The Packers enter their bye week looking to repeat their late-season surge from last year

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) – The Green Bay Packers enter their bye week having complicated their path to the NFC North title following a home loss to the Green Bay Packers Minnesota Vikings and area leader Detroit Lions.

But they are in a much better position than they were at this point last season.

If the season ended today, it would be the Packers (6-3). make the playoffs seeded as the No. 7 seed in the NFC, just like last season. At this point a year ago, the Packers were 3-6 before winning six of their last eight games.

This late season surge continued with a Wildcard win in Dallas in front of the Packers lost 24-21 at San Francisco in the divisional playoffs. Green Bay believed this year's team was capable of reaching the franchise's first Super Bowl since the 2010 championship season.

To achieve this goal, the Packers will have to play much sharper than they did in their first nine games.

“One of the things we'll talk about as a team is just some of the things we did in the second half of the (2023) season so we can continue to develop and continue to get better,” coach Matt LaFleur said Monday . “And I think a lot of that just started with our approach to training, how much competition we had in training. I thought it added more energy to training and to be honest I thought that reflected in our game too.

“I think it's just that today our employees, each and every one of us, are focusing on one thing that we can all improve, because each of us can improve in a certain area.”

Green Bay is third in the NFC North behind the Lions (7-1) and Vikings (6-2). The Packers visit Detroit on December 5th and Minnesota on December 29th.

The Packers are 0-2 in division games. They totaled five turnovers with three takeaways 31-29 defeat to Minnesota and theirs Sunday loss to Detroit. They combined for 16 takeaways and eight giveaways in their other seven games.

“Those are two games where we didn’t play our best at all,” Love said after the Lions game. “So many mistakes and like I said, we just didn’t play our best in those games. We have to be able to play at a high level and play our best ball. So it’s definitely very disappointing, but (those are) two teams we’ll see again this season.”

What works

The Packers failed to force a turnover against the Lions, but they still have an NFL-leading 19 takeaways. … Green Bay is averaging 154.8 yards rushing per game, ranking fifth in the NFL. The Packers rushed for 1,393 yards, their most in nine games since 2003, when they totaled 1,475 yards.

Which takes work

The Packers committed 13 turnovers. Through Sunday, the only teams with more turnovers were Las Vegas (19), Tennessee (17), Carolina (15) and Seattle (15). … Love threw 10 interceptions in 240 pass attempts. He was intercepted on 11 of his 579 passes last season. … Bad passes were a problem, especially on Sunday.

Stock up

S Xavier McKinney is tied for the NFL lead with six interceptions. … RB Josh Jacobs passed for 762 yards, good for third in the league. … WR Jayden Reed caught 36 passes for 620 yards while also rushing for 110 yards on 11 carries. … TE Tucker Kraft's five touchdown catches are the second most among tight ends. George Kittle of San Francisco has six.

Inventory reduced

Although CB Eric Stokes did Come back of the injuries that limited him to nine games in 2022 and three in 2023, the 2021 first round pick The role has decreased. His playing time had dropped significantly by Sunday when Green Bay's secondary was missing CB Jaire Alexander and S Evan Williams due to injury. … DL Kenny Clark hasn't recorded a sack this season after posting a career-high 7 1/2 last year.

Injuries

LaFleur said Monday that TE Luke Musgrave had ankle surgery. LaFleur said Musgrave will “hopefully come back later this season.” The 2023 second-round pick went on injured reserve on Oct. 11.

Key numbers

1-5 – The Packers' record in their last six home games against NFC North opponents. This run started with the 20-16 defeat to Detroit in the 2022 season finale, which ended Aaron Rodgers' career in Green Bay and kept the Packers out of the playoffs. Before that 1-5 stretch, the Packers had gone 10-1 in home games against NFC North opponents under LaFleur.

Next Steps

After their week-long break, the Packers will play in Chicago on November 17th. The Packers have have won their last 10 meetings with the bears.

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