Drops and penalties have both contributed to creating a glaring weakness in the red zone for the Green Bay Packers entering the bye week.
On Sunday at Lambeau Field, the Packers failed to score a touchdown on their first three red zone trips and finished 1-for-4 overall. Chris Brooks had a drop on third down inside the 10-yard line, forcing a field goal. Later, Dontayvion Wicks dropped what should have been a touchdown pass on third down, and Josh Jacobs got stuffed on fourth down one play later. Four trips inside the 20 amounted to only 10 points.
Through nine weeks, the Packers rank 29th in the NFL in scoring touchdowns in the red zone at 47.1 percent. Matt LaFleur’s team is better than only the Pittsburgh Steelers, Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants.
The Packers have had no problems getting to the red zone. In fact, Green Bay ranks fifth with 34 red-zone opportunities. Getting there is one thing; scoring touchdowns in a condensed area of the field is another.
LaFleur tied the red-zone problem to the penalty problem, and he’ll get no argument here. Far too often, the Packers are making the task more difficult by tacking on extra yards or negating positive plays. Eleven times the Packers have been penalized inside the 20. We don’t have the league-wide numbers, but the guess here is 11 red-zone penalties ranks at or near the top of the NFL entering Week 10.
Drops and failures to finish catches have been a recurring problem regardless of area on the field. In condensed spaces, finding wide open targets is difficult. Quarterbacks have to be more accurate and receivers have to make more contested catches.
Running the football is also vital. Josh Jacobs has turned 22 red-zone rushing attempts into just 36 yards. Backup Emanuel Wilson (six rushes, 14 yards) hasn’t done much better. Big averages aren’t expected in the red zone, but a team has to be able to move people up front and impose their will in the run game to be consistent in the red zone.
A few big mistakes also affect the numbers: Jacobs fumbled one yard from the end zone, and Love threw an interception inside the 10-yard line.
Not converting in the red zone is throwing away points. On 34 red-zone trips, the Packers have 17 touchdowns and 12 field goals. If we count a field goal as sacrificing four points, and we add in five missed scores (giveaway, turnover on downs, missed field goal) as sacrificing seven, the Packers have left a total of 83 points on the field in the red zone this season. That’s a lot of points!
Bottom line, the Packers must start executing better in the red zone coming out of the bye. The offense is not having an issue getting inside the 20-yard line consistently, but all the warts of the Packers offense are showing up in the scoring area and preventing touchdowns.
Penalties, drops, misfires, failed contested catches, a lack of rushing efficiency.
Can LaFleur, Love and the Packers go into the lab during the bye week and find answers to the red zone questions during the bye?