The Green Bay Packers earned a hard-fought victory over the Los Angeles Rams to improve their record to 3-2 on the season. Matt LaFleur’s club has their next two games at home with a chance to establish themselves as legitimate playoff contenders in the NFC. But here are five things that the Packers need to clean up as soon as possible if they hope to become a legitimate Super Bowl contender this season:

Five Things the Packers Need to Clean Up, Number One: The Romeo Doubs Situation

The Packers suspended wide receiver Romeo Doubs for one game due to conduct detrimental to the team. Doubs did not make the trip to Los Angeles after missing practice because he was unhappy with his role in the offense.

Now it’s up to LaFleur to clear the air with Doubs and get him back to the team without this incident becoming a long-term distraction. He was able to accomplish this last season with cornerback Jaire Alexander who faced a similar suspension. LaFleur and Alexander sat down and worked things out and the cornerback has been a model citizen since.

Hopefully, Doubs and LaFleur can iron things out. If not, the Packers may have to decide whether to try to move the wideout at the trade deadline. Hopefully, Doubs returns to the fold and resumes being an important part of the Packers offense.

Number Two: Improve the Pass Rush

The Packers recorded eight sacks in Week 3 against the Tennessee Titans who have a struggling offensive line. But besides the Titans game, the Packers have struggled to get consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks without blitzing.

Rashan Gary and Kenny Clark have been unable to generate much pressure on opposing quarterbacks although they were expected to be among the team’s best defensive linemen. The only time pressure has been put on opposing quarterbacks is when the team uses linebackers or defensive backs to blitz the quarterback.

Defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley has made in-game adjustments when the team couldn’t get enough of a pass rush going with their four down linemen, but he needs to figure out a way to generate a pass rush earlier in games. If he can’t, the Packers will struggle defensively especially when they face better quarterbacks.

Five Things the Packers Need to Clean Up, Number Three: More Consistency On Both Sides of the Ball

Right now, the Packers are getting by with splash plays on both sides of the football. Offensively, they have been able to complete long passes downfield but have not been able to consistently move the ball down the field on long, time-consuming drives.

A glaring example came last week against the Rams. The Packers got the ball back leading by five points with about four minutes left in the game. They could not get a drive going that would run out the clock.

On defense, the team is leading the league in takeaways through five games. But is that sustainable? The Packers are presently in the bottom third of the league in yards allowed but more in the middle in points given up.

Unless the team gets more consistent on both sides of the football, it will be difficult to win regularly, especially when they face better teams.

Number Four: Red Zone Offense

The Packers red zone offense has scored just nine touchdowns in 19 trips inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. When you add the team’s kicking struggles, this means the Packers are leaving a lot of points on the field.

Jordan Love and the offense need to become more consistent inside the opponent’s 20. Getting Josh Jacobs more involved both as a runner and a receiver in the red zone would be a good first step.

Both the play calling and the execution of the offense needs to be better in the red zone. This problem will come back to haunt the Packers later in the season if they don’t clean it up.

Five Things the Packers Need to Clean Up, Number Five: Penalties

The Packers have had 40 penalties accepted against them in five games or eight infractions per game. This has cost them 298 yards and directly cost them eight first downs on defense and disrupted many drives on offense.

The Packers “only” committed six penalties against the Rams which was a slight improvement, but they still need to clean things up and stop beating themselves.

This is a young team, but the rash of penalties the team has committed has hurt them all season. LaFleur needs to figure out how to reduce the number of penalties the team takes and the red zone offense and consistency on both sides of the ball will also improve.

 

 

 

 

Follow Gil Martin on Twitter @GilPackers

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