Biggest areas the Packers need to improve after the bye week

The Green Bay Packers are resting and recovering during the team’s bye weekend in Week 10. At 6-3, the Packers are in possession of a playoff spot, but Matt LaFleur’s team needs to improve in some key areas to catch fire and play their best football at the end of the season.

The 2024 Packers are good. You are just a few steps away from being great. With eight games left, the Packers have time to get things in order before the postseason.

The Packers Wire staff thinks LaFleur’s team needs to get better after the bye:

Zach Kruse: Consistency in the passing game and in the pass rush or in coverage

The Packers’ offense is on the precipice of something big – similar to this time last year – but the entire operation lacks consistency. Jordan Love didn’t protect the football or be consistently accurate, perhaps due to two lower-body injuries, and the receivers – namely Dontayvion Wicks and Jayden Reed – dropped far too many passes. Playmaking or opening is rarely a problem for the passing game. That’s a good thing. Now is the time to eliminate some of the recurring problems, be more consistent overall, and get fit for the home stretch. A dominant passing game can solve most problems. On defense, the Packers need one of two things – more pass-rushing production from the front four or more consistent coverage on the back end. The Packers can’t get enough of Rashan Gary, Kenny Clark or Lukas Van Ness. Pass rush should be a strength, not a question mark. Maybe the bye week will help provide answers. In the secondary, the cornerback spot opposite Jaire Alexander (who has already missed two games due to injury) appears to be a potentially fatal mistake. Can Keisean Nixon, Eric Stokes or Carrington Valentine step up in the home stretch? If the Packers combine explosiveness with consistency in the passing game and get a little more out of the pass rush or a little better coverage from the second cornerback spot, this team will be one of the top contenders in the NFC come January.

Brandon Carwile: The Interceptions of Love

Jordan Love needs to be smarter with the ball in the second half of the season. Despite missing two and a half games, he is tied for the league lead with 10 interceptions – one fewer than the number he threw in 17 games last season. Now, Love threw a lot of picks at the start of the 2023 season before turning things around and leaving scorched earth behind him in the home stretch. However, it is not advisable to trust that this will happen again. Not every interception is entirely on the quarterback, but Love needs to stop putting the ball in danger, even if that means taking a sack or throwing the ball away. The pick-six he threw in his own end zone against the Rams game was one of the worst plays of his career until he upped the ante with the game-winning pick-six he threw in Sunday’s loss to the Lions . Love still has a lot to learn, which is understandable since he’s only a second-year starter. However, knowing when to accept that a game is dead is a valuable skill that he will need to learn sooner rather than later if this team wants to compete for a Super Bowl this year. Hopefully he uses the bye week to explore himself and do some soul searching. But if the interceptions continue, the Packers’ season could end similar to last year’s playoff loss to the 49ers, with a game-winning pick by Love.

Brennen Rupp: Self-inflicted mistakes

You just have to get out of the way yourself. The Packers shot themselves in the foot too many times in the first half of the season. They were able to overcome these self-inflicted wounds against the Jaguars. They won’t be able to make the playoffs unless they eliminate the red zone penalties, Jordan Love’s interceptions and the drops. If they can limit their mistakes, this team could look like an unstoppable force in the second half of the season.

Greg Williams: Interceptions, Penalties, Pass Rush

The Packers had a solid season, but there are some areas where they need to improve. Jordan Love has shown some ups and downs, but he needs to be more careful with the ball to avoid those downs. The team also struggles with penalties, which often slow their progress and hurt them in close games. On defense, the edge rushers need to step up, especially now that Preston Smith has been traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Since Rashan Gary can’t do much, I’d like to see a lot more from Lukas Van Ness. It will be interesting to see if they can put enough pressure on the other team’s quarterback to help the defense as a whole. Improvement in these areas will be critical for the Packers to become one of the NFC’s top teams.