{"id":35125,"date":"2025-10-10T15:38:55","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T15:38:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=35125"},"modified":"2025-10-10T15:38:55","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T15:38:55","slug":"breaking-packers-showing-historic-dominance-in-this-critical-phase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=35125","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING : Packers Showing Historic Dominance in This Critical Phase"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

GREEN BAY, Wis. \u2013 \u201cThere are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics,\u201d noted NFL writer Mark Twain famously wrote in his Chapters From My Autobiography.<\/em><\/p>\n

There\u2019s no lying about the importance of third down, though. Conversions on offense lead to points. Stops on defense lead to punts. The combination of the two leads to wins.<\/p>\n

The Green Bay Packers are off to a historic start with their third-down offense. Entering Sunday\u2019s game against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Packers are No. 1 in the league with a 53.7 percent conversion rate. That\u2019s not just the best in the league. Stathead has third-down data dating to 1972. Green Bay ranks fifth in the league over the past 53 seasons. No team has been better since the 2011 Saints finished with a league-record 56.7 percent in 2011.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019ve had a good game plan going into these games on what we\u2019re trying to take advantage of on these third downs, and I think we\u2019ve just been executing at a high level,\u201d quarterback Jordan Love said this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it starts up front with the pass pro.\u00a0 That\u2019s when, obviously, third-and-longer situations, teams try and pressure a little bit more. It starts up front, and I think they\u2019ve been doing a great job, and then guys just executing, winning, a lot of man coverage on third downs, guys going out there and winning their one-on-ones and making plays.\u201d<\/p>\n

Green Bay\u2019s third-down conversion rate is by far the best in the NFL this season; the Miami Dolphins are a distant second at 46.7 percent.<\/p>\n

Love has been a big part of the early-season success. There are 32 quarterbacks who have thrown at least 20 passes on third down. Love is second in conversion rate, passer rating and yards per attempt.<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s been a slog at times for the running game, Josh Jacobs is tied for fifth with six third-down conversions. Love has added three more on scrambles.<\/p>\n

With last year\u2019s knee and groin injuries a distant memory, Love\u2019s legs have been an important factor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the big thing has been his scrambling,\u201d offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said. \u201cHe\u2019s been able to not only scramble down the field but just like extend plays in the pocket, used his mobility to make some plays, so I think he\u2019s done a good job there.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinding some checkdowns, also, and we\u2019ve checked it down and then gotten the first down, guys making plays, and I think we\u2019ve got some schemes that we\u2019ve been running that I really like, too. So, it\u2019s kind of been a combination of all those things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, what happens on first and second down sets up the offense for success or failure on third down. Green Bay\u2019s average third down requires 6.7 yards, the ninth-shortest needed. The offense has averaged a gain of 7.1 yards, the third-highest output.<\/p>\n

The Colts, 49ers and Packers are the only teams averaging more yards gained on third down than yards required.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom an offensive standpoint, we\u2019ve done some good things,\u201d Love said. \u201cI think third-down-wise, we\u2019ve done really good, just putting up points, I think we\u2019ve done good, minus the Cleveland game. I think there\u2019s a lot of stuff to keep building on.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about the consistency, the details, trying to lock in on every play and just limit all the negative plays \u2013 the penalties. We haven\u2019t given the ball away too many times yet early on, so that\u2019s a really good sign. But just keep doing that. Keep staying away from negative plays.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Green Bay\u2019s defense has done its job, too. The Packers are fourth in the league in third-down defense at 32.7 percent. There\u2019s a lot of season left to be played, obviously, but that would be the team\u2019s third-best mark dating to 1972, lagging just behind the 1993 (32.3 percent) and 2006 (32.6 percent) teams.<\/p>\n

A key is Green Bay holding opponents to 4.36 yards per first-down play, third-best in the league.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think for the most part we\u2019ve been putting teams in third-and-medium-to-longer situations. The problem in Dallas was we weren\u2019t,\u201d defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said. \u201cWe weren\u2019t winning enough on first down to get there.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut on the third downs, it\u2019s a credit to our players. It\u2019s the rush plus the coverage. We\u2019ve been getting pressure on the quarterback, we\u2019ve been aggressive in coverage, we\u2019ve been aggressive and played man coverage in certain games where we thought we could and gotten off the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are five teams that rank in the top 12 in third-down offense and third-down defense. Thus, the Packers have by far the best third-down differential.<\/p>\n

Green Bay Packers: First on offense (53.7 percent), fourth on defense (32.7 percent). Differential: 20.0 percent.<\/p>\n

Chicago Bears: Sixth on offense (45.4 percent, first on defense (29.3 percent). Differential: 16.1 percent.<\/p>\n

San Francisco 49ers: Fifth on offense (45.7 percent), fifth on defense (33.3 percent). Differential: 12.4 percent.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Chargers: Fourth on offense (46.4 percent), 11th on defense (37.3 percent). Differential: 9.1 percent.<\/p>\n

Atlanta Falcons: 10th on offense (41.8 percent), sixth on defense (34.1 percent). Differential: 7.7 percent.<\/p>\n

\u201cWinning first and second down is critical on both sides of the ball,\u201d coach Matt LaFleur said. \u201cIf you\u2019re getting people (into) third-and-long, you got a much better opportunity to get them off the grass and, conversely on offense, we need to keep it in third-and-5-or-less, and then we feel pretty good about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Getting back to Twain: In non-strike seasons, there have been 20 teams to finish at 50.0 percent or better on third down. Those teams finished with a combined record of 227-88-1, a winning percentage of .720.<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GREEN BAY, Wis. \u2013 \u201cThere are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics,\u201d noted NFL writer Mark Twain famously wrote in his Chapters From My Autobiog<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35126,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-green-bay-packers"],"yoast_head":"\nBREAKING : Packers Showing Historic Dominance in This Critical Phase - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=35125\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING : Packers Showing Historic Dominance in This Critical Phase - 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