Last season, facing a boatload of uncertainty with Jordan Love’s first season as QB1 and the franchise going in a new direction with a much younger roster than they’d fielded in years past, the Green Bay Packers opened the season with a 38-20 thrashing of the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. Spirits were high after such a beatdown of a Bears team that some thought would be turning the tables on the rivalry. But that excitement came crashing down when in the following eight games the Packers only put together two wins and managed to score an average of just under 18 points. That first game only mattered on that day alone as that wasn’t a tone-setter for the season, they needed to keep it going.

Despite Matt LaFleur having an outstanding regular season coaching record of 56-27, and his teams averaging 25 points per game in his career, he hasn’t had a lot of success getting his teams rolling out of the gate. Before last year’s victory over Chicago, he’d only averaged 15 points per game with that average getting a huge boost from a 43-point scoring game to open 2020. Without that, the average is a measly 6.6 points. That 2020 game also deserves a bit of an asterisk considering it was in the COVID-19 year where there was no preseason and no fans in attendance to begin the campaign. Last year’s defeat of Chicago was a great start, but their inability to keep that fire burning led to a frustrating start to the season that they cannot afford this time around.

The Packers open the season in just two days against a Philadelphia Eagles team that got off to a 10-1 start last year defending their NFC title before they were on the receiving end of a 42-19 beating at the hands of the future NFC champion, San Francisco 49ers. The Eagles went on a 1-5 skid in the final six games of the season and then were taken to the woodshed in Tampa Bay receiving a 32-9 playoff loss. The Packers will be facing an Eagles team that will want to prove they still have it. Will they get the Eagles that started 2023? Or the Eagles that ended in 2023? It will be very important to ignore that question and just stick to their game to come out victorious in Sao Paulo.

The following week they will face the Indianapolis Colts who aren’t projected to finish well this season before heading to Tennessee to face a Titans team with some big expectations and then will have their first divisional match-up with a Vikings team that’s had some awful injury luck and may struggle this season. You don’t set the tone for your season with just game 1. You set the tone in the first four weeks. If you won, did you keep that momentum going? If you lost, did you rebound and play better the next week? That’s what really matters in today’s NFL.

As we saw last year, the Packers didn’t carry that 38-20 momentum with them the next three games and it seemed to affect them as the season continued. Did the players ride too high off that first game, and it came back to bite them? Or perhaps was it a coaching issue where the staff prepared the team all camp long for Chicago but then overlooked Atlanta, New Orleans, and Detroit until the week they played those teams arrived? Regardless of who’s to blame, it can’t happen this year.

Winning the first quarter of the season

I’m admittedly a bit nervous about rest time vs playing time in the preseason for this team, but I'm trying to trust the process. The coaching staff used joint practices instead of preseason action to give their starters reps. The starting offense and defense were only together for one drive each of game-time action. That Denver joint practice was awful, but they turned it around the next week in the joint vs Baltimore and that’s how Matt LaFleur decided the starters were ready. Luckily for the Packers, the Eagles should be in the same boat as they didn’t play many starters in the preseason either and opted for joint practice action instead. So, as far as shaking out the cobwebs go, the Eagles and Packers may be on a level playing field. Hopefully, those opening game issues from years passed are nonexistent.

The Packers don't need a week 1 domination to head into week 2. If they click on offense finding their groove in the running and passing game, and don't turn the ball over scoring over 20 points, that's a good start for game 1. On the defensive side, if they force a turnover and hold the opposing offense to under 20 points, that's a good start for them as well. It's that mental confidence that will carry them into week 2 and beyond. The Packers went six weeks in 2023 without scoring more than 7 points in the first half. In two of those games, they were held scoreless. Setting a goal of at least 10 points per half should be one of the minimum goals to start this season. They can't get caught with anything less if they want to keep a competitive momentum rolling.

After the offense found its groove in the second half of the 2023 season, I don't anticipate they will have a problem with that. Josh Jacobs should provide a suitable running game with Emanuel Wilson and Marshawn Lloyd as soon as he's healthy to contribute, and that will open up the pass where the Packers have no loss at all of targets. They may not be proven yet, but I view the current Packers' offensive weapons much like the 2011 Packers. In 2011, Aaron Rodgers had five wide receivers and one tight end who could take over a game on their own at any point. I believe the Packers currently have that in four wide receivers and two tight ends. This offense can put up lots of points if they get moving, it's up to them to ensure they get moving from the start and keep it rolling. 

When you change defensive schemes, you expect hiccups. I fully anticipate there will be some hiccups with this team switching from 3-4 to 4-3. But I don't anticipate too many. Last year, it was a common saying to start the season that the defense would have to tow the line for the offense a bit until the offense got it together. Well, this year, it may be up to the offense in the first game or so, but I feel the transition will go well for Jeff Hafley and the defense. Having top-edge rushers who were used to putting their hands in the dirt in college, signing an outstanding safety in Xavier McKinney, and then drafting two safeties who could honestly both be starters and can line up in the back, behind the line, or in the slot, will do a lot of good for this defense. Philly may have a talented offense, but after them in the first four games, we're not exactly looking at offenses that can easily run away with a game. The defense may have a good chance of starting easy to get their bearings before the real tests begin. 

Possibly the most important of all is keeping that winning mentality. In a season full of ups and downs in 2023, I felt the most valuable takeaway was the way such a young team banded together to turn the season around. They could have easily laid down and thought "alright, expectations weren't high, let's just get our first/second season over with, collect our checks, and play for next year." Some young players know they could have another 4-5 years to play so they would rather play at about 70%, stay healthy, and try again next year. That was not the case for the Packers last year as they stared down the adversity and walked all over it. Whether some may think the team is destined for greatness this season already or not, they need to keep that "prove them wrong" mentality and keep it all year round. 

The first quarter of the season sets the tone not only in wins and losses but in how the games were played. This Packers team needs to keep gunning from the start and continue rolling on that through the first quarter of the season and to the Super Bowl. They have the talent to get it done and starting strong will help them get there.