Green Bay Packers: 5 Keys to a Super Bowl Run

If the Green Bay Packers are going to make a run at the Super Bowl this postseason, these will be five big keys to doing so.

It wasn’t always the prettiest performances but this Green Bay Packers team knows how to win, and in the end that is really all that matters. They capped off their improbable season with a come from behind win in Detroit that put them at 13-3 overall and earned them a first-round bye as the NFC’s No. 2 seed.

However, despite their success the Packers have a lot of doubters. And to some extent it’s easy to understand why, but with that said, 13 wins, is still 13 wins.

Of course as we begin to look ahead, Green Bay has to take these playoffs game by game, but it’s no secret that this is a team with Super Bowl aspirations. And if they are going to make a run at bringing the Lombardi Trophy back home to Green Bay, Wisconsin, these are going to be five big keys to doing so.

Win the turnover battles

Now, I’m aware that this isn’t exactly ground-breaking information here as winning the turnover battle is a simple concept, but goodness is it important. For the Wisconsin Football fans out there, we just saw the Badgers hand Oregon the Rose Bowl after they dominated the game for the most part but lost the turnover battle.

Fortunately for the Green Bay Packers, this has been an area that they have excelled in this season. In fact, they have the third best turnover differential in 2019 at +12 and some of that credit can be given to Aaron Rodgers with how careful he is, but this has also been a very opportunistic defense that comes away with a turnover at just the right time. Their total of 25 takeaways is tied for the seventh most and it’s something that they need to keep up in the postseason.

Efficient in the red zone

With a defense that has given up a number of big plays and an offense that has struggled to move the ball with any consistency, many have wondered how the Green Bay Packers went 13-3 this season. Well, a big reason is because of their red zone efficiency on both sides of the ball.

On offense in 2019 the Packers have scored a red zone touchdown on 64 percent of their visits which was the eighth best this season, while on defense, they have allowed their opponents to score a touchdown in the red zone just 50 percent of the time. Which is also ranked as the eighth best in the NFL. If they are going to make a run to Miami, this level of efficiency will have to continue.

Feed Aaron Jones

Once again this seems like a simple concept but despite Aaron Jones having way more opportunities this season, he was still used sparingly at times. Of course we all remember the debacle in Los Angeles in which Jones had just eight carries and no receptions. But there has also been only five games this season where he has had more than 13 carries, and for as effective as he was as a receiver, there were seven games where Jones had three targets or fewer.

In the playoffs, this just can’t happen. It’s obvious to everyone that this Packer offense is not only better but it looks completely different when going through Jones. While he can’t be the only weapon and Green Bay needs to exploit other potential matchups, in the end, Aaron Jones must be the focal point.

Pressure, pressure, and more pressure

Although there have been some ups and downs defensively this season, the 2019 Green Bay Packers are much better defensively than what they were in recent seasons and a big contributor has been the pressure that they’ve been able to put on opposing quarterbacks.

There’s no doubt that the Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith signings have already been home runs as the duo has totaled an incredible 148 quarterback pressures this season, along with 25.5 sacks. We’ve also seen “Mr. December,” Kenny Clark start piling up the stats as well and when the opposing quarterback is under pressure, the rest of the defense benefits. Which not only leads to punts, but also more turnover opportunities.

Aaron Rodgers

This is a different Green Bay Packers team than what we’ve been accustomed to over the years as they’ve won games with their defense while also relying heavily on Aaron Jones and the running game to carry the offense. However, don’t be mistaken, this team will still only go as far as Aaron Rodgers takes them.

Now this certainly hasn’t been Rodgers best season by any means as we’ve seen him miss a number of throws that he usually makes and he and the Packer receivers – not named Davante Adams – have struggled to jell. Not to mention that overall his stats have been very average, to say the least.

But on the flip side, we’ve still seen plenty of vintage Aaron Rodgers throws that make you say, “how did he do that?” And this is still a new offense for everyone, so taking some time to find a groove is to be expected.

Although for much of the season the passing game has been inconsistent, the Green Bay Packers are still winning – which if you think about it is actually kind of scary for opposing teams – and if Rodgers can get hot in the playoffs, the sky is the limit for this team.