All summer, members of the Green Bay Packers talked about “learning how to win” with young players sprinkled throughout the offense and Jordan Love taking over as first-year starting quarterback.
Some said it was an excuse. Some believed that was the harsh reality of professional football. Peyton Manning won three games as a rookie starting pitcher. Aaron Rodgers went 6-10 in 2008.
Even great people find it difficult to overcome inexperience.
Through five games, Love and the Packers are clearly still learning, often the hard way, how to win games and play winning football in the NFL.
Matt LaFleur’s team enters the bye week with a 2-3 record and has lost two straight. The optimism of a 2-1 start was replaced by the disappointment of losing to an opponent they could beat in prime time at home and back-to-back on the road.
So when is the best time to learn how to win? Well, always. Every moment is a learning experience. But the big moments late in games provided an especially good environment, and Love and the Packers could already have plenty of valuable learning opportunities in 2023.
In Week 1, the Packers allowed a touchdown drive that cut the lead to 10 points. But Love and the offense fought back with a touchdown drive of their own in the fourth quarter and nearly sealed the deal. This was a moment of success in the face of adversity. If one team punches, punch back.
In Week 2, Love and the offense regained momentum by increasing their lead and had two chances to put the Falcons away. Once the Falcons completed their comeback in the fourth quarter, Love had the final shot to lead his own comeback. The 25-24 loss in Atlanta was not a shining moment in the face of adversity.
In Week 3, the Packers fell behind 17-0 in their home opener, and it looked like they were in line for a blowout loss to the Saints. Instead, Love and the Packers’ offense led them to three straight points in the fourth quarter, defeating the Saints 18-17. After a week of losing the lead, the Packers bounced back with a memorable comeback.
In Week 4, the Packers had a chance to come back against the Lions, especially after closing the lead to 27-11 and 27-17, but a long touchdown drive and Love’s interception in the red zone led to another comeback. The attempt was a failure. The Lions won easily.
In Week 5, the Packers trailed 17-13 entering the fourth quarter in Las Vegas. Love had three chances to generate touchdown drives, including a game-clinching pick in the end zone with less than a minute left, and twice drove into Raiders territory, only to throw an interception.
Clearly, the results were mixed.But shouldn’t that be expected of teams? learn How do you win?
The Packers are now 4-1 with one drive in Atlanta and one drive in Las Vegas. He also only had one missed drive (or field goal) in a 1-4 loss against New Orleans. This instability is a byproduct of the first-year starting quarterback seeing a lot of things for the first time and the players around him learning the NFL game on the fly.
The hope now is that the Packers can come out of the bye, learn valuable lessons in the first five weeks, grow as a team, and hit the ground running in next Sunday’s season opener in Denver. There’s still a lot to learn, but the Packers’ start to this season is exactly what many envisioned when the phrase “learning how to win” was used to describe the challenges that lie ahead. .