Category: Latest Packers News

Packers must adjust to coverage adjustments on RB Aaron Jones

Defenses have adjusted to Aaron Jones in the passing game. Now, the Packers must find their own counterpunch.

For an entire month, the Green Bay Packers found new and creative ways of getting the football to running back Aaron Jones in the passing game, especially down the field.

Then, defenses adjusted. The one-on-one matchups against linebackers went away, and the Packers couldn’t find a useful counterpunch. During the month of November, Jones caught exactly one pass for -1 yard.

Now, it’s on Matt LaFleur and Aaron Rodgers to figure out new ways to get the ball to No. 33 as a receiver.

“Teams are playing him a little differently,” Rodgers said Wednesday. “We’re not getting a linebacker on him as we were for a few weeks. We have to keep finding ways of getting him the ball. He’s been a big part of the plan.”

During October, Jones caught 22 passes for 280 yards and three scores. He was a huge part of the passing game during a win in Dallas, and his big plays helped the Packers escape Kansas City with another big road win.

In back-to-back games against the Detroit Lions and Oakland Raiders, the Packers schemed up opportunities for touchdowns on down-the-field throws for Jones. He dropped a sure-fire touchdown against the Lions but made amends a week later with a spinning touchdown catch in the end zone.

Against the Chiefs, Jones beat a linebacker one-on-one out wide for a 50-yard catch, caught a 67-yard touchdown on a tunnel screen, chewed up 17 yards on an angle route from the backfield and then sealed the game with a third-down conversion on a quick out against a linebacker. He finished with seven catches, 159 yards and two scores.

It appeared as if Jones’ ability as a receiver would be a foundational element of LaFleur’s Packers offense.

The rest of the NFL adjusted.

The Los Angeles Chargers, Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers had no interest in letting Jones beat them as a receiver. Instead of slower linebackers in coverage, Jones got cornerbacks. All three defenses featured smothering underneath coverage.

The result was one catch on just four targets.

On Sunday night in San Francisco, the 49ers committed to playing matchup coverage with cornerbacks often taking Jones one-on-one when he split out wide. On one third down in the first half, Rodgers threw wide of Jones on an out-breaking route with a cornerback in coverage.

49ers cornerback Richard Sherman said the defense’s primary goal was to take away Jones, and they did. He ran for 38 yards and didn’t have a catch on just one target.

Rodgers said the Packers have to find ways of getting Jones the ball in space.

“I don’t think there is any magic recipe,” Rodgers said. “We have to get the ball to our playmakers. We have to make sure 33 is getting his touches.”

In baseball, hitters often face difficult transition periods when pitchers figure out specific strengths and weaknesses and adjust accordingly. It’s on the hitter to adjust to those adjustments.

The Packers are the hitter, and it’s now on LaFleur to find his own adjustments and help bring back Jones’ impressive playmaking ability in the passing game.

Packers OL Billy Turner prepared to play any position along offensive line

The Packers may need RG Billy Turner to slide out and play RT on Sunday against the Giants.

The moment the Green Bay Packers hoped would never come has arrived. This time, they’re prepared.

On Sunday night against the San Francisco 49ers, Packers starting right tackle Bryan Bulaga exited the game early with what was later revealed to be an MCL sprain in his right knee.

The 49ers went on to sack Aaron Rodgers five times with backup tackle Alex Light filling in for Bulaga, as the Packers put on a dismal performance in a 37-8 drubbing.

Bulaga, who’s missed 13 games over the past three seasons, is likely week-to-week with his knee injury. He did not participate in practice on Wednesday, though he has not officially been ruled out for this coming Sunday’s game at MetLife Stadium against the New York Giants.

But if Bulaga can’t go, the Packers are prepared. Enter Billy Turner, Green Bay’s most versatile offensive lineman who was brought in for this exact moment.

Through 11 games this season, Turner has started every game at right guard. With Bulaga likely out for the foreseeable future, Turner likely slides out to right tackle in his absence.

