High-Scoring Packers Zeroed In on Giveaways

GREEN BAY, Wis. – How out-of-this world great has the Green Bay Packers offense been through the first quarter of this season?

Dating to 1940, according to Stathead.com:

- Their 152 points through four games is tied for the 11th-most overall and fourth-most since the turn of the century.

- They are one of only four teams to have zero giveaways.

- Combining those two notes, Green Bay is the only team with 100-plus points and no turnovers in the first four games of a season over the last 80 years. And Green Bay blew past that 100-point barrier 3 minutes into the third quarter of the third game of the season at New Orleans.

“Everybody better be knocking on wood that’s watching this,” offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett said on a Wednesday’s Zoom when asked about the lack of turnovers.

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers, of course, is off to a sensational start with 13 touchdowns and no interceptions. He is one of three quarterbacks (minimum 64 attempts) with no interceptions.

Taking care of the football is one of the things that Rodgers has done better than any quarterback in NFL history. His career interception percentage of 1.35 is the best of all-time. He set an NFL record with a 0.34 interception percentage (two in 597 attempts) in 2018 and led the NFL again in 2019 with a 0.70 interception percentage (four in 569 attempts). Moreover, thanks to superb pass protection, Rodgers had taken only three sacks. That means fewer opportunities for sacks/strips.

The running game has been excellent, too. Green Bay is fourth in rushing per game and fifth in rushing per carry. Aaron Jones has the only fumble, at the sideline and well out of bounds vs. Minnesota in Week 1. Detroit is the only team to have not put the ball on the ground.

Taking care of the football is ingrained in the players’ heads, whether it’s Matt LaFleur and his staff today or Mike McCarthy and his staff. From 2008 through 2018 – the 11 seasons in which McCarthy was coach and Rodgers was quarterback – New England had a league-best 174 giveaways, Green Bay had 201 and nobody else had less than 225.

“It has to be a primary focus on everybody in the building, anybody that works here. Everybody has to preach it,” Hackett said. “Every time somebody has the ball, you have to make sure that they’re feeling somebody potentially trying to punch it out or just anything that can cause you to just grip it a little bit tighter. It’s something we always talk about all the time, all the coaches do – defense always is trying to get the ball out from the offense – and that’s so important for us because we want them to always be over-cautious on that because it is the No. 1 statistic that causes wins and losses win this league.”

Entering Sunday’s games, the Packers’ 152 points are 10 more than second-ranked Seattle’s 142. Green Bay is the only team with no giveaways; Tennessee has one in three games, Kansas City has two and nobody else has less than three.

Add us as a preferred source on Google