As a general principle, the best win-loss records in the NFL are awarded to the teams who can sustain solid play throughout all four quarters of a game. The Green Bay Packers have torn that principle to shreds this season.

At 12-3, the Packers hold the best record in the NFL, however for the third straight season they’ve had some trouble putting away teams in the latter stages of games. The last two weeks against Baltimore and Cleveland are prime examples of this ongoing trend.

However, that’s not what the topic in question is today. While the Packers struggle to put away their opponents late on, the way they start games is even worse. Per TeamRankings.com, Green Bay are currently ranked 26th in the NFL in first-quarter points scored — which is an utterly bizarre sight for a team that has won 80% of its games.

I know what you’re thinking — the Packers’ lack of first quarter points is simply because they usually defer on the opening coin flip. Well, that’s not the case at all. In fact, the Packers have started the game on offense in eight of their 15 games this season.

Luckily for us, the Packers’ offense counteracts these slow starts by morphing into a fire-breathing dragon in the second quarter — where they rank first in the league in points. Second-quarter success isn’t anything new to this team. Last season they averaged a gargantuan 13.6 second-quarter points, the most of any team in NFL history.

Continue Reading @ LombardiAve 

LombardiAve wrote:

The funny thing is McCarthy teams often times were near excellent in the first quarter. They would run their first 15 or so scripted plays to perfection. Do a fairly decent job in their first possession of the 2nd half but then at times struggle all the rest of the game.

Originally Posted by: wpr 

I wonder if some of the problems is that Aaron has not been practicing as much with the team? From the Covid issue as well as the broken toe he is probably limited. Perhaps it takes a few series of downs to get the rhythm back. It is bizarre when you consider how we used to score almost at will in our first possession a few years back.

Originally Posted by: TheKanataThrilla