Crazy what a difference two weeks make.

Coming out of the Washington game, I was certain the Packers were on a Super Bowl trajectory. They played outstanding defense and thoroughly dominated a pair of would-be contenders. They looked like the league’s best team.

Two weeks later, and the team is heading into the bye week with a lot of questions.

Here are some of the ones that are sticking in my brain at the moment:

How good is this defense, really?

It’s important not to overreact after a single game, of course, but it’s hard not to wonder whether the Packers’ abysmal defensive performance against Dallas was a one-week blip or a sign that perhaps there are far more issues than we had seen or expected in the Packers’ first three games.

The pass rush simply did not get home, for starters. This was especially troubling when you consider the state of the Cowboys’ offensive line. The pass rush had caused havoc over the course of the first three weeks, and the moment it disappeared, the defense got shredded. The depth in the secondary was exposed; Keisean Nixon and Nate Hobbs had difficult games, and Xavier McKinney looked nothing like his all pro self. Meanwhile, Edgerrin Cooper had his worst game as a professional at linebacker. 

I refuse to believe that a single player (Devonte Wyatt) can make that big of a difference in the unit’s ability to execute. But can the defense really be that awful when the pass rush doesn’t show up? 

More data is necessary. At this point, I’m inclined to believe (or at least am hoping) that this was an aberration. It’s important to remember that Dallas gave Philly all it could handle. But it’s hard not to be a little concerned.

What is going on with Matt LaFleur?

I am far from calling for LaFleur’s job; doing so before a team has even played October football is generally a mark of foolishness. That being said, this is year seven for LaFleur, and many of the same issues in losses or disappointing performances continue to pop up over and over again.

The biggest issue is that LaFleur seems to completely lack a killer instinct. We saw it against the Browns a week and a half ago, and it was even more on display against Dallas.

LaFleur opted to punt the ball in plus territory TWICE; an absolutely cowardly move when your offense is playing as well as it was and when the defense was still not in second-half collapse form. During overtime, it felt as though LaFleur was playing for a tie rather than for a win, and it very nearly resulted in a loss (though Jordan Love does, of course, share some blame for the end-of-game time management). 

I wrote in the preseason that it has been very rare that a coach takes more than seven years to win a Super Bowl with a team, if they are to ever win a Super Bowl with that team. I still believe Matt LaFleur can coach this Packer team to a championship. But I also do not really think it’s outrageous for a person to believe he’s not the guy, either. 

I’ll wait until later in the season before I make any grand statements one way or the other.

At what point do you put the game in Jordan Love’s hands?

I know the Packers had a ton of success running the football last year. But it just hasn’t been there so far this year, in large part due to the struggles of the team’s offensive line with all the injuries that have occurred. I understand wanting to establish the run, but you can’t keep doing so at the expense of offensive momentum.

Jordan Love played one of the finest games of his career on Sunday. He was sharp all evening long, was unflappable in the face of pressure, and made clutch play after clutch play. Yes, as I already stated, he played a part in bungling the final 20 seconds of the game, but it was clear that the offense was at its best when it was flowing through him on Sunday evening. 

Instead of trying to use Josh Jacobs as a battering ram behind a bad offensive line, take the lid off this passing offense and let’s see what they can really do. 

Wisconsin Beer of the Week

Every now and then, I will purchase a beer simply for the design of the can. I know, I know, you can’t judge a book by its cover… and yet I absolutely do that with beer. And sometimes with books, too.

Anyway, I was at Woodman’s the other day grabbing some fall beers (give me all the Marzens, Oktoberfests, pumpkin beers, and schwarzbiers) and came across this one from Gathering Place, the same brewery that makes the CheeseheadTV Carry the G beer. This was one that was brewed specially for Doors Open Milwaukee, an event that happens every fall where some of the historically significant buildings around town (or maybe just some prominent businesses) open their doors to the public, even ones that might not normally be open. It’s always a fun event and a great way to get inside some Milwaukee institutions you might not typically have the opportunity to experience.

The beer is Doors Open Milwaukee Cream Ale, and as you can see, the can design is a nice image of Milwaukee’s downtown. Being a lover of all things Milwaukee, I couldn’t help but snag it.

The beer is what you expect out of a cream ale–mild and crushable–and was a refreshing addition to my Survivor watching experience (yes, I’m one of the people who still watches Survivor, all 49 seasons). 

Like I said, I picked it up at Woodman’s, and I’m sure you could find it at the Gathering Place brewery itself. I’m unsure what their distribution is like outside of Milwaukee beyond the popular Carry the G beer, but it’s worth a look at your own local liquor store to see if they’ve got it. Otherwise, be sure to grab a pack of Carry the G whenever you see it next!

Positive signs in the passing game

I previously alluded to some good things that we’re seeing out of the Packers’ passing game. A lot of this is due to Jordan Love playing some very high-quality football, but it’s also worth pointing out some pass catchers who are showing some really good things in the first month of the season.

Of course, we’ve talked a lot about Tucker Kraft. It’s been a very, very long time since the Packers had a player at the tight end position who was as well-rounded and talented as him. This is a guy the team is going to want to keep around for a long time.

