Green Bay Packers: 5 Key Questions Heading into the Playoffs

Can the special teams unit keep it together?

I’ve said it before; this unit doesn’t have to be great by any means. With the most productive offense in football and a defense peaking at the right time, the Green Bay Packers’ special teams unit just has to avoid the major mistakes. Unfortunately, that’s been an issue.

I won’t touch on everything that’s gone wrong; that would take too much time, but since their matchup with Houston, we’ve seen a blocked punt, two punt return touchdowns, missed extra points, a fumbled kick and punt return, penalties, and a kick return unit that can barely make it to the 20-yard line at times.

In the playoffs, it’s these kinds of errors that can be the difference between a win and a loss. As good as this team has been all season, being sent home because of a special teams blunder would be a tough pill to swallow.

Who will step up?

As the old saying goes, “it takes all 53 to win a Super Bowl.” We know that Aaron Rodgers, Davante Adams, Za’Darius Smith, Jaire Alexander, and other stars on this team all have to play well if the Packers are going to win the Super Bowl. But they’ll also need several non-stars to step up as well. So who is it going to be?

Think back to Green Bay’s 2010 Super Bowl win; we saw Howard Greene, Pat Lee, and Jarrett Bush all coming out of nowhere to contribute. A few names that I believe can make a real difference this year include Rashan Gary, who quietly is second on the team in pressures. Lucas Patrick at right guard, Marquez Valdes-Scantling as a deep threat, Robert Tonyan in the red zone, and Krys Barnes at linebacker.

Perhaps it’s a few players from that group, or maybe it’s a few others that I didn’t mention, but either way, the Packers will need several of the non-stars to produce.