Packers Creep Out of Cellar of Hall of Famer’s NFL Rankings

GREEN BAY, Wis. – After an absolutely dreadful performance in the opener against the New Orleans Saints, the Green Bay Packers were so far down statistically that they had to reach up to touch bottom.

Thus, their second-half smackdown of the Detroit Lions on Monday night did little to improve their standing in the Aikman Efficiency Ratings published by The 33rd Team.

Green Bay ranks 30th, up just a couple spots from last week. That’s because it scored so poorly in Week 1.

The Aikman Efficiency Ratings measure seven categories of performance on offense and defense. Devised by Aikman in 2005 and compiled by Sportsradar, “they provide a better measure of the qualities that win football games than simply total yards gained, the method used by the NFL to rank offenses and defenses.”

The categories are points (20%), red-zone efficiency as measured by points per red-zone possession (20%), turnovers (20%), yards per rush (10%), yards per pass (10%), third-down percentage (10%) and first downs (10%).

After the loss to New Orleans, Green Bay had 29.2 points on offense – the league average was 86; it had 39.8 points on defense – the league average is 64. After Week 2, Green Bay has 74.2 points on offense, still the fifth-fewest but at least closer to the new average of 85.2. On defense, it has 50.2 points, also the fifth-fewest but closer to the new average of 65.4. Rushing offense and red-zone defense are the team’s biggest statistical weaknesses.

Sunday night’s opponent, the San Francisco 49ers, have a 2-0 record. They are 13th in the Aikman Ratings. The Niners are fourth on offense and 23rd on defense.

It’s obviously early, but this will be a good measuring stick for the Packers, who were routed by a good team and eventually beat up on a bad team.

Everyone loves NFL power rankings. Here's Week 3 of our Composite Power Rankings - six rankings, all rolled into one.https://t.co/uBZOaxKwbM
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 22, 2021

“I think there’s a lot of ball in front of us, a lot of things will play out along the way, but you’re talking about one of the premier teams not only in the NFC but in the National Football League,” coach Matt LaFleur said on Wednesday. “I think you can see it in every phase – offense, defensive, special teams. I think [the 49ers coaching staff is] one of the best in the business, and then you look at the players they have, they’ve got elite players in every phase. So, it’s going to be a great challenge for us.”

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