Jordan Love displays clear knowledge of how the Packers’ offense has performed and what it could still grow into this year
It’s a matter of consistency.
If one of the three phases wasn’t to blame for the 40-40 tie against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, it was clearly the Green Bay Packers’ offense. Even without Zach Tom, Aaron Banks, Anthony Belton, Jayden Reed, and Christian Watson, among others, the offense was able to put up 40 points, which included a great performance from quarterback Jordan Love—despite a fumble late in the first half.
Love generated a 26.4 total EPA with a 17.5 completion percentage over expectation, both numbers that were better than Dak Prescott did for the Cowboys. But don’t think that Love is satisfied by what the unit has done.
“Offensively, we did some good things, but we still left a lot out there,” Love said after the unusual game. “There were some drives that we didn’t execute well. The end-of-half situation turned the ball over and put them in a scoring position. There’s a lot of stuff we left out there. As an offense, we have to keep battling, keep answering, and stay in the game. We had to go down and kick the field goal to tie it up with overtime, but there’s still so much more out there that we have to keep executing.”
Room for improvement
After the bye, the Packers may have the three missing offensive linemen back, in addition to some players who started the season on injured reserve or physically unable to perform list—including running back MarShawn Lloyd and center Jacob Monk. But for Love, the real improvement will come by learning from recent mistakes.
“I still think there are just little details on a handful of plays, and we’ll go back and watch it on film,” Love added. “In the grand scheme of the game, those are things that can win or lose you a game. There’s a lot of stuff we still have to clean up, including pre-snap penalties and things like that. There are just little details on a handful of plays where we have to lock in and focus on every drive. It’ll be good stuff to watch on film. There have been a handful of plays like that throughout the beginning of the season.”
The offensive line in particular had too many penalties. False starts from Sean Rhyan, Darian Kinnard, and Elgton Jenkins, holdings from Jordan Morgan and Kinnard, and an ineligible man downfield from Rhyan. The offense also had a delay of game. Green Bay is tied for third in total penalties through four weeks.
Despite all the issues, though, Jordan Love still believes the team has a high ceiling.
“We’ve shown what we’re about when we’re playing very well, and we just have to do that consistently,” Love pointed out. “Every day, in practice, in games, every time we touch the field. There are a lot of little areas that, if we clean up and execute better, we’ll be the team we want to be. I have no doubt that we’re still a really good team, but it comes down to performing at a high level on Sundays. There is some disappointment in these past two weeks, but there’s still a lot of stuff to clean up. We still have a long season ahead, and I know what type of team we are.”
The Packers have a bye next week, then play the Cincinnati Bengals at Lambeau Field in Week 6. After that, Green Bay will keep its sequence of non-divisional games against the Arizona Cardinals, Pittsburgh Steelers, Carolina Panthers, Philadelphia Eagles, and New York Giants. The next NFC North matchup is only in Week 12, versus the Minnesota Vikings.
Green Bay Packers News
Packers’ roster has a chance to become even stronger and deeper over the next few days with important moves on the horizon
Those are impactful possibilities.
