Packer Central

Packers Hold Steady in On SI NFL Power Rankings

The Green Bay Packers are 2-0 after a pair of impressive victories over two of last year’s top teams. Here’s where they are in the On SI NFL Power Rankings entering Week 3.
Bill Huber|
Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love is congratulated by coach Matt LaFleur after throwing a touchdown pass vs. Washington.
Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love is congratulated by coach Matt LaFleur after throwing a touchdown pass vs. Washington. | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY; Wis. – The Green Bay Packers remain No. 3 in the On SI NFL Power Rankings entering Week 3.

The On SI power rankings are voted on by team publishers. Green Bay, coming off impressive wins against the Detroit Lions and Washington Commanders, received five first-place votes. That’s five more than last week.

Whether the Packers are the best team in the league is anyone’s guess after only two games. What’s inarguable is they’re off to the most impressive start by beating the Lions, who went 15-2 last season, and the Commanders, who reached the NFC title game.

Coach Matt LaFleur knows there’s work to do. One major focus is penalties. After playing a relatively clean game against Detroit, Green Bay was guilty of 10 infractions for 77 yards against the Commanders. Offensive holding took a touchdown off the scoreboard and two penalties on special teams impacted field position.

“I would say we went into the game, we knew that the penalties were going to be a big part of the game, and we had far too many,” LaFleur said after Monday’s practice. “Obviously, the first drive, it negated a touchdown. And then we had a couple pre-snap penalties; you don’t want any of those. We had a couple of penalties on special teams that really played a big impact on field position.”

Despite the caliber of opponents they’ve faced, the Packers will enter Week 3 ranked sixth in yardage differential and second in scoring differential.

That Green Bay let Washington hang around into the fourth quarter bothered LaFleur.

“Really in every phase, there’s a lot to like, but there’s a lot to work on,” he said. “I thought offensively just the level of detail needs to be better in regards to making sure that you are maximizing every opportunity that you get. It can be one guy on every play could mess up the whole drive.

“Defensively, I thought for three quarters we played really solid football, but when we have the opps, you want to close out the game the right way. And then on special teams, I think we could all agree there’s a lot more to improve upon really in every phase of we-fense. I thought for the score to be 17-10 in the fourth quarter, it was a one-possession game, and I felt for the most part we were in control of that game.”

On the bright side, the Packers extended the lead to 27-10; the final was 27-18 because of an inconsequential touchdown in the final moments.

The Packers will hit the road for the first time this season when they visit the Browns on Sunday. Cleveland is 0-2, losing 17-16 to Cincinnati in Week 1 and collapsing in the second half in a 41-17 loss to Baltimore in Week 2.

The Browns are No. 31 in the On SI rankings. That’s because of a woeful offense. Because the defense is so good, Cleveland is No. 3 in yardage differential. Because the offense is so bad, it is 30th in scoring differential.

The Browns are No. 1 in total defense, No. 1 in rushing defense and No. 3 in passing defense. Led by indomitable Myles Garrett, they’ve allowed the fewest first downs. The Browns stopped star running back Derrick Henry in his tracks.

“It’s a team game,” Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said on Monday. “It’s the best team game there is. And we understand that it’s never about one person. It’s never about one side of the ball. We’ll continue to play this that way.”

Bill Huber’s Ballot

Green Bay went from No. 3 to No. 1 last week, with Philadelphia and Buffalo each sliding back one spot.

1, Green Bay Packers; 2, Philadelphia Eagles; 3, Buffalo Bills; 4, Baltimore Ravens; 5, San Francisco 49ers; 6, Los Angeles Chargers; 7, Tampa Bay Buccaneers; 8, Los Angeles Rams;

9, Detroit Lions; 10, Arizona Cardinals; 11, Indianapolis Colts; 12, Washington Commanders; 13, Kansas City Chiefs; 14, Atlanta Falcons; 15, Cincinnati Bengals; 16, Pittsburgh Steelers;

17, Denver Broncos; 18, Seattle Seahawks; 19, Houston Texans; 20, Dallas Cowboys; 21, Minnesota Vikings; 22, Las Vegas Raiders; 23, Jacksonville Jaguars; 24, New York Jets;

25, New England Patriots; 26, Chicago Bears; 27, Tennessee Titans; 28, New York Giants; 29, Carolina Panthers; 30, Miami Dolphins; 31, Cleveland Browns; 32, New Orleans Saints.

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.