The Lass Word: Things You Can Count on
Constants in the chaos.
By KenLass
The Packers host the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, and anybody who tells you they know what to expect from this Green Bay team is fooling himself. Even the Packers themselves don’t yet have a clue as to what they are. They want to be a running team, but they can’t run the ball with any consistency. On defense they want to rush with four, but they can’t get to the quarterback enough, and the back end struggles to cover.
They’ve convincingly beaten down two of the best teams in the league, but were defeated and tied by two of the worst. They’ve scored as few as just ten points in a game, and as many as 40. Their special teams have converted field goals from beyond fifty yards, but have had an extra point blocked.
The health of their offensive line starters is in constant flux. Micah Parsons virtually took over games against the Lions and Commanders, but was rendered largely neutral by the Cowboys. The team has been on a bye week and hasn’t won a game in about a month, yet most observers still consider them among a handful of genuine Super Bowl contenders.
All of this adds up to one big, fat question mark concerning Sunday’s game. Nobody, probably not even the coaching staff, knows what kind of team will come out of the tunnel at Lambeau. The oddsmakers think they know. They have Green Bay winning big. As of this writing they have made the Packers a monstrous 14.5 point favorite. That seems optimistic, considering Green Bay failed to win either of their past two games as heavy favorites.
Adding to the unpredictability is the Bengals trading this past week for veteran quarterback Joe Flacco, who was immediately named the starter against the Packers. This means he will be taking the controls having had only three or four meaningful practices with his new team. Flacco is old and immobile. He is also savvy and accurate, and still has the arm strength to make the throws. He has also quarterbacked a team that has already beaten the Packers once this year, although his play didn’t have much to do with it. His offensive line is mush, but he may have to do little more than loop fifty-fifty balls toward elite receivers Jamar Chase and Tee Higgins, and let them compete for the catch against a secondary that has looked pretty shaky at times.
While there are plenty of unknowns about this game, it may or may not be comforting to know there are some things you can absolutely count on come kickoff:
-- Jordan Love will hold the ball too long and take an unnecessary sack. He will also make a spectacular throw that will make your jaw drop to the floor. At least once, he will take off and run effectively for a first down.
-- Josh Jacobs will run into brick walls all afternoon, yet somehow, at the end of the game, he will have at least 70 to 80 yards rushing and a touchdown.
-- Tucker Kraft will catch a short pass, turn and be confronted by a linebacker. He will then run over him, only to be confronted by a safety, whom he will also run over, on his way to a big play.
-- Romeo Doubs will be targeted in the red zone.
-- A holding penalty (probably on Sean Rhyan) will kill a promising drive.
-- Rookie Matthew Golden will make an impressive catch and continue to make you wonder why he is not targeted more often.
-- Rookie Savion Williams will take a direct snap and go nowhere.
-- Matt LaFleur will be forced to waste at least one time out because of difficulty getting a play in.
-- Micah Parsons will be double teamed and held on nearly every play.
-- Quay Walker will miss a tackle badly in the open field. He will also explode laterally across the line of scrimmage and make an extraordinary tackle for loss.
-- The Bengals will convert some third downs with short, quick passes over the middle.
-- We will all hold our breath every time the Packers line up to try a field goal, extra point, or punt.
-- After the game Matt LaFleur will take the blame for all bad plays, and say we have to be better.
-- Regardless of the outcome, we will all overreact. Either the Packers will be Super Bowl favorites again, or it will be time to fire everybody.
I can’t wait.
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Ken Lass is a former Green Bay television sports anchor and 43 year media veteran, a lifelong Packers fan, and a shareholder.
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Comments (46)
ThunderFromDownunder
October 10, 2025 at 06:36 am
To be fair that sounds a lot like the whole NFL this year . I am still trying to work out what teams are good and what teams are bad . Even that changes every week are the Eagles good this year or even this week ? How can team A beat team B one week and then lose to team C ? By week 5/6 you can usually work out who`s who in the zoo but not this year .....
