The Green Bay Packers can sit and watch this weekend as six NFC teams duke it out for the chance to advance to the Divisional playoffs. It’s a great position to be in to earn a first-round bye, and Matt LaFleur’s team has a very simple but helpful plan for what to do this week.
Simply put, it’s time to get bodies right.
After a 17-game season and 12 straight weeks of games following an early week 5 bye, the Packers have plenty of nicks and minor issues to address. After all, the team listed 13 players with an injury status at some point during the lead-up to their week 17 game, and that does not include left tackle David Bakhtiari.
Green Bay will not know the identity of its Divisional round opponent until Sunday afternoon, however, as the 7-2 game between the Bears and Saints is scheduled to be played as the second Sunday game. So until that happens, the green and gold will focus on themselves, reviewing their own film and taking care of everything in-house before moving on to prepare for their playoff opponent after Sunday’s games.
It’s an invaluable approach, and one that will hopefully pay off for this Packers squad.
Packers plan to ‘recharge the battery’ during playoff bye | Packers.com
Rest and recovery are the Packers’ goals for this week, according to head coach Matt LaFleur. Since the team will not know its Divisional round opponent until Sunday afternoon, Green Bay will prioritize self-scouting this week before diving into game prep next week.
Matt LaFleur pushing for more press coverage | Packersnews.com
LaFleur said on his press conference on Monday that he wants to see the defense be “a little bit more aggressive,” particularly on third- and fourth-and-short. This isn’t the first time this year that LaFleur has implored Mike Pettine to have his corners challenge receivers at the line of scrimmage, and the one time they really pressed, they got the stop on fourth down.
Aaron Rodgers, Derrick Henry and Aaron Donald highlight PFF’s All-Pro roster | PFF
PFF names five Packers to their first team, including two members of the secondary. It should be no surprise if Jaire Alexander earns a first-team All-Pro nod to go with his first Pro Bowl berth.
12 unforgettable stats from Packers historic 2020 season | Packers Wire
Among some of these great stats is the fact that Davante Adams scored more touchdowns than Mason Crosby kicked field goals, which was driven in part by the best red zone touchdown percentage by any team in the last 40 years.
NFL coaching search: Guidelines to follow when hiring – The Athletic (subscription)
With five teams looking for new head coaches this offseason, here’s a sort of rubric for what teams should be looking for. It seems like the Packers hit on most of these when they hired LaFleur, including his ability to connect personally with players, his leadership skills, and his willingness to stay aggressive.
British demote goat after it marches out of line | NBC News
This is why goats don’t make good soldiers — they rarely follow the chain of command.
