It was just one game for Packers, but concerns from Week 1 blowout are valid

Sometimes even good teams get blown out during a long NFL season. It happens. It happened to Matt LaFleur’s team in both 2019 and 2020. It happened to the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season.

After Sunday’s 38-3 loss to the New Orleans Saints to open the 2021 season, quarterback Aaron Rodgers hammered home the fact that this was just one game. And he’s absolutely right. It’s one game in a 17-game season. The Packers will rebound and should go on to win a bunch of games in 2021, especially given all the individual talent on the roster and the MVP at quarterback.

It really was just one game.

But sometimes one game can also be revealing, especially for a team that shouldn’t care about anything but playing on Feb. 13.

How does a team entering an all-in season fail to show up in Week 1? Rodgers said the Packers lacked energy. That was obvious from start to finish. But how is that possible? It’d be more unbelievable if Rodgers didn’t say the same thing after a loss to the Chargers in 2019, or if Za’Darius Smith didn’t say the same after a loss to the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game.

How does team with so many leaders fail to respond in-game? The Packers got whipped early, mounted one weak response and then laid down to die. Once again, it would have been unbelievable had LaFleur’s team not done the same exact thing in previous blowout losses over the last two seasons. If nothing else, this can be a front-running team.

How does a defense play so soft and get run over so consistently? Forget Joe Barry. Sunday wasn’t a scheme issue. The Packers got manhandled at the point of attack. All the talk this summer was about energy from Barry. The Packers had none on Sunday.

How does an offense crumble at the first sign of things going wrong? Sure, the Packers had only run 12 plays by the time the score was 17-0. That kind of start would rattle any play caller. But it’s amazing how the Packers offense abandons anything and everything they do well when things go poorly to start games.

Let’s talk about question marks. The Packers had a few legitimate ones coming into 2021.

Cornerbacks behind Jaire Alexander? A huge problem on Sunday.

The inconsistency of the pass-rush? A problem on Sunday.

The offensive line? Not quite as big of a problem. But the Packers still got nothing done on the ground and Rodgers made a few big mistakes under pressure.

The defensive line and inside linebacker combo against the run? A big problem on Sunday.

If there’s anything to be truly worried about coming of a Week 1 blowout, it’s the manner in which the blowout happened. What happened in Jacksonville wasn’t all that surprising because most of the failures have happened at least a few times in the last few years. Recurring problems are reason for concern. Usually, the next recurrences happen again in important spots down the road.

Sean Payton and the Saints seemed to poke and prod every weak point exposed in LaFleur’s team over the past two years. They ran the ball down the defense’s throat. They protected the quarterback, both with play calls and the play up front. They played two-high safeties and stopped the run against light boxes, completely derailing the offense. They attacked the weakness behind Alexander at cornerback. They turned Rodgers into the pre-2020 quarterback that had the Packers thinking about the future at the position.

In many ways, Sunday’s contest played out a lot like the NFC title game in San Francisco. The Packers are sick of playing in NFC title games and want to go to the Super Bowl.

No, getting blown out on Sunday isn’t going to prevent the Packers from winning a bunch of games this year. LaFleur’s team will still roll over the lesser foes, like the Detroit Lions on Monday night. But Sunday’s result was concerning for the road to the ultimate goal.

If a performance like this was possible in Week 1, why wouldn’t it be possible again in January? The fatal flaws of the Packers look exposed again, and all it takes is one good team to find them in a win-or-go-home playoff game to end another season short of the Super Bowl.

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Studs and duds from Packers' 38-3 loss to Saints in Week 1