“That’s been something [the team] told me ahead of time when I signed here, that I could be playing multiple positions,” Turner told reporters on Wednesday. “I’ve known that could be a possibility at any given time during this season, it just so happens that it’s Week 13.”

Turner, 28, signed a four-year, $28 million contract with the Packers this past offseason. He was drafted in the third round in 2014 by the Miami Dolphins, and started 11 games last season for the Denver Broncos, with four starts at right tackle and seven starts at left guard.

“I’m comfortable [playing offensive tackle]. I’ve done it before in my career,” Turner said. “It is what it is. I’ve played at pretty much every position except for center, so I’ll be prepared if my number is called to play right tackle.”

Turner had a shaky start to the season at right guard but has since found his form in recent weeks. It’ll be a much different task on the outside on an island at right tackle, though. But Turner isn’t too concerned about the preparation.

“It’s a little bit of a different mentality, a different mindset as far as certain techniques come into play. But at the end of the day, it’s the same goal and same objective, and that’s to keep 12 (Aaron Rodgers) upright and to win a football game.”

So what’s different about practice and preparation when the offensive line isn’t at full strength?

“Honestly, nothing,” Turner remarked. “People get hurt every game, people get hurt every day. It is what it is, it’s part of the game. It’s the ‘next man up’ mentality and it’s really just a part of the game.”

“Mentally you have to be a little more locked in going into a game, just because you’re not used to being at that position. But at the same time it’s not like we’re running different plays or anything like that, you just have to tweak a few things.”

The Packers also claimed offensive tackle Jared Veldheer off waivers from the Patriots on Wednesday, a sign Bulaga could be out for multiple weeks. In the meantime, Turner appears ready for the task at hand.

Packers QB Aaron Rodgers: Gap with 49ers based on execution, not talent

“The gap is execution, it’s not ability, it’s not talent, it’s execution,” Aaron Rodgers said Wednesday.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers doesn’t think the 29-point gap between his team and the San Francisco 49ers is based only on talent.

The Packers fell behind 23-0 at halftime and lost 37-8 on Sunday night at Levi’s Stadium, but Rodgers credited the difference on the scoreboard to individual execution.

“The gap is execution, it’s not ability, it’s not talent, it’s execution,” Rodgers said Wednesday. “On paper and lining up we feel really good about our squad against anybody. But execution is the main divider between teams that put that performance on the board like they did and the way we played. I think things would be a little different the next time, as far as the way we execute.”

Despite coming off the bye, the Packers struggled early and never really got into the game in San Francisco.

Rodgers lost a fumble on third down on the first series, setting up a one-play touchdown drive for the 49ers to start the game.

Another stagnant and uninspiring start on offense led to a big early deficit, and the Packers didn’t get on the scoreboard until the 49ers led 23-0 in the third quarter.

Rodgers attempted 33 passes and produced only 104 passing yards, and neither Aaron Jones nor Davante Adams – the team’s two best offensive playmakers – had a difference-making impact.

“Look at the game, we didn’t get the ball to 33 in space, we didn’t run the ball very well, we didn’t get the ball to Davante down the field. We didn’t really do any of what has been helping us win,” Rodgers said.

For the second time in three games, the Packers failed to avoid early-down mistakes and consistently faced difficult down and distances, which fed right into the way the 49ers wanted to play defense against Rodgers and the passing game.

Rodgers said better execution on first and second down, especially in the run game, would be important if the Packers get another chance to face the 49ers in the postseason.

Confidence doesn’t appear to be fading. Rodgers knows the Packers have go-to players in Adams and Jones, and he’s still confident others at the receiver position, such as Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Geronimo Allison, Allen Lazard and Jake Kumerow, can get open and make plays, even as their production has flatlined over the last month.

Rodgers thinks a faster start and better execution on third down will solve most of the Packers’ problems.

“If you look at the two losses, we gave up a number of sacks, we had a lot of penalties, we started terribly in each game,” Rodgers said. “That just changes the whole dynamic of the football game.”

