It doesn’t really matter how you win in the NFL, just that you keep doing it.
Power rankings aren’t real. There’s no BCS computer that will determine who’s the Super Bowl champion at the end of the season.
There are no style points in the box score.
And yet, I think it does matter how the Packers win this weekend. (If they win, that is. The way their past two games have gone, that hardly seems like a foregone conclusion no matter how much they’re favored over the Bengals.)
A loss, inconceivable though it may seem, would spark some serious conversations about the future of this team. But a win that doesn’t show the Packers have taken steps forward after their disappointing performances against the Browns and Cowboys might do just about the same thing.
This Packers team has clear issues. They’re committed to a course on special teams that doesn’t put their best players on the field and opens them up to disaster, which we’ve seen play out now in two consecutive games. They also have depth issues on the offensive line and seem committed to addressing those issues by shifting as many people around as they possibly can.
But these problems are fixable, especially on special teams. The Packers have a capable, willing returner available in Keisean Nixon and blockers who can get the job done on the field goal and PAT units. Will they make the changes they need to shore up those units? Based on Matt LaFleur’s public comments, that seems doubtful, but it never hurts to hope.
Essentially, I’m just looking for the Packers to show they’re a serious team this weekend. Anything can happen on a football field. The phrase “any given Sunday” is such a truism they made a whole movie based on the wild things that can happen. If the Packers lose because something wild and unexpected happens, fine. I can live with that. But if they lose, or even just fail to dominate the certifiably bad team that is the Bengals, because they again failed to address problems that have been problems all season long, it will send a terrible message about how serious this team actually is.
That’s what the Packers should fear most right now. An unserious team can’t contend for the Super Bowl, and the Packers haven’t shown they’re serious about some important things so far this year. Coming out of the bye week, they have a chance to put a different spin on the season.
At least there’s no history of Matt LaFleur’s teams getting weird after their bye, right?