GregC
October 10, 2025 at 07:06 am
That's what I was thinking as I read this. Who are the NfL teams who "know who they are" this season? Certainly not the Eagles after what happened last night. Not the Bills after they lost to the Patriots at home. Forget about the Chiefs and Ravens. Tampa Bay is 4-1 after racking up several narrow victories against bad teams. The 49ers are 4-1 but have barely outscored their opponents. The Jaguars and Colts are both 4-1, but are they really contenders? The Lions have run off four straight wins against bad teams after getting beaten handily by the Packers, but maybe at this point the Lions are the best team by default.
Coldworld
October 10, 2025 at 08:41 am
This is not all that unusual. The difference this year is there isn’t a standout or two. Early on it’s more enlightening to look at one’s own team and what it’s doing and how that is working. The relative strengths and weaknesses of others gradually become clearer with games, but one can see where we are performing over or under reasonable expectations more clearly.
NickPerry
October 10, 2025 at 06:37 am
"Nobody, probably not even the coaching staff, knows what kind of team will come out of the tunnel at Lambeau."
Does anyone else find this a bit concerning? Or has this just become par for MLF?
Guam
October 10, 2025 at 07:33 am
Cookie for you Nick!
BuckyBadger
October 10, 2025 at 07:56 am
Nope, cause I have watched the league and this is the NFL.
Packerpasty
October 10, 2025 at 11:07 am
I do...and his second paragraph points right at coaching problems...
PackerBackerAZ
October 11, 2025 at 04:08 pm
Not in the least. What concerns me is the coaches knowing exactly what they've got running out the tunnel, and can't improve it. Par for LaFleur.
Fourteen broad proclamations, that are stated as actually going to happen, are nothing more than a lack of imagination for an article.
Savage57
October 10, 2025 at 06:57 am
However this game plays out, it's going to go a long way establishing the identity of this young team.
Show out against a team they're supposed to handle with ease by eliminating mistakes and making plays in all three phases of the game?
Or continue to play below their talent level and allow miscues to handcuff them against a lesser opponent, at least on paper?
As Berman said, "And THAT'S why they play games!"
TKWorldWide
October 10, 2025 at 07:12 am
Pete Rozelle is getting his wish.
LambeauPlain
October 10, 2025 at 07:39 am
Packers don't have a unifying identity right now. They are a team of multiple personalities.
On offense, when last year's run game showed some potency and potential to be a physical team, is back to being a finesse team leading with a soft, mistake prone OL so far but again producing exciting plays from skill players in the pass attack led by Love.
Defense did show out as a physical, attacking, nasty bunch for 3 straight games, then the apparent catalytic converter Wyatt went out with a knee injury and the front 4 pressure suddenly waned. Additional ripples then happened with LBs missing tackles and DBs getting torched. I still feel that was an anomaly with a lit up Dak Attack.
STs remain STs under LaFleur. Mistake prone NFL bottom dweller...this has been their identity. Good punter...solid kicker...when they have blockers and don't make a penalty. That's about it.
Another constant identity is the lengthy injury report. Packers ALWAYS have one of the longest in the NFL week to week. Why is that? Is it conditioning, extreme caution by adding every player with a bump or bruise, or just bad luck?
On Wednesday they had 25% of the active roster on the weekly injury report...then added McManus yesterday.
This is a talented team. While I hoped this would be a "plow the road" hard nosed, physical run team with a field stretching pass attack...not yet. It looked they can be led by a dominating defense that gets consistent 3 and outs or takes the ball...not that yet. It still can be.
And STs? Hoping to be amazingly average...again, not yet.
HarryHodag
October 10, 2025 at 07:46 am
A healthy offensive line SHOULD make for a better overall performance. Control the ball, win the game. With explosive playmakers at Cincy, keeping those folks on the sidelines is what should happen.
On defense I hope they turn the dogs loose. The defense has played Mike McCarthy-style hesitant defense. When they won against Detroit and Washington, the defense went full bore.
With McManus hobbling, that gives Rich B. some cover for the time being. But the blocking miscues on special teams are inexcusable. Other teams spot the weaknesses and pounce. To not fix it, as I said, is inexcusable. The Packers should be 4-0 right now if not for the special teams screw ups.
