Green Bay Packers: 9 Things We’ve Learned in First 4 Games

We find ourselves at the quarter pole of the 2021 NFL season — well, kind of — so I thought that this would be a good opportunity to take a look back and reflect on what we’ve learned about this Green Bay Packers team up to this point.

The Green Bay Packers defense is progressing

I don’t think anyone expected the Green Bay Packers defense — or the offense — to perform as poorly as they did Week 1 against New Orleans. However, we all should have expected that it would take time for the players and this new Joe Barry defense to gel. While there are certainly still areas to improve upon, we are seeing progress each week.

The communication breakdowns in the secondary have been cleaned up for the most part, and overall, the tackling ability that we’ve seen from the Packers has been much better than in previous years. Green Bay is forcing turnovers, with six in their last three games, generating more consistent pressure, and Barry is dialing up more blitzes and varied coverages, especially over these last two games.

Green Bay currently ranks sixth in yards per game allowed with 311.5, and they are 19th in points per game with 25.0–although that number is skewed by their Week 1 performance. Over the last three games, the defense is allowing 19.6 points per game, which would rank ninth.

Week 1 was a fluke

There were many concerned fans after the Green Bay Packers Week 1 dud against the Saints, and some in the national media even questioned Aaron Rodgers’ commitment to the team. The team looked lethargic and completely unprepared, to put it simply. Rodgers would even acknowledge that perhaps they were a little full of themselves entering that matchup.

But since then, three more games have been played, and as should have been expected, Week 1 is the outlier. As I just mentioned, the defense is progressing, and the offense is looking more like their old selves as they utilize the run game, quick passes, and jet motion. Over the course of an NFL season, most teams are going to have at least one stinker of a performance; it just so happened that for the Packers, it took place in Week 1.

Run the ball

This is already something that we knew about this offense, but over the first four games, we’ve seen how important running the ball is for the Green Bay Packers. Week 1, like several of the other losses under Matt LaFleur, we saw this offense become one-dimensional and predictable, and when that happens, moving the ball becomes very difficult.

Yes, the Packers have Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams, but it’s the ground game that makes this offense go and helps open things up in the passing game. During the last three games, the Packers have averaged nearly 30 rushing attempts per game, and although they are averaging just 3.7 yards per rush during that span, that goes to show that teams don’t need gaudy rushing numbers in order for the run game to be effective and for the opponent to respect it.