But there’s a lot of good stuff happening at wide receiver as well.

Romeo Doubs has had a strong start to the season, highlighted by his three-touchdown performance in Dallas. Right now he is the team’s best and most reliable wide receiver, and seems to be the guy Jordan Love looks to in the clutch. He has sure hands and gets open. He’s in a contract year and has seemed to get better each year of his career. The Packers should try to bring him back–though I understand it’s going to be tough to keep this entire corps intact.

Matthew Golden is coming on nicely and is capitalizing on the opportunities he’s been given. Despite running a wrong route, he came down a with a big-time deep reception on Sunday night, and showed some sure hands in a crucial fourth down conversion late in the game. He’s getting some nice looks in the running game as well on some gadget plays. 

I also want to point out what we’re seeing from Dontayvion Wicks. While he doesn’t have a super impressive stat sheet, he looks to have resolved his drop issues from a year ago while holding on to his biggest strength: his route running and ability to get open. He’s been rated very highly by PFF this season for that reason specifically. He caught a lot of flak last year for his hands, but he’s gotten back to showing the kind of value that he displayed as a rookie. I hope he keeps getting opportunities.

Overall, this feels like a unit that has seen some clear improvement from a year ago, and it’s back to feeling like an area of strength for this team. And that was much, much needed.

A quick word on the Badgers

Unfortunately, since having children I have not been able to follow my Wisconsin Badgers (I’m a member of the class of 2010) nearly as much as I used to. These days, though, that might not be such a bad thing.

It’s looking bad in Madison. If you’re not a college football person you might not realize just how bad it is. The Badgers have been one of the more consistent programs in college football for nearly 30 years, until now.

The NIL revolution in college football changed everything, and not for the better. While I’ve always been in favor of athletes being able to capitalize off their image, there’s no denying that the current system has absolutely demolished programs, and that schools like Wisconsin simply have no hope of keeping pace. 

Paul Chryst couldn’t attract big names to the school in recruiting, so athletic director Chris Macintosh took a swing on the up-and-coming Luke Fickell from Cincinnati. But now the Badgers are worse than they’ve been since before I had any football consciousness, and this is looking like a program that’s back to what it was for most of the 70s and 80s… which was simply not a good time for any sort of football in Wisconsin.

Student sections are chanting for Fickell to be fired, and attendance is increasingly sparse. Alumni are openly blasting Fickell and bemoaning the state of the program. Fans aren’t having any of it, either.

The question then becomes whether Macintosh is really willing to admit he made a mistake and move on. There are plenty of people who believe that Macintosh himself may also be on the hot seat, and if the collapse of this once-respectable football program continues without him taking any action, he may well be.

Even though I can’t watch as closely as I once did, it’s still hard to see. I knew a lot of success at UW in my time as a student and shortly after, and it’s looking like this team could be a bottom feeder for a while.

They need a reset badly, but also, who knows how much they’re capable of doing under the current NIL rules. A bad situation all around.

Around the NFC North

As always, it’s time to go around the NFC North. 

• The CHICAGO BEARS have won a couple games in a row and suddenly the fanbase swagger is back. Maybe these Bears ARE different? After all, can you imagine a Matt Eberflus-coached team coming back from the kind of thrashing they took at the hands of the Lions a few weeks ago? Now, they still have a lot to prove, but they could end up being a thorn in the side of some of the other NFC North teams if they continue along this trajectory.

• The DETROIT LIONS have to be feeling good about where they’re at right now. That week one humiliation at the hands of the Packers is getting farther and farther in the rearview mirror, which lends credence once again to the idea that you can never really place too much emphasis on what happens in the first week of the regular season. The passing game in particular seems to be coming alive, and my fantasy team thanks Amon-Ra St. Brown for his contributions.

• The MINNESOTA VIKINGS got a blast from the past on Sunday when they were defeated by Aaron Rodgers, just in a different uniform. Once again the primary issues with this team seem to be quarterback play, and that’s tough to overcome with a backup and with a second-year question mark who always felt overdrafted. The Vikings did make a valiant comeback effort, but ultimately came up short in Ireland, and will continue to oscillate this year between looking like a contender and looking like a nobody due to that vacuum at quarterback.

Mr. Backes’s “This or That”

Every day I put a different “this or that” poll up on my whiteboard and have students leave tallies throughout the day. I then compile this information and post it here for laughs.

Here’s what we’ve seen over the last week:

• Apples defeated bananas
• Fall defeated spring
• October defeated September
• Pepperoni defeated sausage
• Strawberry flavor defeated grape flavor

Week 5 NFL Picks

No Packer game this week, but I’ll still be trying to get in some good football viewing! Here are my picks for the upcoming slate of NFL games.

RAMS over 49ers

BROWNS over Vikings

COWBOYS over Jets

GIANTS over Saints

RAIDERS over Colts

PANTHERS over Dolphins

EAGLES over Broncos

RAVENS over Texans

CARDINALS over Titans

BUCS over Seahawks

LIONS over Bengals

CHARGERS over Commanders

BILLS over Patriots

CHIEFS over Jaguars