Steven Helmer Publications

A couple weeks ago, it looked as though the Green Bay Packers would easily secure at least the sixth and possibly the fifth seed in the NFL playoffs.  Now, with a week to go in the regular season, Green Bay has a shot at the 6th seed but since they would need help, most likely will enter the postseason as the 7th seed. This means a guaranteed game on the road against the 13-3 Philadelphia Eagles (who will be resting their players the final week of the season) followed by a road game against either the 14-2 Minnesota Vikings or the 14-2 Detroit Lions (whichever they face will also be rested because, as the top seed, they would get a bye week). On paper, this seems insurmountable for a team that has a combined five losses this season, all of them coming from the three teams mentioned above, and a growing list of injuries on the defensive side of the ball. However, while I'll be first to admit this may not be the year they go all the way, I don't think they should be written off j...

Here are some of my thoughts from last night's 34-31 Green Bay Packers ' loss at the Detroit Lions :  The loss was disappointing but also encouraging. The Packers have the youngest team in the league and theoretically still haven't reached their full potential. This game, against arguably the best team in the NFC, came down to who had the ball last. Had Lions' coach Dan Campbell chosen to kick the field goal with nearly a minute remaining rather than be aggressive and let his team pick up another first down to run the clock down, there's no reason to believe Jordan Love couldn't have orchestrated a game-tying or even game-winning drive. If they meet in the playoffs (which is likely), it'll likely be a similar game with potentially a different outcome. The injuries in the secondary are becoming a concern . The Packers were already down Jaire Alexander and Corey Ballentine and lost safeties Evan Williams and Javon Bullard during the game with Keisan Nixon ap...

Some thoughts from today's 24-14 Green Bay Packers ' loss to the Detroit Lions at Lambeau Field: Not to take anything away from the Detroit Lions, who were near perfect, this game was as much about the Packers underperforming as the Lions overperforming. Lots of frustrating penalties and almost as many dropped passes. Love's bad throw on the pick-6 late in the first half certainly didn't help much. I would take a healthy Jordan Love over most quarterbacks in the NFL but I'm not so certain the Packers wouldn't have been better off starting Malik Willis in this game. The groin injury was clearly impacting Love's mobility and likely was a factor on some of his off-target throws. Green Bay is also lucky he didn't aggravate it more. A Willis-led offense also would have put more emphasis on the run, which would have been more suitable for that weather. I'm going to give the defense a thumbs up though. Not counting the seven points from Love's intercep...

 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...