9 Big Things from the Green Bay Packers 2021 Season
By Paul Bretl
Green Bay Packers offense takes a step back in the red zone
During the first two years of Matt LaFleur’s tenure, this Green Bay Packers offense was one of the best in football at converting red zone opportunities into touchdowns. In 2019, the Packers would rank second, and then in 2020, they led the NFL, finding the end zone on a ridiculous 80 percent of their trips inside the 20-yard line.
This season, however, was a much different story. Overall, the offense could never quite find the same groove that they had in 2020 when they led the league in scoring, and one big reason why, is that their red zone efficiency dipped significantly.
Following Week 18, the Packers would rank 19th in red zone efficiency, which was actually up from where they were for much of the year after a strong finish to the regular season.
So why was there the dramatic dip in performance? Well, your guess is as good as mine. Early on, Aaron Rodgers would mention that they weren’t as aggressive with their play calling. We also saw Green Bay’s run production take a step back — more on that shortly — and it also didn’t help that the Packers were without Robert Tonyan for a good chunk of the season–a big red zone threat in 2020.
These are just a few of the potential reasons; there are obviously more, but when looking at why the offense didn’t put up as many points as a season ago, look no further than their red zone play for much of the year.