8-3 Packers in great position for postseason run but have much to improve on

After 12 weeks of the 2019 NFL season, the Green Bay Packers are 8-3, atop the NFC North and firmly in contention for a top-two seed in the NFC playoff race. It’s been about as good of a season up to this point as anyone could have expected, all …

After 12 weeks of the 2019 NFL season, the Green Bay Packers are 8-3, atop the NFC North and firmly in contention for a top-two seed in the NFC playoff race.

It’s been about as good of a season up to this point as anyone could have expected, all things considered.

The Packers will almost assuredly make the playoffs now that they’ve reached eight wins through 11 games. To help matters even further, four of their five remaining opponents have losing records (and three of them are in the bottom-10 of the NFL). The Packers also have a decent chance of locking up a first-round bye and clinching home-field advantage for most of the NFC playoffs.

With all of that being said, Green Bay still has some major issues it needs to sort out if it hopes to make a deep playoff run.

Throughout the season, the Packers have shown some significant flaws, many of which were present in Sunday night’s 37-8 loss to the San Francisco 49ers:

Defense gives up too many big plays

Explosive plays have been a persistent issue for the Packers’ defense all season long.  Earlier in the year, it was less of an issue because it compensated with a high turnover rate, but now that those takeaways have become more and more sparse, the big plays have become a bigger issue.

The Packers had the benefit of playing the Chiefs without Patrick Mahomes and Panthers without Cam Newton over the past five weeks, but they were still gashed by explosive plays in both games on several occasions.

On the season, this unit has surrendered the third-most yards per play and they’re currently 27th in the NFL in third-down defense. Against the 49ers alone, the Packers conceded a dozen explosive plays.

A defense that has prided itself on being “bend, but don’t break” has been doing more of the latter in recent weeks. If the issue doesn’t get corrected soon, the Packers could be destined for another early playoff exit in January.

Defense has struggled with defending tight ends and covering the middle of the field

This struggle goes hand-in-hand with the first one.

Over the past five weeks, the Packers’ defense has been eviscerated by opposing tight ends. Last weekend, George Kittle torched them with six receptions for 129 yards and a touchdown. In the four games before that, it was a similar story.

Panthers tight end Greg Olsen caught eight passes for 98 yards, Chargers tight end Hunter Henry caught eight passes for 84 yards, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce caught four passes for 63 yards and a touchdown, and Raiders tight end Darren Waller racked up seven receptions for 126 yards and two touchdowns.

Pass coverage has never been a strong suit for starting inside linebackers Blake Martinez and B.J. Goodson, and backup Oren Burks isn’t trusted enough by the coaching staff to see significant playing time.

The Packers upgraded both safety positions this offseason with free agent signing Adrian Amos and first-round pick Darnell Savage, but that hasn’t solved their tight end coverage woes.

According to PFF, cornerback Kevin King has allowed the most yards in coverage (755) among all NFL cornerbacks this season.

Despite their heavy offseason investments, the Packers still have some major liabilities on defense.

The secondary receiving options struggle to beat man coverage

As Zach Kruse mentioned in an article from earlier this week, the 49ers switched up their defensive coverage tendencies against the Packers. Going into last Sunday, the 49ers played zone coverage on a league-high 69% of snaps, per ESPN and NFL Next Gen Stats, but against the Packers, they played mostly man coverage.

I’ve mentioned it in previous articles, and I’ll say it again: the Packers don’t have consistent man coverage-beaters in their receiving corps other than wide receiver Davante Adams.

The 49ers realized this and took full advantage.

Generally, when the Packers’ offense has faced teams with more than one capable corner, it’s struggled mightily. Against Richard Sherman and Emmanuel Moseley of the 49ers, the Packers managed just eight points and quarterback Aaron Rodgers passed for only 104 yards and one touchdown. Against Casey Hayward and Desmond King of the Chargers, the Packers scored just 11 points and Rodgers passed for only 164 yards and one touchdown. Against Kyle Fuller and Prince Amukamara of the Bears, the Packers scored just 10 points and Rodgers passed for only 203 yards and one touchdown.

