Packers believe their struggles on offense start up front

Updated Oct. 17, 2022 6:12 p.m. ET

Associated Press

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — There are plenty of issues hindering a Green Bay Packers offense that has produced just 10 points over its last six quarters.

The Packers have a pretty good idea where the problems start.

“If we don’t block better, it’s hard to do anything,” coach Matt LaFleur said Monday, a day after an embarrassing 27-10 home loss to the New York Jets. “And I think that was the No. 1 issue yesterday.”

The Packers are searching for ways to boost their offense as they carry a two-game skid into a three-game road swing.

Green Bay is scoring 17.8 points per game to rank 24th out of 32 teams, and a closer look at the numbers tells a more troubling story.

The Packers have scored on 27.9% of their possessions. The only team with a worse percentage is the Washington Commanders, who host Green Bay on Sunday.

“There’s a lot of ball in front of us, but we have to have that urgency to want to improve,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said Sunday. “We’ve got to clean up a ton of details. We’re going to have to take a good hard look at everything and really do some great evaluations from a coaching perspective in terms of what’s working, what’s not working and try to find a different avenue because today was not good enough.”

Rodgers was sacked four times by a Jets defense that produced nine quarterback hurries.

“The film, the eye in the sky, doesn’t lie,” left tackle David Bakhtiari said Sunday. “We’ve got to go back, we’ve got to correct, we’ve got to be honest with ourselves. It’s something that we talked about with the line. When you put that out there, that’s blood. And that’s what the defense — sharks — are going to look at. Until you fix that, they’re going to keep attacking that.”

The Packers (3-3) tried making one change to the offensive line Sunday when they put Jake Hanson in for Royce Newman at right guard, though Newman returned once Hanson went down with a biceps injury.

LaFleur was asked Monday about the possibility of moving right tackle Elgton Jenkins back to guard, where he was a Pro Bowl performer in 2020.

“I think everything’s up for discussion,” LaFleur said.

The versatile Jenkins filled in for an injured Bakhtiari capably at left tackle last year before a torn anterior cruciate ligament ended his season, but he has struggled at right tackle this year.

“I’m not opposed to any position at this point — especially with these past two weeks,” Jenkins said Monday. “Whatever helps the team and whatever helps us win, I’m with it.”

WHAT’S WORKING

The Packers limited Jets QB Zach Wilson to 110 yards passing and allowed only one completion of longer than 16 yards. The Packers are giving up a league-low 164 yards passing per game, though they have intercepted just one pass all season. ... The Jets went 1 of 11 on third-down conversion attempts. The Packers lead the NFL in third-down defense, allowing opponents to convert 26.6% of the time.

WHAT NEEDS WORK

Just about everything else. Rodgers is facing too much pressure and isn’t approaching his MVP form of the last two seasons. A.J. Dillon and Aaron Jones combined for only 60 yards on 19 carries. The defense allowed the Jets to rush for 179 yards on 33 carries, including touchdowns of 34 and 20 yards. On special teams, the Packers blocked a punt but also had a punt and a field-goal attempt blocked.

STOCK UP

OLB Rashan Gary recorded his sixth sack. He’s posted at least one sack in every game other than last week’s 27-22 loss to the New York Giants, when his sack of Daniel Jones was nullified by a penalty on Darnell Savage. ... TE Robert Tonyan had a career-high 10 catches for 90 yards. ... WR Allen Lazard has a touchdown catch in four of the five games he’s played this season.

STOCK DOWN

Jenkins had two holding penalties and a false start. ... Newman’s struggles resulted in his temporary benching before Hanson got hurt. ... Jones, who entered the game averaging 6.4 yards per carry to lead all running backs, was limited to 19 yards on nine rushes.

INJURED

WR Randall Cobb was carted to the locker room with an ankle injury and likely will miss multiple games. “It’s not going to be like a one-week deal or anything like that,” LaFleur said Monday.

KEY NUMBER

0 – Number of takeaways by the Green Bay defense in each of the Packers’ last two games. The Packers have a minus-4 turnover margin.

NEXT STEPS

The Packers begin a three-game road swing by visiting Washington (2-4), followed by trips to Buffalo (5-1) and Detroit (1-4).

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