Coming into the 2023-24 season, no one really knew what to expect out of the Green Bay Packers. Jordan Love took the reins from Aaron Rodgers, Matt LaFleur was finally getting an opportunity to display his full offensive game plan, and no wide receiver on the offense had more than one year of experience.
With general manager Brian Gutekunst assembling the youngest roster in NFL history, hard times were to be expected. While that turbulence did hit, it really didn’t come until the end of Week 2.
Green Bay opened its season against its storied and longest rival, the Chicago Bears. The Bears were once again in a spot where media members and fans hyped up the Justin Fields offense, and many had predicted them to win this game.
Instead, Love put together an incredible first start this season, as he finished with 245 yards and three touchdowns. With Romeo Doubs and Aaron Jones scoring offensive touchdowns, it looked like this season was going to be relied on by players who have experience in the system. More than just offense though, Green Bay’s defense did its part in this game, holding Fields to 216 yards passing and one touchdown. Quay Walker also returned an interception for a touchdown.
“I couldn’t be more proud of (Love’s) performance, his poise,” said Packers coach Matt LaFleur. “There’s a big time belief in that locker room for Jordan Love, and I think the guys are going to rally around him. They’re excited for him. They love him. They respect him.”
While the offense and specifically the quarterback were the big story in the offseason, the defense was quietly talked about as being one of the best units in the NFL. Those projections looked true, as it held the up-and-coming Bears offense to 20 points in a Week 1 win.
Both the offense and defense carried that momentum into the Week 2 matchup against the Atlanta Falcons. Green Bay opened the game with a 24-12 lead through three quarters. The only difference in this game, though, was that rookies Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks were at the forefront of the offense, scoring three combined touchdowns.
That is when the vaunted defense took a step back, however. Green Bay gave up 13 points in the final 15 minutes of the game and took its first loss of the season. On top of that, it looked like the defense had some vulnerabilities, as Falcons rookie running back Bijan Robinson gashed the Packers’ defense for 124 yards on 19 carries.
While it was easy to chalk that loss up to a few mistakes from a young team that could be easily fixed, it showed two major problems for the Packers moving forward – the run defense and the offensive play calling. Now knowing what we do about Love and the offense, it seems kind of silly that he completed only 14 passes in this game.
Luckily for Green Bay, its next game was against a New Orleans Saints team that seemed to be in limbo all season long. With a mix of rookies and vets and no real identity, the Saints majorly underperformed this season.
In this game though, the Saints ripped off 17 straight points to shut Green Bay out in the first half. In what was almost a reverse of the previous game against Atlanta, Green Bay shut out the Saints in the second half, scoring 18 points (with Saints kicker Blake Grupe missing the game-winning field goal) to go up 2-1 on the season.
In the face of adversity, Green Bay was able to respond and take down a team that, at the time, appeared to have a better shot at making the playoffs than the Packers.
The underperforming play calling and first-half struggles then persisted through the next month, as Green Bay dropped four straight games.
Through the four-game losing streak, Green Bay was only able to muster nine first-half points. Instead of utilizing the middle of the field, Love’s first looks were more often than not behind the line of scrimmage, as it became obvious that LaFleur wanted to get the screen game going. With Jones being hurt and A.J. Dillon’s inconsistent play, those screens seemed to be a substitute for the run game. The only problem was, without exposing the middle of the field, it became really easy for opposing defenses to key on the boundaries.
“It’s frustrating, man,” said Love. “I’m frustrated. Everybody in that locker room is frustrated. Plain and simple, we’re not winning. We’re losing games, and it’s games we should be winning, I think that we are right there.”
A loss to the Lions during that losing streak was to be expected, but after losing to the Broncos and the Raiders in back-to-back games, it became very evident that if Green Bay wanted a shot at the playoffs, something drastic was going to need to change.
Along with the inconsistencies on offense, Green Bay was also suffering numerous back-breaking penalties. With such a young team, those penalties were to be expected and more often than not hurt Green Bay in big spots.
The offense as a whole took its biggest failure of the season in that Denver game. Just four games prior, Denver had given up 70 points to the Miami Dolphins. This really felt like a get-right game for the Packers offense, but it once again was unable to score in the first half and found itself down 16-3 midway through the third quarter. Green Bay was able to make somewhat of a comeback, as the final score landed at 19-17, but the problem with the lack of offense still existed.
While Reed and Doubs both caught touchdown passes, it was actually Dillon who led the team in receiving the game with 34 yards on two receptions.
At this point in the season, many were questioning LaFleur’s ability to call a game and Love’s ability to win games. Rightfully so, whether it was inexperience, injuries or poor coaching, Green Bay was underperforming and after the past few offseasons of drama surrounding Aaron Rodgers and Gutekunst, many were calling for the jobs of multiple coaches.
Now sitting at 2-5, Green Bay hosted the Minnesota Vikings with Kirk Cousins playing the best season of his career. Even though Cousins went out with an injury in this game, Green Bay as a whole continued to struggle.
Scoring its only touchdown late in the third quarter, the Packers’ offense once again underperformed. While the defense had played better in previous games, it was still obvious that it was far from what the expectations were at the beginning of the year.
This game though exposed another big problem for Green Bay that reared its head in the playoffs. The Packers’ last three drives of the game ended with turnovers on downs, and two of those came in the red zone. Not converting in the red zone kills teams, especially teams that are struggling on offense and looking for points in any capacity. With Love leading the team in rushing, picking up 34 yards and four carries, the noise surrounding Green Bay became louder and louder.
Green Bay was finally able to break that losing streak as the Los Angeles Rams came to town, down Matthew Stafford.
After a scoreless first quarter, Green Bay finally broke out of its slump of touchdown-less first halves and scored a three-yard Jones rushing touchdown early in the second quarter. After a Rams field goal late in the half, the Packers defense pitched a shutout the rest of the way to come away with a 20-3 victory.
Along with the win, what was encouraging about this victory was that the offense finally looked like it clicked. Love completed 20-of-26 for 228 yards and one touchdown, while Jones rushed for 73 yards and touchdown on 20 carries. What also was encouraging was that the veterans and the best players on this Packers team seemed to step up and take the game into their own hands.
Keisean Nixon had a 51-yard kick return, Jones carried the offense, and Jaire Alexander finished with seven tackles and two pass deflections. He also consistently shut down two of the best wide receivers in the game in Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua.
As is usually the case with such young teams though, Green Bay almost immediately gave up the momentum that it had against the Steelers the next week. Pittsburgh’s offense was struggling just as much as Green Bay’s through the first half of the season, so it seemed like the Packers could steal a victory on the road. Once again, it was the run defense that struggled in this game, as Steelers running backs Jaylen Warren and Najee Harris combined for 183 yards and two touchdowns.
Love put together another good game, as he finished with 289 yards and two touchdowns but added two interceptions. With this loss, it pushed the team to 3-6. Despite the poor record, many in the clubhouse knew that the Packers were on the edge of winning, if only they could fix those costly mistakes.
“You can see how close we are, a play here or a play there,” said Jones after the game. “I feel like we just keep pushing at it. If we keep putting in the work, it’ll go in our favor.”
The story of the first half for the Packers’ season was inexperienced play, costly penalties and play calling from LaFleur. Instead of opening the middle of the field, LaFleur opted to try and get the outside pass game going, oftentimes electing to run bubble screens and tosses. That severely limited Love’s strengths of finding open receivers between the numbers and put a stronger reliance on the rookie receivers to make the plays.
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