Green Bay probably could have had more success in the passing game if it had utilized running back Aaron Jones more frequently as a receiver in the aforementioned games, but the lack of production from the secondary receiving options is still alarming to say the least.

Not-so-special teams

The 2019 Packers are well on their way to making history… but not in a good way.

Through 11 games this season, Packers’ punt returners have accumulated a net total of -11 yards. No other team in NFL history has finished a season with negative punt return yardage, but Green Bay is right there, knocking on the door.

The Darrius Shepherd experiment was short-lived and the Tremon Smith experiment hasn’t fared any better for the Packers this season.

To make matters worse, punting has become an issue in recent weeks as well.

After a phenomenal start to his sophomore season, punter J.K. Scott has entered a cold stretch. In each of the last four games on a combined 18 punts, Scott has averaged less than 40 yards-per-punt.

Aaron Jones’ usage

Since Davante Adams’ return to the starting lineup in Week 9, the Packers have seemingly forgotten about their star running back’s receiving ability. In the three games since Adams’ return, Jones has a combined – wait for it – one catch for -1 yards. In the four-week span of Adams’ absence, Jones caught 22 passes for 280 yards and three touchdowns. Matt LaFleur said it himself in last week’s post-game press conference: Jones needs be more involved in the offense going forward.

Report: Packers claim veteran OT Jared Veldheer

The Packers claimed a veteran offensive tackle on Wednesday.

The opportunity must have been too good for the Green Bay Packers to pass up, especially with starting right tackle Bryan Bulaga nursing a knee injury.

According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the Packers claimed former New England Patriots offensive tackle Jared Veldheer, who was released off the reserve/retired list on Tuesday.

Veldheer, a third-round pick in 2010, has started 113 career games for three different NFL teams. He made 12 starts for the Denver Broncos last season.

Veldheer signed with the Patriots in May but soon after announced his retirement and hasn’t played during the 2019 season.

If he passes his physical and is activated to the Packers’ 53-man roster, Veldheer could provide the offensive line with veteran experience at both tackle spots.

Bulaga left Sunday’s loss to the San Francisco 49ers with a knee injury and could miss games.

As it stands currently, the Packers have second-year offensive tackle Alex Light as the primary backup, with right guard Billy Turner, backup Adam Pankey and rookie Yosh Nijman as options behind Bulaga.

Nijman, who spent the first 12 weeks on the Packers’ practice squad, was activated to the 53-man roster this week. He could be sent back down if Veldheer is officially added to the roster.

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Packers not yet ruling out RT Bryan Bulaga (knee) for Sunday vs. Giants

It’s still possible the Packers will have Bryan Bulaga at RT against the Giants.

The Green Bay Packers aren’t yet ready to rule out starting right tackle Bryan Bulaga for Sunday’s matchup with the New York Giants.

Although coach Matt LaFleur said the team would take the week to figure out the best combination of starters for the offensive line, it’s possible Bulaga – who left Sunday night’s loss in San Francisco with a knee injury – will still factor into the equation.

“The goal is to put our five best out there, and we’ll take the week to figure that out,” LaFleur said Tuesday. “We’re going to go through the week of practice and see what combination works the best. I also wouldn’t rule Bryan out at this point.”

Bulaga got rolled up on from behind in the first quarter against the 49ers and didn’t return. The Packers believe he avoided a significant injury, which seems to be confirmed by LaFleur’s hope that Bulaga could still play against the Giants.

Second-year offensive tackle Alex Light replaced Bulaga on the right side against the 49ers. LaFleur kept the door open for the Packers shuffling the starters if Bulaga can’t go, suggesting right guard Billy Turner could slide out to right tackle against the Giants.

The Packers will release their first injury report of the week on Wednesday. LaFleur could give Bulaga the entire week to see if the knee responds well enough to play Sunday.

