Steven Helmer Publications

 My thoughts from last night's Green Bay Packers' 27-19 win over the Kansas City Chiefs: Green Bay is giving a new definition to the term "rebuild." The Packers, like most teams, might not have used that word but that's what this season was supposed to be. The willingness to part ways with a veteran player like Rasul Douglas mid-season is evidence of that. However, Green Bay is proving a rebuild year doesn't need to mean you finish near the bottom in the league. If the season ended today, they'd be in the playoffs with two key wins that should make the higher seeded teams a bit nervous. Jordan Love for League MVP? OK, this is admittedly an overreaction from the Packers reaching .500 on the season. Or is it? Statistically, he's right up there with the MVP favorites and he's putting up those numbers with rookie and second year receivers. If the Packers finish the year in the playoffs, I think he needs to at least be in the conversation. I mean, did...

 My thoughts from the Green Bay Packers' 34-20 loss at home against the Detroit Lions last night. Dan Campbell deserves a lot of credit for turning the Lions around. The Lions had been a laughingstock for around three decades and Campbell has turned that around in the short time he has been coach. He is energetic and aggressive, something that rubs off on his players and it feels like this team will be a contender for a while as a result. Then there's Matt LaFleur.  Look, I usually try not to place the blame for a loss squarely on the coaching. However, this isn't the first time one of his teams has come onto the field looking flat and defeated from the opening whistle. You can't even blame it on the team's youth because it's been happening long before Jordan Love was the starter at quarterback and Green Bay purged its veterans on offense. Each time, he acknowledges the problem, but never seems to know how to fix it. Had the Packers shown any sign of life in the...

 Some thoughts from the Green Bay Packers' 24-25 loss in Atlanta earlier today: The loss stings but there were positives. Jordan Love, in particular, is far from a finished product and is going to have some growing pains but for most of the game he looked the part of a franchise quarterback. At minimum, he's not turning the ball over, though there was at least one close call in this game. All three of his touchdowns were to rookie receivers too, that's a positive sign as well. This was a game that could have easily gone the other way. Green Bay's defense dropped two interceptions. Jordan Love's quarterback sneak in the fourth quarter could have been enough for a first down and made a difference in the game had the rest of the team known what he was doing. A miscue on the first drive took them out of field goal range (and even then, Green Bay might have been better off attempting it anyway). It was a loss but a little extra from the football gods and it could have ea...