The Green Bay Packers don’t need a miracle right now. They need the ball out of Jordan Love’s hands.
That’s the simplest answer to a problem that’s getting louder by the week. Love has been hit 20 times through three games, and on that pace he’d be taking 113 hits over the season.
That’s not a rough stretch. That’s a red alert.
Green Bay’s offensive line has already allowed 51 total pressures and 21 knockdowns, the most by an offensive line unit in the past 20 seasons.
The injuries are part of it, sure. Losing Zach Bako-Bewele just two games into the season was a crushing blow. But the guys who have been available haven’t held up their end of the bargain either.
So Brian Gutekunst has gone shopping. The Packers have added veteran offensive linemen Laken Tomlinson and Mekhi Bekton, and they’ve also met with Kevin Zeitler as they search for anything that can steady the front.
But this can’t be pinned entirely on personnel. Matt LaFleur has already pointed toward the way the offense is being called, and that matters just as much when the protection is this shaky.
LaFleur and Love both like the long game. They like the deep shot, the kind of play that can flip a drive in one snap and put points on the board in a hurry. And even with the early-season mess, the offense hasn’t been completely buried: Green Bay is averaging 315.3 yards per game, and Love’s 844 passing yards rank top five in the league.
Still, there’s a difference between chasing explosives and living off them. When the rush is arriving this fast, the Packers have to get more practical.
Asked earlier this week whether Love could benefit from a quicker-rhythm scheme, LaFleur didn’t dodge the question.
“I would say there are certain situations, yes, but then there’s a lot of times where the rush has been hitting home quick,” LaFleur explained. “So again, you gotta look at what you’re asking your guys to do and what you’re doing schematically.
And you’ve got to do a better job of mixing it up, I would say, so it’s not just all these longer developing plays. Certainly we love explosives.
He loves them. I love them.
They typically lead to points, but we just gotta be a little bit more timely, I would say, when we’re calling them.”
That’s the heart of it. Green Bay has built an offense that leans toward the deep ball, and with Christian Watson and Matthew Golden on the outside, you can see why. They bring speed, and speed naturally tempts a play-caller to hunt for chunk gains.
But those same receivers can do more than run past people. They can handle a quick slant.
They can run a five-yard out. They can keep the offense moving without asking Love to stand in the pocket and wait for a play to fully develop.
Tucker Kraft fits that same conversation too. He has been barely involved through three games, but he’s the kind of player who can turn a short catch into extra yardage after the grab.
That’s what the Packers need more of: three-step drops, quick throws, and plays that let Love get rid of the football before the defense arrives. If the offensive line can’t buy time, then LaFleur has to stop asking it to hold up so long.
It may not be the flashiest fix. It may not feed the highlight reel. But right now, Green Bay doesn’t need flash.
It needs a plan that keeps its quarterback upright.
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