Packers witness a potential turning point as next opponent faces mounting struggles at key spot
Jake Browning hasn’t had success replacing Joe Burrow.
The Green Bay Packers face the Cincinnati Bengals next Sunday. It’s a very different Bengals compared to what we’ve seen over the past few years, but a familiar struggling team if you’ve looked at how they’ve played without Joe Burrow this season.
Without the franchise quarterback, it’s been a weekly failure with backup Jake Browning. To a point where head coach Zac Taylor started to change his tone after a loss to the Detroit Lions where Browning threw three interceptions.
“After a game like that, we’re going to look at all personnel to make sure we’re doing the right thing,” Taylor said on Sunday. “I won’t shy away from that because it’s a very fair question after the amount of turnovers that we had.”
So far this season, Browning has 6.1 yards per attempt, six touchdowns, eight interceptions, and an underwhelming 70.5 passer rating. He’s amongst the worst quarterbacks in football in any reliable metric.
What’s ahead
For the Packers, it’s a big chance to recover from what the team has shown over the past two weeks. Especially for the defense, which allowed 40 points to the Dallas Cowboys in Week 4.
Meanwhile, the Bengals don’t have great short-term options. Outside of Browning, the only other quarterback on the 53-man roster is Brett Rypien—a backup that the Packers already faced a couple of years ago when he was with the Los Angeles Rams. Mike White and former Packer Sean Clifford are on the Bengals’ practice squad.
“Put this on me,” Zac Taylor added. “I gotta do a better job getting us into a rhythm. Get us in a way where we can sustain some drives. Put points on the board. There’s some plays he’s gonna want to have back.
If the Bengals want to stay competitive in 2025, they’d probably need to trade for a veteran and competent quarterback—Russell Wilson and Kirk Cousins come to mind. However, any new quarterback would have only a few practices to learn the playbook and get some rhythm with his weapons. It might still be enough to be an upgrade over Browning, but it’s still a positive circumstance for a Packers team that needs to get back to the win column.
Green Bay Packers News
Packers force the issue, but the real test will be finding the perfect balance and trusting Jordan Love
Green Bay has a run-centric offensive structure.
