Green Bay Packers: 3 Key Improvements to Make in 2nd Half of Season
By Paul Bretl
We are already at the halfway point in the Green Bay Packers’ season, and as we look ahead, these are three areas they’ll need to improve upon.
Overall, it’s been an excellent first half of the 2020 season for the Green Bay Packers. Considered by many a prime regression candidate this year, the Packers sit at 6-2 after a road win in San Francisco and in first place in the NFC North.
For the most part, the offense has dominated, scoring over 30 points in all six of their wins, and averaging the second-most points per game this season. Green Bay’s offense also ranks second by Football Outsiders’ DVOA metric, which takes into account other non-traditional factors such as the opponent and the results on a per play basis, among other things.
Meanwhile, on defense, we have seen the Packers take a step back this season – we will get to that shortly – but when combined with their typically potent offense, the defense more often than not does enough to help secure the win.
Each of the Green Bay Packers’ wins this year have been fairly dominant, but when they lose, it isn’t pretty. At the halfway point, it’s certainly fair to say that they are Super Bowl contenders, but if they want to make that dream a reality, these are three key areas that they’ll have to improve upon over the final eight games.
Pressure, Pressure, Pressure
By DVOA, the Green Bay Packers’ defense was average last season; however, one area in particular that they were very good in was pressuring the quarterback. Led by The Smiths and Kenny Clark, the Packers had a top-5 pressure rate in 2019. This created turnovers and made them quite formidable in the red zone as well.
Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case this season. Currently, their pressure rate of 15.3 percent ranks last in the NFL, and as a negative trickle-down effect, the Packers aren’t forcing nearly as many turnovers and their opponents scoring a red zone touchdown is almost automatic.
Hopefully, the tide is starting to turn after their performance against San Francisco, where for much of the game, the Green Bay Packers were in Nick Mullens’ face. This led to two turnovers, poor decisions from Mullens, inaccurate throws, and the entire offense was thrown off because of this. If the Packers can get back to generating consistent pressure, the rest of the defense will benefit – as will the offense – and this will be a much-improved unit.