Mike Pettine’s Packers defense has been hugely disappointing

The Packers offense has tracked well with expectations. The defense? Not so much.

The Green Bay Packers offense was going to be a work in progress. New coach. New scheme. No major additions. Through 11 games, Matt LaFleur’s group is 13th in points per game and seventh in DVOA. That tracks well (or better) with pre-season expectations.

It’s hard to find legitimate excuses for Mike Pettine and the highly disappointing Packers defense.

This is the second year in the scheme. GM Brian Gutekunst added two top picks and three high-priced free agents to a group already stacked with high picks. There have been no major injuries.

Yet the Packers are 14th in points allowed per game and 22nd in DVOA.

Despite a strong start, the Packers have allowed the third-most yards per play (6.1) this season. Seven times in the last eight games, the Packers have allowed 22 or more points.

Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith, the team’s two prized free-agent acquisitions, both have 10 or more sacks. Gutekunst hit home runs with both. But it hasn’t really mattered.

Five quarterbacks in the last eight games produced a passer rating over 100.0. against the Packers.

Only five teams have allowed more yards per attempt (8.2) than the Packers this season. Only five teams have allowed more rushing yards per attempt (4.8). This is one of the most inefficient defenses in the NFL on a down-to-down basis.

As a result, there’s been a lot of bending. Overall, the Packers are 27th in the NFL in forcing three-and-outs per drive. And the defense has allowed more passing yards, more rushing yards and more total yards per game than last season.

The only saving grace for Pettine’s group has been an ability to create turnovers (16, tied for ninth-most) and get stops in the red zone (48.6 touchdown percentage, 10th best), but the Packers are starting to fade in those two stats, too.

Despite adding veteran Adrian Amos and speedy rookie Darnell Savage at safety, the Packers still can’t consistently guard the middle of the field. Tight ends are gashing the defense every week.

When a defense can’t cover the middle of the field, big plays are common. And the Packers have struggled to prevent explosive plays all season.

While Jaire Alexander has been a standout cover corner on one side, quarterbacks have picked on Kevin King on the other side. In fact, no cornerback has allowed more passing yards into his coverage than King, the third-year corner who continues to struggle with quicker receivers.

Over the last six games, quarterbacks are averaging 9.0 yards per attempt with a passer rating of 105.9.

How did this happen?

It wasn’t unreasonable to think the Packers could become a top-10 defense in 2019. Pettine showed some encouraging schematic designs during his first season but injuries hit hard and the personnel wasn’t there. Gutekunst made huge investments to make sure personnel was no longer a problem, and the Packers have been blessed with excellent injury luck on defense, but the results haven’t followed.

The numbers are probably going to get better over the final five weeks. The Packers will likely play at least two rookie quarterbacks on bad teams and struggling Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, and there’s no guarantee Matthew Stafford will play in Week 17.

But the last two months have mostly exposed the Packers defense as a paper tiger. This no longer looks like a defense capable of surviving against good quarterbacks in the playoffs, and that’s pretty disappointing for a team that has invested a lot on that side of the football.

Week 12 film notes: It rains, then pours as Packers offense struggles vs. 49ers

Breaking the tape from the Packers’ disappointing loss to the 49ers on Sunday night.

For the second time in three games, the Green Bay Packers played a “burn the tape” game. Against a team likely to compete for a birth into the Super Bowl, the Packers looked like a beaten dog. Under the lights of Levi’s Stadium, they cowered.

But the NFL is a week-to-week league. A few months ago, Patrick Mahomes was a generational quarterback. As of Monday night, Lamar Jackson has become, somehow, more generational in the public psyche. These things ebb and flow.

More importantly, the Packers will be forced to confront some of the fatal flaws that have been papered over with victories. Losses, especially bad ones, are like stepping onto the scale, pre-bowel movement, on the day after Thanksgiving. They’ll make you acknowledge your mistakes and poor decisions.