This will not be a blowout but it's a toss up to see who wins. MLF needs to stop micro-analyzing and turn the dogs loose.
LambeauPlain
October 10, 2025 at 08:30 am
I agree Harry also see a toss up of sorts...but not for the win. I see a toss up for a dominating victory or a SMH nail biter. I will be shocked if they show up and try to coast past the Bengals. That would be one gigantic fail by the coaching staff, especially after the bye week.
I am not clear about the defense playing "Mike McCarthy-style hesitant defense." Like Lafleur, Mike had little input to the defense. Capers had full control as did Pettine after he was fired.
Even in Dallas, the D was attacking the entire game but missed tackles galore and stymied pressures from the front 7 coincided with Wyatt getting hurt. They instead put pressure on their DB mates. You can't do that to Prescott...he's a seasoned gunslinger and he will fill your defense full of holes.
Coldworld
October 10, 2025 at 08:56 am
Against Dallas we saw that post Kenny and without Wyatt, Brooks, and Wooden are ineffective at providing consistent pressure up the middle. We were in fact asking a UDFA rookie, Stackhouse who was a pass run player and clogger in college to try to pressure. Out of his wheelhouse physically and experientially and it did not go well. However, that should be expected. What is more concerning is that Wooden too was bad versus the run and, if anything, even less good getting pressure.
Stackhouse may improve as a run first player either way time, but we should not be needing to ask him to be an all down player and certainly not at this point. If Wooden can’t contribute either then it’s time to use Brinson not to replace Stackhouse but to add another source of disruption.
If this D isn’t getting to the QB or in his face at least then problems start. Those were exacerbated after Wyatt left when our next best rusher, Gary, essentially started to play the run first. Gary was individually very good doing so, but it further isolated Parsons as the sole source of threat and thus gave Dak more time and space. Had Wyatt been in or had we had capable depth behind him, the Gary move might have worked. Instead it just magnified the pass game problems.
We need to add some depth in the DT run game. We don’t have that on the PS really. Me? I’d poach Jonathan Ford off the Bears’ PS. He’s no star but he’s better versus the run than Wooden and more of an obstacle and more disruptive than Stackhouse at this point or Wooden so far.
SicSemperTyrannis
October 10, 2025 at 11:25 am
I was surprised Jonathan Ford wasn't played here, but the same goes for many big guys formerly on the team.
EricTorkelson
October 10, 2025 at 01:15 pm
No to Jonathan Ford, never liked a lineman who cant keep there jersey tucked in ...
HarryHodag
October 10, 2025 at 01:39 pm
Perhaps "Mike McCarthy era" would have been clearer. At the time the Packers had a future Hall of Fame QB and the defense was sloppy. Don't think, however, the head coach has zero input on either the offense or defense. His job depends on being on top of the game on both sides of the ball.
Against Dallas there was precious little blitzing. It would be very difficult to stop Parsons, Gary and a blitz at one time. Not enough bodies.
I wonder how it is that Gary has gotten a pass? Parsons was double-teamed a lot(sometimes triple-teamed).
Since'75
October 10, 2025 at 07:36 pm
I agree and contend that the head coach needs to be on top of the offense, and the defense. but also on top of special teams only because...that IS his job as head coach.
But....it seemed to me that McCarthy left the defense and special teams alone to their D. C. and ST's coaches.
That's why i always said, McCarthy was an offense coordinator...NOT, a head coach.
Since'75
October 10, 2025 at 08:39 pm
Thumbs down, if you ever dig down deep, and muster up a thought or opinion, let us know.
Good luck 😲
BuckyBadger
October 10, 2025 at 08:02 am
First four games are suppose to be chaotic as the team starts to gel. As stated above, no one in the league has established themselves yet. Their impatient fans are probably calling for coaches heads in Buffalo, Ravens and even Philly (they wanted him fired mid last year). Do we really want this team peaking now at the start of October or do we want them playing their best in December? Sure you want both but that isn't realistic in today's NFL.
There are no easy opponents in the NFL. Bengals Defense is poor and the OL porous but they do have weapons that can score in a hurry. Pass rush needs to get home because even the best DBs struggle with Chase and Higgins. The Bengals are a team that had playoff aspirations and are a wounded dog, don't turn your back on them.
