🏈Opening Kickoff
After a long, painful month of not adding to the W column, the Packers returned to Lambeau Field coming off of their bye week and took care of business over the Cincinnati Bengals, winning 27-18 to improve to 3-1-1.
🗞️Headline Story
The Packers offense came out looking a bit sluggish and did not win by the decisive margin of 14 points they were favored by in Vegas. However, the offense came back to life toward the end of the 1st half and left minimal doubts about who would win for the remainder of the game. With a little extra help from the offensive line in the 2nd half, Josh Jacobs was able to barrel his way to 93 rushing yards and 2 TDs in his best game of the season yet. The Packers all but won the game with a 39-yard field goal from Lucas Havrisik to go up by 11 points with 1:56 left in the game. The Bengals were led by Joe Flacco, who was traded to the team just days prior and was looking to become the first NFL QB since 1962 to beat the same opponent twice in the same season while playing for different teams. Flacco led the Browns to a win against the Packers in a shocking Week 3 defeat.
🤓By The Numbers
The Packers are the only team in the NFL to have held a double-digit lead at some point in every game they’ve played. Not bad.
The Packers' defense ranks 4th in opponent yards per game (283.3) and 2nd in opponent yards per play (4.5). However, the defense only has 2 takeaways so far this season, ranking 31st in the NFL.
Packers TE Tucker Kraft has 3 TDs and 9.9 average yards after catch through the first six weeks of the season. Since 2006, only one other tight end has accomplished this feat. It was Tucker Kraft…last year. (h/t Daire Carragher)
📈Stock Report 📉
Stock Up
Jordan Morgan – The 2024 1st-round pick had his best game of the season and probably his entire career playing at RG on Sunday. It would not be surprising if he has now won the job full-time after playing in a rotation for most of the season thus far.
Matthew Golden – It's happening. The rookie had his best game yet against Cincinnati. Golden was fantastic at creating separation and was shifty with the ball in his hands in open space as well. He totaled over 100 scrimmage yards, and Jordan Love went out of his way to say they still needed to find ways to get him the ball more. I really hope they do, he is by far the most talented wideout on the team from my view.
Devonte Wyatt - Wyatt has stepped up big since the Packers shipped out Kenny Clark. His value continues to go up while he's sidelined with injury as the Packers' run defense especially struggles more in his absence.
Stock Down
Rich Bisaccia - Bisaccia is a regular on this list, and it is because every week he earns it. Why are Romeo Doubs and Matthew Golden still returning punts? Neither one of them is good at it, and the team's two most valuable wide receivers should not be in harm's way like that.
The Packers Medical Staff - I'm not a doctor, but Packers OT Zach Tom looked extremely banged up and uncomfortable out there on Sunday, and his play slipped as a result. This was out of character for a once notoriously cautious Packers medical staff.
Quay Walker - The Packers' ILB has been struggling a lot in pass coverage. It is going to be very interesting to see if Green Bay decides to sign him to a contract extension.
🔥 Quick Hits
After being a healthy scratch for the first 4 weeks of the season, rookie DT Warren Brinson was the Packers’ highest graded defender in Week 6, per PFF.
EDGE Lukas Van Ness “avoided a serious injury,” according to Matt LaFleur, despite being carted off the field Sunday with a foot injury. It remains to be seen how much time he will miss.
WR Christian Watson is now over one week into his activation of the PUP list. Well under 300 days since he tore his ACL in Week 18 of last season, he now has two more weeks to be activated for his return to action.
🏆 The Big Take from Brian
He doesn’t know it, but Lucas Havrisik is why I love football.
In case you weren’t aware, Havrisik worked out for the Packers just days before their matchup against the Bengals, and was signed to the active roster on Saturday. The decision that he would start wasn’t even made until starting kicker Brandon McManus, who was dealing with a quad injury, went through pregame warmups. Havrisik, who hadn’t played an NFL snap since 2023, rose to the occasion and kicked a perfect 5-for-5 on field goals and extra points, including makes from 43 and 39 yards. Packers fans everywhere let out sighs of relief over this performance, with recurring nightmares fueled by over a year of kicking woes in between finding Brandon McManus as a servicable replacement for Packers legend Mason Crosby still clear in the rear view mirror.
Of course, as a Packers fan, I loved seeing him make those kicks. But like seemingly every major media outlet that picked up the story, I loved the fairytale even more. Havrisik had been looking for a new job as a substitute teacher in Cleveland before the Packers called him up. He was getting “bored” not working. Days later, he was kicking in front of 80,000 Packers fans at Lambeau and playing on national television with the weight of the world on his shoulders. I just can’t fathom it. The NFL is a multi-billion-dollar corporate machine that countless people spend their entire lives trying to break into, both on and off the field. The idea that a guy in Cleveland, mulling his options as a substitute teacher with minimal prior success in the sport, can suddenly be called up to play one of the most high-pressure positions for one of the most iconic franchises and loyal fanbases in the league on just a couple of days’ notice is just unreal. It shouldn’t even be possible when you consider how many moving pieces there are in this hyper-competitive league. But it happened. And even better, he delivered.
It was a nice reminder that while we sit on the couch for 3 hours (or a lot longer if you’re like me) on Sundays, the dudes that we’re watching try to maim each other out there for 3 hours are real people just like us.
👀Looking Ahead
The Packers now head to Arizona to take on an undermanned opponent in the Arizona Cardinals, who might be without Kyler Murray, Marvin Harrison Jr, and the top two running backs on their depth chart. Is this a game the Packers should win decisively, or a "trap game"? (It feels like people say that for any game now that isn't against a formidable opponent.) I guess it depends on who you ask. This is obviously a game that the Packers should win. My sense of urgency about this win isn't stemmed from a belief that the Packers could be frauds or that the season is over if they lose, but more so from how unexpectedly competitive the NFC has become in terms of quantity of teams in the mix. Just take a look at the NFC North, which is yet again the best division in football, with the Chicago Bears sitting in dead last at…3-2.
If the Packers take a bad loss against Arizona, suddenly valid concerns about their positioning in the conference, leading to falling to a lower seed (again) or even missing the playoffs entirely, will emerge. I won't be one of the people screaming from the rafters about how terrible everything is if they lose. But I will start losing more time throughout the week anxiously running mental math about their positioning within the conference and division and who they have to beat to best position themselves for the playoffs.
👇Final Thoughts
On a lighter note, the Packers are one of just four teams remaining in the NFL with only one loss. This framing makes me feel a lot better about that ugly-looking tie at the end of their record. In Vegas, the Packers are also tied with the Bills and Chiefs as the #1 betting favorites to win the Super Bowl as of the typing of this newsletter. I don't want to use this platform to shine a light on the gambling industry, but I can't deny my fascination with how those lines move and how the industry always seems to be one step ahead of the public. (We all have that one gambling addict friend who's always ranting about that.) It's comforting to know that the people with the most data in the world are currently willing to give you the least money back for betting on the Packers.
I also have no problem with using it to fit my narrative as a fan to anyone who tries to tell me the Packers won’t be winning the Super Bowl in actuality. You should too! It’s never a bad day to be a Packers fan.
Till next time,
Packerscoverage
Brian Pedretti