So what do they need to do to improve? Many things, but they can start by developing a better “get back on track” plan. When the offense has gone dormant this season, it often coincides with an identity switch. Low tempo. Exclusively shotgun. Inside zone run. It’s a lot of what got Mike McCarthy fired, in other words. The Packers need to have better built-in counterpunches.

Though the transitive property isn’t entirely valid, the Niners did struggle in both matchups against the Cardinals this season; while the Cardinals have some up-start talent at quarterback, they’re not on the Packers’ level from a talent standpoint. The Packers may not be as good as the 49ers this year, but the margin probably also isn’t what the score indicated two days ago.

The Packers will get two back-to-back winnable games where they’ll be able to right the ship. The Packers need to be playing their best football in December. Come January, all anyone needs is a chance.

Film notes:

  • The Packers’ middle-of-the-field zone defense is, and has been, an abomination this season. On Sunday night, they had few answers for receivers streaking across the field. As the only middle linebacker on the field for all three downs, Blake Martinez is often the culprit. He showed little feel for his zone, and defenders would easily find windows behind him. Matt LaFleur noted Monday that the Packers executed poorly on the Deebo Samuel touchdown, stating poor weakside coverage from the “hook/curl defender,” who from the film looks like Martinez.
  • Regarding the flat performance by the Packers’ passing offense, there isn’t one easy answer. Coverage was tight for most of the night. But Rodgers missed throws, too. He moved off his first read too slowly on the deep sideline throw to Davante Adams and had Marcedes Lewis streaking open in the middle. He hesitated on a play-action rollout until the last minute, so Allen Lazard had little green space to work with along the sideline. He also could have given Marquez Valdes-Scantling a better shot in the back of the end zone.
  • As a pure thrower, Rodgers is one of the best to ever do it, but he lacks the touch that someone like Russell Wilson possesses in spades. For example, on the aforementioned play-action rollout miss to Lazard, a softer, higher-arcing throw gives the receiver a better chance to adjust; Rodgers could also release the ball sooner, as he prefers firing off low-trajectory missiles in most cases (usually for good reason).
  • Predominately a Cover-3 team, the 49ers played a lot more Cover 1 (man) than the Packers had anticipated Sunday. The Packers struggled. Most routes were spread-em-out, one-on-one isolation routes. They didn’t adjust quickly enough to middle crossers or other man-beaters.
  • The play-action game has also been somewhat stale in the sense that the team relies too much on one one or two downfield “shot” plays.
  • The Packers’ struggles with the Niners’ pass rush perhaps could have been mitigated with greater integration of jet and orbit motion. The Packers found some success on the goal line with Davante Adams’ touchdown “catch” as well as Allen Lazard’s reverse. There were also jet motions that simply helped to freeze the 49ers’ pass rush for a split second. Either way, the Packers have to be more adaptive in-game when their original game plan isn’t working.
  • In a game as lopsided as this one, it’s hard to completely question the approach on defense. If the Packers play some form of complementary football, the issues probably don’t appear nearly as catastrophic. Nonetheless, the Packers’ issues on the back end appear one part technique and one part scheme discipline. Kevin King has been picked on all year, and he needs to do a much better job playing to his leverage. The team as a whole also just doesn’t communicate well. There are coverage breakdowns seemingly every week. It might be time to let the athletes play, utilize more man coverage, and risk the big play over the top because the chunk plays are happening anyway.
  • It goes without saying, but the offensive line had their lunch handed to them. Corey Linsley played, by far, his worst game of the year. The interior pressure has been a killer for Rodgers in particular.
  • The Packers need better answers to pressure. The Cardinals achieved this by moving the pocket and getting the Niners’ edge defenders off their line.

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Packers add OT Cody Conway to practice squad

The Packers filled their practice squad with offensive tackle Cody Conway.

In addition to promoting offensive tackle Yosh Nijman to the active roster, the Green Bay Packers signed offensive tackle Cody Conway to the practice squad.

