SEASON ENDS WITH A THUD
Packers must pick up the pace for next year
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The Green Bay Packers won 14 games this season, but they’re only about halfway there.
Two blowout losses to the San Francisco exposed that for all to see. With a new coach and some big offseason moves, the Packers went from a bad NFL team to one of the better decent ones. But compared to the best, well, general manager Brian Gutekunst and coach Matt LaFleur have a long way to go.
Their first-half no-show Sunday took much of the shine off their turnaround 14-win season, and their inability to stop the run from start to finish, when they knew what was coming, was absolutely shocking – a “disgrace,” as one defensive line coach in the NFL texted me after the game.
Defensive coordinator Mike Pettine’s unit had a terrible time getting a hand on 49ers running back Raheem Mostert (29 carries, 220 yards), let alone getting him to the ground.
“They were just able to rip through us running the ball,” LaFleur lamented after the game.
What jumped off the field in this game is the difference in speed between the two teams. Mostert was the fastest player on the field, and 49ers receiver Deebo Samuel is big and fast too. On defense, the 49ers’ front seven played a tick faster than the Packers’ offense.
That made the Packers’ lack of speed at key positions painfully obvious.
For one, they’re too slow at inside linebacker with Blake Martinez and B.J. Goodson. That position has been devalued in the NFL in the past 15 or 20 years, but it might be time for that to change. The job, especially with good run-oriented teams such as the 49ers and Baltimore Ravens, requires a rare skill set in today’s spread game, a player who’s big and explosive enough to make a difference in the run game but fast and agile enough to not be a liability in coverage.
All three of the 49ers’ off-ball linebackers (Kwon Alexander, Red Warner and Dre Greenlaw) were better and faster than anybody the Packers put on the field at that position.
The Packers also lack speed at receiver. Their one fast guy, Marquez ValdesScantling, played his way out of the rotation in his second season, and everyone else (Allen Lazard, Geronimo Allison, Jake Kumerow) is big but slow for the position.
Same at tight end (Jimmy Graham, Marcedes Lewis, Robert Tonyan).
When asked if speed is an area his team needs to address this offseason, LaFleur said: “You always want as much speed as you can have.”
It’s clear that after Gutekunst’s spending spree last year on free agents Za’Darius Smith, Preston Smith, Adrian Amos and Billy Turner, the GM will need
Paige Hoeffert, from left, of Wauwatosa, Katie Leinenkugel of Milwaukee and Meredith Settler of Wauwatosa react as they watch the Packers play the 49ers at Red Star on North Old World 3rd Street.
another big offseason to make the Packers a true contender to win the Super Bowl. Aaron Rodgers’ clock is ticking, and at age 36 he needs more help than he used to. There’s nothing to wait for.
Gutekunst might not have quite as much money to work with as last year, but he and his scouting staff are going to have to figure out something, or that money spent last offseason is going to end up a big waste.
Rodgers said he didn’t see this being like after the 2016 season, when the Packers similarly were blown out in the NFC championship game at Atlanta, after which he said they had to go all-in in the offseason. But in his own way, he acknowledged the roster work needed when asked if Gutekunst needed another offseason like the last one. “Nobody would mind,” he said. For his part, Rodgers gave off a much different vibe than after that game in ’16. He lauded LaFleur for fostering a good atmosphere around the team, and new players such as the Smiths, for rejuvenating him and the team.
“This will always be a special team because it became fun again,” he said.
He also was overt about his faith in Gutekunst after last offseason, which he obviously didn’t have after the ’16 season when he tried prodding former GM Ted Thompson to do more.
“I feel really confident in Brian and the job that he’s done and his staff,” Rodgers said. “They did go all-in — as much as they could — this year and the pieces that they brought in. I’m confident that he’s going to continue to add to this squad. So, that part is very exciting. It is a lot different feel than three years ago.”
Yes, when they step back and look at it, the Packers can look at the 2019 season and think it was successful in some ways. For starters, they won 14 games with a young rookie head coach.
But so many things went their way this year — great health, a favorable schedule — that to put up such a big dud with the Super Bowl on the line was a harsh reality.
They still have a long ways to go, and not much time to do it.