Actual hangovers last only a few hours or most of the day. Expectation hangovers, like many Packer fans are feeling today, last 7-months or more.

This time last year the Packers lit a fire under our hopes. Those hopes evolved into much higher expectations, that we fans conjured into Super Bowl hopes. The whole team, coach and quarterback in particular reminded us Sunday that expectations and reality are two different things.

Reality check

There’s no shortage of topics to dissect. There’s the sloppy play, so many penalties, hope crushing turnovers, the disappointing receiving corps and an offensive line exposed as average (at best). Still, the headline is obviously Jordan Love and an offense that looks lost.

Analysts and podcasters deceived us with wonky stats about DVOA and “EPA per play” (whatever they mean). They told us, don’t believe your lying eyes, this offense is really good.

It turns out you can believe what you see. For the last month, this offense failed the smell test and the sight test. Honestly, you need to think hard to name the times this season when the offense seemed to really click with a high-level passing game, that is.

No compliment

Yes, Josh Jacobs is a stud. Yes, the Packers were often a dominant team running the ball. But LaFleur and Love never seemed to find the way to compliment that run game with the pass.

In 2023 against the Chiefs at home, Lions on Thanksgiving, Vikings late December and Dallas in the playoffs we saw a passing game as dynamic as any in the league. Did we even see 1-full quarter of that in 2024?

Considering how mucked up the offense has felt from the beginning and end versus Philly, it’s amazing this team won 11-games. The defense did improve under Jeff Hafley, without question. The offense, in spite of one of the best run games in the league, rarely delivered impressive performances, when they did it was usually too late.

Many questions–one big one

It’s a long off-season, that will feel much longer with the lowered expectations and accompanying hangover. As always, there are a hundred questions about the roster, contracts, extensions and the draft. Only one question matters—can LaFleur and Love figure it out?

 

 

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