5 Questions with the Enemy: Packers try to weather the Chargers’ storm

The Chargers aren’t meeting expectations this year. Can the Packers beat them and get back on the winning track?

The Green Bay Packers (+3) Wager $10 on GB To Beat LAC: $23.00 Lose by less than 3: $18.93 To Lose: $16.45 will look to avoid another losing streak this week when the Los Angeles Chargers (-3) Wager $10 on LAC To Beat GB: $16.45 Win by 3: $19.26 To Lose: $23.00 roll into LambeFieldau  at noon.

This week’s 5 Questions with the Enemy included APC sitting down with Arif Hasan on behalf of our sister blog Bolts from the Blue.

In summary, the reason Staley is under fire is because despite having a great quarterback, they aren’t winning games. Fans of the Packers will understand, I’m sure. The longer version is that he hasn’t adjusted his defensive strategy to fit his players or the league’s evolving realities, he hasn’t chosen an offensive coordinator to fully utilize Justin Herbert’s strengths, and he plays terribly in game management.

The Chargers have a reputation for entering late-game situations with a one-score advantage. Crucially, Herbert has performed admirably in those situations, but they fall short because there is insufficient coaching to control the clock or choose the best play sequence. As a rookie coach, he ignited the analytics community with his data-friendly pronouncements, and now he’s

How is he not able to? He makes wise decisions fast, exhibits outstanding accuracy, and has a great arm. He takes the initiative in high-stakes scenarios and is difficult to take down in the pocket. Despite his aptitude for field analysis and sound decision-making, Herbert frequently takes fewer risks than necessary. His risk-averse tendencies play a part, but it’s fair to assign a significant portion of the blame for the low deep ball rates to the offensive coordinators and defensive strategies across the league. He should try to test tight windows a little more or give receivers more opportunities to catch jump balls, in my opinion.

In addition, he lacks creativity compared to many quarterbacks with his skill set. Despite his great agility, arm power, and cognitive capacity, he doesn’t deviate from the play in an attempt to create a bigger, new play. He doesn’t scurry around the team as much as he could. He doesn’t deviate from his plan to hit a man he anticipates would be vulnerable. That means that when a play goes down or an unfamiliar look arises, players like Matthew Stafford, Patrick Mahomes, and Kyler Murray will have more options at their disposal.

The only way to stop him is to push him into uncharted area. Unusual coverage, strange fronts, or technical advancements not previously seen on film. He’s been blitzed more often than all but three other quarterbacks in the NFL because he’s one of the few top quarterbacks who performs worse against the blitz than against regular dropbacks. That gives the other teams their greatest opportunity to slow him down.

Prior to his ankle injury, Ekeler had a fantastic first week, and upon his return, it appears that he lacked the explosiveness and balance that we are accustomed to seeing from him. Although it appeared as though Ekeler had reverted to his former self against the Jets, this was not reflected in the statistics, partly due to the Jets’ strong run-stopping defense. In fact, I think Ekeler will be back to his previous level against the Packers—at least as much as we can—because anything can happen in a football game. Although there are some issues with the run-blokcing up front, I think the run game will mostly get back to normal.