LeotisHarris
October 10, 2025 at 08:07 am
I'm kind of disappointed we had to go through the bye week without a discussion of if this is a trap game. Maybe next week we could weigh how the Packers might be looking past the Cardinals to their date with Number 8 and the Steelers? Seems we're losing our edge as a commentariat.
All that aside, I think Ken touched all the bases. We're headed into another afternoon of anything can happen led by Matt who can't get out of his head and out of his own way. There'll be lurches and stops. Starts and fizzles. Leaps and falls, but in the end I think the Packers will pull this one out. GPG
NFLfan
October 10, 2025 at 08:16 am
I have nostalgia for games with consistent QB protection, beautiful, accurate passes & sure catches.
GregC
October 10, 2025 at 12:05 pm
Even though our QB has the 4th best passer rating in the league--11 points higher than Aaron Rodgers' career passer rating.
NFLfan
October 10, 2025 at 12:32 pm
I'm referring to Montana, the bulk of Aaron's career and his cast of reliable receivers.
Since'75
October 10, 2025 at 07:41 pm
Well Greg, considering Rodgers holds the highest passer rating in NFL history, i reckon we should just put Love in the HOF now.
Or should we wait until he, ya know.....wins something.
Since'75
October 10, 2025 at 08:39 pm
Thumbs down, if you ever dig down deep, and muster up a thought or opinion, let us know.
Good luck 😲
Since'61
October 10, 2025 at 08:24 am
IMO the only way the Packers can lose to the Bengals is if they defeat themselves yet again. If could happen but it shouldn't. Go Pack Go! Thanks, Since '61
Coldworld
October 10, 2025 at 09:03 am
The Cowboys D is suspect but their O is not. The Browns O is impotent but their D is very good. The Bengals without Burrows are very bad offensively and equally so defensively: bottom dwellers in both.
If we can’t win this then we really need to start asking fundamental questions. It would take a monumentally bad performance on both sides of the ball to allow them to outscore us unless we do that for them.
SicSemperTyrannis
October 10, 2025 at 11:28 am
Flacco beat us once.
Coldworld
October 10, 2025 at 12:27 pm
Did he? 21-of-36 for142 yards and one interception. I don’t think that beat us though we certainly did lose.
Of their score of 13, 7 came on a 5 yard drive that was run in for the TD, the remainder was off the boot of Szmyt, who won the game from 55 yards.
No, the Browns won despite Flacco, or at least without much help from him at all. The Browns D won it to the extent the Packers didn’t gift it. That D will not be playing us this weekend.
PackerBackerAZ
October 10, 2025 at 12:29 pm
Did you watch the Cleveland game? Their defense and special teams beat the Packers, not Flacco.
LambeauPlain
October 10, 2025 at 03:32 pm
No he did not. He just happened to be the QB of record when the Browns STs and Defense beat the Packers as CW and PackerBacker stated. Saying Flacco beat them is akin to saying they got beat by the Browns Long Snapper.
Since'61
October 10, 2025 at 06:06 pm
Coldworld I agree. But we've seen the Packers come back from a bye and play poorly. I'm not saying that will happen again this week but regrettably I can't be 100% certain that it won't happen either. GPG!
Thanks, Since '61
Since'75
October 10, 2025 at 07:46 pm
CW has a great outlook on this game, and realistic.
The Packers SHOULD handle the Bengals easily, and with Flacco as this weeks Bengals statue, the pass rush should be potent, 5,6,7 sacks?
I wouldn't be shocked if the Packers won by 3 TD's.
Good post CW.
mnbadger
October 10, 2025 at 09:44 am
Great summary Ken.
Especially this nugget: "After the game Matt LaFleur will take the blame for all bad plays, and say we have to be better."
It seems like everyone is finally taking off their rose glasses and seeing the deficiencies in our HC.
The only question at the end of the season for Policy will be whether or not winning a bunch of regular season games is good enough?
We either have a great coach or great GM?
I think talent exceeds coaching (entire staff)
If we can't make deep playoff run, one has to be replaced.
