Almost nowhere to go but up on offense

Through two games, the Green Bay Packers’ offense has been mostly putrid.

Points per game: 15.5 (tied, 26th).

Yards per game: 274 (29th).

Yards per play: 4.35 (30th).

Rushing yards per play: 3.47 (27th).

Passing yards per play: 5.58 (28th).

Sacks percentage: 10.9 (26th).

Third-down percentage: 25.9 (27th).

Red-zone touchdown percentage: 80.0 (sixth).

Yards per drive: 21.08 (31st).

Points per drive: 1.19 (29th).

Plays per drive: 4.81 (30th).

Turnovers per drive: 0.77 (11th).

That’s a lot of bad football. In terms of yards per play, the Packers (4.35) are better than only the Jets (3.88), who are on their third quarterback, and the rebuilding Dolphins (3.56), who might be the worst team in NFL history. In terms of yards per drive, the Packers (21.08) are better than only the Dolphins (16.70). In terms of points per drive, the Packers (1.19) are ahead of only the Bears (0.86), Jets (0.48) and Dolphins (0.43).

Granted, the Packers started the season against the Bears, who led the NFL in scoring defense last season, and Vikings, who led the NFL in scoring defense in 2017. And, of course, it’s a new offense under coach Matt LaFleur. The strength of the competition and the lack of preseason playing time have combined to play a big role in the team’s sputtering start.

There have been flashes, notably scoring three touchdowns in three drives to open last week’s game against Minnesota, but the prolonged funks are troubling. Against the Vikings, those first three drives gained 10 first downs. Green Bay’s final 11 drives also gained 10 first downs. Of Green Bay’s seven plays of 14-plus yards, six of them came in the first quarter.

“When you look at it, there were a lot of plays that we’re close on,” LaFleur said on Monday. “I know it doesn’t count for much but it does give our guys a little bit more confidence. It’s never quite as bad as it feels, and we’ve got to do a better job of staying in those manageable situations. When we got in third-and-long, it’s tough sledding against a really quality opponent like the Minnesota Vikings. We were hurt by a couple penalties that really took us into those get-back-on-track situations, and I know that we have to have a better plan going forward for the get-back-on-track situations. That’s something that Aaron and I just talked about 10 minutes ago.”

The slow start on offense shouldn’t be a big surprise. Rodgers did his best to temper expectations before the Chicago game, when he said it was “the first iteration” of the offense and “we have a lot of room to grow.” There was obvious growth from Week 1 to Week 2, with one touchdown and 10 points vs. the Bears to three touchdowns and 21 points vs. the Vikings.

To be sure, being 2-0 with room to grow beats the alternative. But the Packers have to get better – quickly. Denver’s defense under Vic Fangio is strong, as well, and the Packers will play vastly better offenses with Philadelphia in Week 4 and Dallas in Week 5, meaning Rodgers and Co. probably are going to have to be more efficient to keep up.

“We have a high standard and we’re not going to deviate from that,” LaFleur said. “I understand. I’m trying to be realistic at the same time. But just when you look at some plays that we had out there, Aaron made an unbelievable throw to Davante (Adams), but Harrison Smith made a great break on the play. We had the one to Marquez (Valdes-Scantling), it was a tough catch, and their defensive back did a heck of a job knocking that ball out. So there were a couple plays that were just bang-bang plays. The one to Aaron Jones down the sideline on the wheel route. You make those plays, you might feel a little bit different today.”