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Matt Ludtke/Associated Press
The Green Bay Packers need to do some hard evaluations of their game plan after Week 1’s blowout loss to the New Orleans Saints.
Green Bay was one of two teams that failed to produce a touchdown in the opening week. The Atlanta Falcons were the other, but the NFC South side came into the campaign with much lower expectations.
The offensive solution may be to work in targets that are more comfortable with Aaron Rodgers’ tendencies in the passing game, such as Randall Cobb.
Defensively, the Packers need to give more snaps to players who can create a consistent pass rush, starting with the Week 2 showdown against the Detroit Lions.
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Sam Greenwood/Getty Images
Randall Cobb was brought back to the franchise after two seasons away to provide Rodgers with more comfort in the passing game.
In Week 1, the veteran wideout was on the field for 26 percent of the Packers’ offensive snaps. He could not get on the field consistently even with the Packers in pass mode.
Cobb’s limited snap total may have been affected by his transition back into game play. He missed the final six weeks of the 2020 season with the Houston Texans.
When he was healthy, the 31-year-old produced a pair of 95-yard performances and had multiple catches in all of his 10 appearances.
If Cobb adds a few receptions per game, it would give the Packers more depth in the passing game behind Davante Adams.
Cobb does not need to produce five or more catches per contest, but if he turns in three or four receptions with one or two long gains, it could provide a necessary boost to Rodgers’ arsenal and keep opposing defenses honest instead of focusing solely on Adams.
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Morry Gash/Associated Press
The Packers need to be more dynamic on the defensive side of the trenches.
On Sunday, Green Bay totaled three quarterback hits and zero sacks. Za’Darius Smith had one of the best opportunities to record a quarterback hit, but that was negated by a questionable roughing-the-passer call.
The 29-year-old played 18 snaps, which was the sixth-fewest total of any Green Bay defensive player. He was held out of a full complement of snaps due to a back injury that put him as a questionable player on the injury report.
If Smith heals in time for Week 2, he should receive a major increase in snaps as he is tasked with chasing down Jared Goff.
As long as the Kentucky product stays healthy, he should maintain the double-digit sack form he displayed over the last two seasons.
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Stephen B. Morton/Associated Press
The Packers drafted Eric Stokes in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft to improve their passing defense.
The Georgia product was not on the field much during Week 1, but that could change after the secondary was torn apart by Jameis Winston.
Stokes was on the field for eight snaps in his professional debut, with only linebacker Oren Burks playing fewer snaps among Green Bay’s active defensive players.
Jaire Alexander and Kevin King were taken advantage of by Winston and his depleted receiving corps. That can’t happen again against a Detroit offense that lost its quarterback and top two wideouts in the offseason.
Putting Stokes in the starting lineup should be one of the first changes made by head coach Matt LaFleur and his staff ahead of Monday night’s game.
The 22-year-old was drafted for a reason, and he won’t do any good for the team sitting on the sidelines. A matchup with a weaker offense in Detroit seems like the perfect moment to put the rookie on the field to see what he can produce.
Statistics obtained from Pro Football Reference.
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