The team worked out several different offensive tackles on Tuesday but settled on Conway, an undrafted free agent rookie from Syracuse.

The Packers needed to add an offensive lineman to the roster after Cole Madison suffered a season-ending knee injury during last Thursday’s practice and Bryan Bulaga left Sunday night’s loss in San Francisco with a knee injury.

Nijman’s promotion opened a spot on the practice squad for Conway, the 6-6, 307-pounder.

The Tennessee Titans originally signed Conway on May 10. He played in one preseason game for the Titans before being waived/injured.

The Illinois native played 40 games with 33 starts at left tackle for Syracuse, including 30 straight starts to end his collegiate career. He is now the only offensive lineman on the Packers’ practice squad.

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On to New York: Packers need a ‘get right’ game against two-win Giants

The Packers need to get their 2019 season back on track in New York on Sunday.

On to New York.

That’s the new focus for the humbled Green Bay Packers after suffering their second humiliating loss on the West Coast in four weeks on Sunday night in San Francisco.

Matt LaFleur’s team desperately needs a “get right” game against the two-win Giants at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.

There are no cakewalks in the NFL, especially on the road. The Giants might be 2-9, with a rookie quarterback and the 29th ranked scoring defense in the NFL, but the Packers will be in for a dogfight if they don’t bring their best on Sunday in New York.

Here’s what we do know:

– The Packers are 2-0 coming off losses this season.

– Aaron Jones scored seven rushing touchdowns in those two games.

– The offense didn’t have a turnover in either game.

– The defense forced five turnovers, including four interceptions.

That’s a pretty well-defined recipe for the Packers bouncing back from a disappointing performance in 2019. Stick to it Sunday, and the doom-and-gloom of the 37-8 loss in San Francisco will begin to fade.

A win over the Giants would put the Packers back on track for an 11-win or better season. They are favored on the road on Sunday and they’ll likely be favored in four of the last five games.

According to the New York Times’ playoff predictor simulator, beating the Giants on Sunday would improve the Packers’ playoff chances to roughly 96-97 percent.

Everything is still ahead of LaFleur’s team, regardless of how bad it looked Sunday night at Levi’s Stadium.

The Packers now have five weeks to patch some growing holes and get hot going into what will likely be a gauntlet in the NFC playoffs.

How can the Packers start getting right in New York?

Start by getting back to core concepts of LaFleur’s scheme, blocking along the offensive line and turning Jones into the featured piece of the offense, both as a runner and receiver. On defense, Mike Pettine’s group must figure out a way to better defend the middle of the field against big plays. The special teams need to take baby steps and simply learn to get out of their own way.

The Packers are, without much doubt, a good football team. They’ve got five weeks to become a great one.

Adversity in the NFL comes in many ways, but it mostly arrives via injury or a disappointing result. The response is always what matters most.

In Week 4, the Packers fell late to the Philadelphia Eagles and lost Pro Bowl receiver Davante Adams to a toe injury. Instead of crumbling against a tough part of the schedule, LaFleur’s team got creative on offense and rattled off four straight wins, including two on the road against playoff teams from last year.

In Week 9, the Chargers served up a beat down and provided a nifty little blueprint for taking down the Packers. Once again, LaFleur rallied the team together and fended off the visiting Carolina Panthers at a snowy Lambeau Field before the bye.

This time, the Packers will have to shake off another devastating loss and the likely absence of right tackle Bryan Bulaga.

Many will call the Packers a pretender this week, and they’ve probably earned that label over the last month.

But an NFL season is 16 games, not 11, and seasons aren’t defined by one result, regardless of the aesthetics of that result. The Packers have an opportunity this week to put Sunday night in the rear-view mirror and set a different course for the final month of the regular season.

Nothing about the NFL is consistent except for the fact that narratives around players and teams are guaranteed to change. The Packers have been staggered. It’s time to heal the wounds inflicted in San Francisco and wind up a counterpunch on Sunday in New York.