The Green Bay Packers may have finished third in the NFC North, but many considered them a dark horse to reach the Super Bowl. With Josh Jacobs commanding the run game and Jordan Love slinging dimes, it seemed they could make a deep playoff run too. However, that run ended in the very first round. Recently, Chris Simms and Mike Florio asked Jacobs for his take on why it happened, and the RB gave a very blunt answer.
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Green Bay had a tough opening-round opponent in the Wild Card, facing the Eagles, a team now in the Super Bowl. This is why the Jordan Love-led team should have been more cautious in the Wild Card round, avoiding mistakes that the opponent could turn into scoring opportunities. But the opposite happened, and those small errors turned into a loss. Jacobs attributed those blunders to the defeat.
The RB did, however, acknowledge that the team is hungry and that his teammates have never shown complacency. They’re all incredibly hard-working; the Wild Card round just wasn’t their game to win.
A fumbled opening kickoff, a missed field goal, and being shut out in the first half spelled early trouble for the Packers, and they couldn’t recover from it. They ended up losing the contest 22-10. The loss only added to the rough stretch they endured to end the year, going 2-4 in their last six games.
“The thing, for me, that I’ve seen the most — the difference was the little things, the details, the penalties, fourth and whatever, (not being able) to make that play. Four to five plays, we couldn’t really come up with them a lot,” Jacobs said.
So, how can the holes left open by the Packers last season be fixed? Jacobs provided a ‘wish list’ of positions he wants addressed in the offseason.
“We’re probably missing like two or three pieces… I think we need another D-End. I think we need another DB, and then I think we need a wide receiver. A real wide receiver one… I love the guys that we have in the receiver room, they all have the potential to be a ‘one’. But we need a guy that’s a proven one.”
Mentions of a defensive end caught Florio’s attention, as he immediately referenced Myles Garrett who is now on the trading block. But Simms wanted to press further into the wide receiver addition.
He talked about how Christian Watson has shown splashes of brilliance, but continues to struggle with hamstring injuries. It led Jacobs to praise Watson’s abilities, saying that when he has it going, Watson is unstoppable. Yet clearly, the injuries hinder him from consistent play, so changes are needed.
Will the Pack follow Jacobs’ advice?
Jacobs laid it out pretty plainly. The Packers need a defensive end, a cornerback or a safety, and a dominant wide receiver. Let’s just focus on the receiver aspect because it’s such an interesting topic of discussion.
What’s funny is that Jacobs is saying what fans said about Aaron Rodgers’ Green Bay teams for years. A-Rod always needed more help and made things work with mediocre players like Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Geronimo Allison, and Jake Kumerow, to name a few. Interestingly, the story lives on even in the post-Rodgers era.
But the good news is there are plenty of WR1s the Packers could pursue during free agency. Stefon Diggs, Tee Higgins, Amari Cooper, and Chris Godwin will all be available. It would be smart for them to go after at least one of those guys. However, they aren’t traditionally known for making splash free-agent signings. Jacobs was a surprise acquisition the team made after losing Aaron Jones, and it paid off. Now, he’s urging them to invest further.
We’ll see what the Green Bay brass ultimately decides to do. Higgins is the crown jewel of free agents this offseason and it would be nice to see the Pack make a run at him. Surely, Jordan Love would appreciate it, and so would Jacobs. Sometimes it’s just as important to make signings that help the morale of the team. And giving Green Bay more offensive weapons would undoubtedly get some hype going for the Cheeseheads.
