22 Days Until Training Camp: Offense Wasn’t Half-Bad

The Green Bay Packers led the league in scoring in 2020 thanks in large part to setting an obscure NFL record.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers’ offense wasn’t half-bad during its prolific 2020 season. Actually, it was first-half excellent.

The Packers led the NFL in scoring by tallying 509 points, the 20th-most in NFL history.

The onslaught started, well, at the start. The Packers scored on their opening drive in 12 of their 16 regular-season games. That was the second-most since 2000, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, trailing only the 2007 New England Patriots (13). However, no team during that span scored more opening-drive points than the Packers’ 73, keyed by a league-high nine touchdowns.

Matt LaFleur’s bunch was all gas, no brake during the second quarter to routinely take control of games. In one of the more obscure accomplishments, the Packers set an NFL record by scoring 219 points during the second quarter. No team in NFL history had scored even 200 points in any quarter.

Aaron Rodgers’ second-quarter numbers were nothing short of ridiculous.

Rodgers threw 25 touchdown passes in the second quarter. That represented more than half of his NFL-leading season total of 48. Cleveland’s Baker Mayfield finished a distant second with 15 touchdown passes in the second quarter. And if that’s not enough, Rodgers threw only 25 touchdown passes in 2018 and 26 touchdown passes in 2019. Rodgers’ second-quarter passer rating was 132.1. Buffalo’s Josh Allen was a distant second at 115.3. He even added two rushing touchdowns.

Davante Adams, Robert Tonyan and Marquez Valdes-Scantling each caught five touchdown passes during the second quarter. Only Kansas City’s Travis Kelce (seven) had more.

With Rodgers leading the way, the Packers outscored their opponents by 127 points in the second quarter. That’s almost 8.0 points per game.

As with all things concerning the Packers’ offense, repeating their season-long brilliance will be a huge challenge – one only heightened by Rodgers’ uncertain future. Green Bay mostly thrived playing in empty road stadiums and fielded perhaps the best red-zone offense in NFL history. Even if Rodgers returns, duplicating that elite level will be difficult. It might be impossible to replicate that success with Jordan Love facing a much stronger schedule.

Countdown to Packers Training Camp

Feature: Bronson Kaufusi's position change

30 Days Until Training Camp: Potential cuts

29 Days Until Training Camp: First-year starting QBs

28 Days: Aaron Jones, AJ Dillon and top running back tandems

27 Days: Record-setting red-zone dominance

26 Days: In Wisconsin sports, misery loves company

25 Days: Matt LaFleur's record-setting start

24 Days: The triumph of turnovers and the one that got away

23 Days: Jaire Alexander

Nos. 62-64: Patrick Taylor, Dexter Williams, Isaac Nauta

Nos. 65-67: Ka'dar Hollman, Kabion Ento, Stanford Samuels

Nos. 68-70: Jake Hanson and two specialist challengers

Nos. 71-74: Christian Uphoff, Henry Black, Innis Gaines, Jake Dolegala

Nos. 75-77: Coy Cronk, Willington Previlon, Jack Heflin

Nos. 78-80: Delontae Scott, Carlo Kemp, Bronson Kaufusi

No. 81: WR Bailey Gaither

Nos. 82-84: WRs Reggie Begelton, Chris Blair, DeAndre Thompkins

Nos. 85-88: LBs Ray Wilborn, Scoota Harris; OL Zach Johnson, Jacob Capra

No. 89: G Jon Dietzen

No. 90: K JJ Molson