3 flaws Packers must fix by NFL playoffs
By John Buhler
1. Become elite defensively when it comes to stuffing the run
Green Bay may have a top-half run defense, but this is the biggest area where the Packers need to focus heading into the playoffs. As long as defensive coordinator Mike Pettine’s side of the ball is coming together at the right time, this team may have enough to get to and win a Super Bowl. Green Bay has not had a truly dominant defense in the decade since last winning it all in 2010.
Ultimately, Green Bay will end up with a top-three seed in the NFC playoff picture. The Packers could be the No. 1 seed if the Saints slip up and neither the Los Angeles Rams or the Seattle Seahawks catch fire in the NFC West. Again, Green Bay is likely to be one of the final four teams left standing in the NFL. The Packers cannot let 2020 end like 2019 did under any circumstance.
Green Bay suffered yet another embarrassing loss in the NFC Championship game. The 49ers ran roughshod all over them, blowing them out before we even got to halftime. Pettine’s defense had no answer for Kyle Shanahan’s zone blocking scheme. It felt like a repeat of how the 2016 NFC Championship game when when Shanahan was the Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator.
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By neutralizing the opposition’s ground game, it forces the other team’s starting quarterback to make plays through the air. If a guy like Russell Wilson makes more plays than Rodgers in a playoff game, then so be it. What Green Bay cannot tolerate is someone like Jimmy Garoppolo attempting 10 passes en route to a blow out because the Packers defense could not stop the run at all.
Do the Packers have what it takes to represent the NFC in Super Bowl 55 down in Tampa?