Pack 34 - stuffed animal orange kitties 24.
Yep, I hope I'm wrong but won't expect us to cover.
GPG!
NFLfan
October 10, 2025 at 10:43 am
I wonder if Policy will ask MLF to adhere to the best-practice Head Coach job description? This would include close management of all 3 branches, objective evaluation of coaching staff, firing poorly-performing coaches w/in a reasonable time-frame (1-2 years), hiring an OC who calls plays.
Packerpasty
October 10, 2025 at 11:12 am
hiring an OC would be a blow to MLF's ego, as he seems to have that "young genius" syndrome, although that certainly has faded over the years here in GB...
SicSemperTyrannis
October 10, 2025 at 11:34 am
I think demoting MLF to play calling OC has been the obvious solution throughout his tenure. Doing that and making necessary personnel changes becomes no less important during critical moments of big games, and the added stress of clock management and coach's challenges has consistently proven to be more than he can handle.
So if Hafley gets HC offers, match or beat them to keep him in GB and let MLF tame his ego or get crushed failing to do so. Somebody's gotta be willing to make tough decisions, hopefully that becomes Policy in GB.
Coldworld
October 10, 2025 at 12:33 pm
The reality is that if, after then 7 seasons, that is necessary then the real need is not to try to contort but to move on cleanly. If Hafley is the best option to take on the lead role, then just do it. So far he looks like a better judge of his supporting staff at least.
NFLfan
October 10, 2025 at 12:34 pm
Matt has given plenty of ammunition to Policy if he decides to move on.
dblbogey
October 10, 2025 at 03:01 pm
"As of the start of the 2025 season, it is estimated that over half of all NFL head coaches call their own plays, a trend that has increased significantly since 2017"
TheBigCat
October 10, 2025 at 11:17 am
Ken:
Very thoughtful and thorough analysis (as always). Watching the Packers play reminds of when one of my daughters was playing Y basketball in junior high. Some games, they wouldn't wake up until the fourth quarter, make a ferocious rally only to lose in the last second; other times they would dominate the first half only to slide into defeat during the second half. And then sometimes they'd play a complete game and dominate. As one of the coaches was wont to say, "I can never understand the dynamics of 7th grade girls."
PackerBackerAZ
October 10, 2025 at 12:42 pm
The Packers will win big. I'm thinking 21+. That is as it should be and doesn't project how the Packers will do against the good teams they have to face. Until the Packers defeat another good team, I'll continue to not believe they're a contender. Too many penalties and unforced errors to clean up, as always. The same game mismanagement issues and lack of going for the win when opportunity presents. I won't pick the low hanging fruit of special teams errors. Beating the Bengals by 21+ isn't going to prove the Packers are a Super Bowl contender. It will prove that the Packers are a much better team than the Bengals, just like most of the NFL.
EricTorkelson
October 10, 2025 at 01:52 pm
+21 wow that's a big spread PBA z especially after what you posted? and you don't think there a contender either?
EricTorkelson
October 10, 2025 at 01:48 pm
Knowns and Unknowns
Beat up J Flacco old QBs do not like the violence of the game anymore, the ball will come out
Love will play well, but jaw dropping plays ... Where and When??
Holding on Rhyan? How about Morgan
We will all hold our breath on kick-offs especially when the returner crosses the 25 yard line and there isn't a Packer in sight.
The replay decision from upstairs goes against MLF in record time.
Opposing lineman are told to hold and rope tie M Parsons, the refs wont call it he makes to much money...
Bengals will line up Trey Hendrickson against R Walker (same thing I would do)
Tucker Kraft and Jacobs will have big games GB should win by at least 10 if not its on MLF (yes its on him)
Last thought in the photo you posted Ken you look at the size of the shoulder pads on LVN looks like someone pilfered a Grade school locker room, using micro should pads in the NFL you wonder why players use there heads like battering rams and get all the head and neck injuries. I guess the NFL has enough money they have decided to keep appealing violence in the game.....
EskyBrian
October 11, 2025 at 07:02 am
Wow what another great article by Mr. Lass. Love the ending! You can’t say otherwise! Nails it. GPG