Green Bay Packers: 3 biggest overreactions after Week 1
Everybody and their mother love to make sweeping declarations after Week 1 of the NFL Season. However, be careful of these three overreactions.
The Green Bay Packers survived a barn-burner, okay-more like a snooze-fest, at Soldier Field on Thursday night. They pulled out a sloppy 10-3 win and did just enough to come away with a huge victory over the reigning NFC North division champions. The win was a nice one, but it was just one game after all so don’t go too crazy.
The Packers also beat the Bears last season and went on to lose nine of their final 15 games. The Bears did the complete opposite and went 12-3 the rest of the way. So how much does Week 1 really mean?
Although we can certainly take some things away from one game, it shouldn’t be the be-all, end-all. Here are three overreactions to stay away from after Week 1.
Rashan Gary is a bust
The Packers top first-round pick only played six snaps in his NFL debut against the Bears. That’s a disappointment compared to his first-round counterpart Darnell Savage who was on the field for every defensive snap. However, Gary has a long ways to go to compete with Savage and we shouldn’t use this year as the measuring stick.
For starters, Green Bay is much deeper at outside linebacker and the defensive line then at safety. After all, the front office has completely overhauled the safety position over the last couple of years and desperately needed two players to fill the starting spots. They signed Adrian Amos to one spot and drafted Savage for the others. While Savage is competing with Raven Greene for the job, Gary is out here battling high-priced free agents Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith. Gary was at least productive in those six snaps-which is more than we can say about his time in the preseason. Baby steps is all we need at this point in his career.
The Defense is Elite
The defense put on a show against Chicago in the opener and didn’t allow a touchdown. They got after quarterback Mitchell Trubisky and even picked him off in the end zone. Overall, they were fast and played with a swagger fans haven’t seen in some time.
Still, it was Trubisky playing quarterback after all. The third-year pro definitely missed open receivers that better passers will hit with ease. Don’t get me wrong, the Packers took a huge step forward and had a great game. They also have all the makings of a very good unit. I’m just not ready to crown them yet.
Next. Packers vs. Vikings: 5 positional battles to watch. dark
The Offense is Terrible
As great as the defense was, the offense was equally horrible. Except for a couple of quick scoring drives, they failed to move the ball for most of the game. Aaron Rodgers held onto the football for far too long and was sacked five times-mostly on third-downs. Speaking of third-downs, Green Bay was often unable to move the chains and were forced to rely on the booming leg of JK Scott far too often.
The hope is the offense can pick up the steam as the season goes on and they become more familiar with Matt LaFleur’s offensive scheme. It will also help that they won’t be playing against the Bears’ defense every week. However, they still have a lot of work to do, but it should only go up from here.