Bye week reflections: 5 observations from Packers’ 4-0 start

Not even those inside the walls of Lambeau Field could have predicted such a dominant start for the Green Bay Packers in 2020. Green Bay, which made a living last season winning tight games, has won all of its first four contests by at least one touchdown and heads into its bye week as one of six undefeated teams in the NFL. Now that the Packers are taking a breather, let’s look at a few things we’ve learned about the team this season:

Aaron Rodgers is an MVP candidate again

It’s not too late to get a refund on your bad Rodgers takes from the offseason. Written off as a long-term afterthought following Green Bay’s selection of Jordan Love at No. 26 overall, Rodgers is off to the best start of his career. Through four games, he’s thrown for 13 touchdowns with no interceptions and logged a 128.4 passer rating — all career bests over the first quarter of a season. Rodgers has also passed for 1,214 yards, the second-highest total of his career in that span behind his initial MVP season in 2011 when he registered 1,325 yards through four contests. Want more stats? Despite the lack of proven talent at wide receiver, as Davante Adams and Allen Lazard continue to nurse injuries, Rodgers is averaging 8.7 yards per attempt, his highest mark since 2013. Yep, it’s been a treat to watch.

Taking care of the football

Green Bay’s defense only has forced three turnovers this season, which ranks 23rd in the NFL. However, the Packers are tied for sixth in the league with a +3 turnover differential because the offense hasn’t coughed up the ball even once. For context, over half of the NFL has committed 5+ turnovers, and Philadelphia and Dallas both have nine. Rodgers, who has led the NFL in interception percentage the last two seasons, is a big reason why. But running back Aaron Jones isn’t too shabby himself. Jones has fumbled just five times in 614 career touches — good for a 0.0081% clip. This all comes as no surprise, as Green Bay ranked second last season with just 13 turnovers in 16 games.

It’s nice having the top-scoring offense in the league

The Packers are averaging an absurd 38.0 points per game, which leads the NFL. Green Bay owns the fourth-best passing offense (294.8 yards per game), fourth-best rushing attack (150.8 yards per game) and trails just the Dallas Cowboys in total offense (445.5 yards per game). The 152 points are the most ever scored over the first four weeks of a season in Packers history, edging the incredible 2011 team that went 15-1 (148 points). In third place is Brett Favre’s 1996 championship squad with 136 points. There have been three other NFL teams in the past decade to score 30+ points in each of their first four games – New England (2011), Denver (2013) and the Los Angeles Rams (2018). All three teams finished 13-3, won their conference and advanced to the Super Bowl.

A star is born: Robert Tonyan

We’re trying not to overreact to Tonyan’s monster performance in Week 4, in which he became the third Packers tight end to catch three touchdowns in a single game. It’s hard not to get excited, though. Green Bay has tried to bring in star tight ends for Rodgers to throw to over the years, be it Jared Cook or Jimmy Graham. But Rodgers has found chemistry with Tonyan, a former undrafted free agent out of Indiana State. Tonyan has seen the most snaps of any Packers tight end this season. He’s caught a touchdown in three straight contests and hauled in 5+ receptions in the last two. The 26-year-old has found the end zone five times, tied with three-time Pro Bowl receiver Mike Evans for the league lead.

Ok, so the schedule might have been weaker than we thought

The Packers have beaten Minnesota, Detroit, New Orleans and Atlanta. Two of those teams — the Vikings and the Saints — made the playoffs last year. The Falcons were expected to be better, and the Lions, well, will always be the Lions. It turns out, three of the four teams (we’re leaving out the Saints here) don’t look like they will make the playoffs, as they’ve combined for a 4-12 record. But, hey! You can only win the games on your schedule. And it doesn’t look like it’ll get much more difficult after the bye. Five of the Packers’ 12 remaining games will be against teams with 1-3 or 0-4 records. And one of the “winning” teams left to play is the Chicago Bears, who are overperforming at 3-1. Should we just give Green Bay the NFC North title now?