) has the best receiving game from a combination from pass catchers in franchise history. Not since the Don Hutson era had 2 receivers accrued 150+ yards, each, in a single game. Sunday saw Watson and “MG” (as LaFleur likes to call him) combine for 17 catches, 335 yards and 2 TD for a whopping 19.7 yards per catch average. Considering New England has the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history (Christian Gonzalez #0), and just an overall good defense, this is truly astounding. This is what it looks like when the Packers don’t have drops…it’s just an efficient display of epic proportions. If (and that’s a big IF) the Packers can get some continuity and improvement on the offensive line – as we saw Kevin Zeitler enter the game at Right Guard and solidify the line – there could be a threat of a run game and possibly some extra time (pass protection) for Love to throw, which could be really dangerous.
Defense – four takeaways. Keeping up with the trend of creating turnovers, the Green Bay defense wasted no time in securing their first interception of Drake Maye on the 2nd play from scrimmage. Just two plays after that, Jordan Love scrambled in from 13 yards out to put Green Bay ahead, 7-0. Just a tone setter for how the day was going to go. On top of the four turnovers, Green Bay held New England under 100 yards rushing and sacked the quarterback 4 times. If Green Bay, or any team for that matter, can get as many turnovers as scoring drives allowed, that puts you in position to win the ball game. Couple that with 4 sacks and you should be in business.
Special Teams – we need to give credit to the Special Teams unit. Rookie Kicker, Trey Smack #28, went a perfect 7/7 on his kicks (3/3 on field goals and 4/4 on extra points). That’s such a positive trend and hopefully this jumpstarts him into the form we saw in camp and throughout the preseason – which was perfect.
Lastly, the Packers only committed 3 penalties for 14 yards. This was, by far, this team’s most complete game since Week 16 of 2024 when they dismantled the New Orleans Saints, 34-0. We know it IS possible!
The Bad
You may be thinking, “bad? What bad?!” No game is perfect and regardless of how you play/win, you can always improve on something. The Packers’ defense generated 4 turnovers, but gave up 27 points off 387 total yards, and 5.9 yards per rush. New England also scored touchdowns on their 2 red zone opportunities. Again, I know the game was “over” before the Pats gained an additional 13 points to make this seem closer than it was, but this is what hangs with me. There’s nothing to worry about, but just something to keep an eye on.
What’s Next?
A new entry will be released on Sunday before kickoff. We’ll look at how this game is so big and why. Also, what does the Vikings’ acquisition of their old QB, Kirk Cousins, mean for them and the NFC North moving forward.
A new look Matchup Matrix and whether the Vikings are frauds and if the Packers can keep this up.
