Green Bay Packers will Hope to Find 1st Quarter Groove v. Lions
By Paul Bretl
How long the Green Bay Packers starters are going to see the field for on Sunday, we don’t know. But we do know that they will see some action.
Although there is certainly some risk involved with this strategy, Matt LaFleur told reporters that three weeks off is just too long, while Aaron Rodgers talked about staying sharp and keeping the momentum that they’ve built going into the playoffs.
In addition to building upon their recent successes, playing will also give the Green Bay Packers the opportunity to correct any current issues—one of which includes their first quarter offense.
Despite posting another 13 win season, more often than not, this Green Bay Packers offense has gotten off to some very slow starts.
In fact, according to Team Rankings, Green Bay ranks 26th in first quarter points per game with an average of just 2.8. Out of the current 14 playoff teams, the Packers have had the worst first quarter offense—the next closest team is the Los Angeles Rams, who rank 18th.
Following Green Bay’s Week 11 loss to Minnesota, which again included another slow start, Rodgers discussed how the opening script of plays hasn’t been as effective as it was during the first two seasons under Matt LaFleur.
"“At times the last couple years we’ve been so good in the first 15 to 20 plays that we script, and scoring on opening drives, touchdowns,” said quarterback Aaron Rodgers via Packers.com following the Vikings game. “Hasn’t really been the case this year. We’ve been a lot slower starting, so we gotta look at that.”"
This past week against Minnesota, we saw the Packers find some early success, moving the ball down the field. Unfortunately, they would stall once they reached the red zone. Green Bay began the game 0/3 inside the Vikings’ 20-yard line and had only six points to show for their efforts.
Certainly the Packers red zone woes this season have played a role in their slow starts. After leading the NFL in red zone touchdown rate in 2020, Green Bay currently ranks 19th—and that is actually much improved from where they were at about the halfway mark of this season.
Against a struggling Detroit defense, the Green Bay Packers can hopefully find some early success.
However, this week with Detroit on the schedule, the Green Bay Packers will have the opportunity to correct this wrong and hopefully build some positive momentum heading into the playoffs.
Basically, pick a defensive category, and there is a good chance that the Lions rank near the bottom of it. Detroit ranks 30th in points per game allowed, 28th in pressure rate, 30th by DVOA, 31st in red zone defense, and 26th in takeaways.
So as I’m sure you can imagine, Detroit’s first quarter defense hasn’t fared well either, with the Lions ranking 25th in average first quarter points allowed this season. The recipe for Green Bay to find success is certainly there, but as always, it will come down to execution.
The last time these two teams met all the way back in Week 2, the Lions turned this into a low possession game, something that I’m sure they’ll want to do again in an effort to keep the ball away from Rodgers. Not counting Green Bay’s final possession before half where they took a knee, the Packers had only three possessions but they did score two touchdowns.
Once the playoffs begin, oftentimes a team’s weaknesses can be magnified and ultimately lead to a loss. Although the Packers have been very good at overcoming these slow starts, starting slowly against Los Angeles, Dallas, or Tampa Bay could be a reason they are sent home early.
Finding early success against Detroit won’t mean that they’ve solved this issue, but it will be a step in the right direction heading into their bye week.