GREEN BAY – As beneficial as it was to see the Packers' defense break a 2½-game takeaway drought with three in the second half against the 49ers, it might've been more important for the offense to go turnover-free.
The win over San Francisco was Green Bay's first game without a giveaway since Week 3 at Tennessee, and the first of quarterback Jordan Love's nine starts this season in which he didn't throw an interception.
Perhaps it's another step, in the many small and steady ones the Packers have taken this year, toward the offense hitting its stride in the season's most important games.
"We talk about it going into every game, winning the ball, and obviously it starts with us, being great with ball security," Love said Tuesday as the Packers are in the midst of cramming for Thursday night's home game against Miami.
Love getting back to full health has certainly helped in that regard, as he's now thrown just one interception in 40 pass attempts over two games since the bye week. That was simply an errant throw in the red zone at Chicago, not the turnover of the "trying to do too much" variety that kept cropping up while he was playing through knee and groin injuries earlier in the year.
Love threw one, maybe two, passes near harm's way vs. San Francisco and did throw an interception when he thought he had a 12-man free play (offsetting penalties wiped it out regardless). But the bottom line was a zero in the turnover column.
Equally important, neither Love nor any teammate has put the ball on the ground over the two games since the bye either. When Love was obviously limited in his mobility by the groin injury vs. Detroit right before the bye, he fumbled three times (all recovered by the Packers, two by Love himself).
He wasn't about to use compromised health as an excuse for miscues, but it's reasonable to believe it was a factor.
"Whether you're feeling good or bad, it all comes down to like we said, just taking care of the ball, doing great things with that, and I think the play will take care of itself," Love said. "It all starts with taking care of the ball."
It's a meaningful mantra as the temperatures get colder with a Miami defense on deck featuring six different players with an interception this season.
Takeaways haven't necessarily been the Dolphins' thing (they have 11, exactly half of Green Bay's 22), but it's not as though their defense has a weakness.
Miami ranks in the top 10 in just about every major category – total yards (7th), rushing yards (9th) and passing yards per game (8th), plus third down (5th), red zone (7th) and goal-to-go (7th) – and just outside the top 10 in points per game, tied for 11th at 21.5.
The Dolphins are not expected to have cornerback Kendall Fuller (concussion) or linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. (hamstring) this week due to injuries. But a veteran-laden group led by lineman Calais Campbell up front and cornerback Jalen Ramsey in the back end, their defense will pose a formidable challenge with its variety of attack modes.
"It's tough, because on such a short week, they've got a lot of stuff in their arsenal in terms of coverages, pressures," Love said. "They're mixing up their calls and do a bunch of different looks. It's a game you've got to be focused in and dialed in on all the pre-snap tells you might get, and just seeing what they're getting to post-snap."
The Packers continuing to clean up their game will assist with all that, as in addition to turning the ball over just once since the bye, the offense has been flagged for only four penalties over the last two games, and it has converted eight of the last 10 red-zone opportunities into touchdowns.
Penalties and red-zone failures went hand in hand for the first two-plus months, so both are valuable improvements in struggling areas no contender can afford to struggle in as the season hits the stretch drive.
"Hopefully we get a chance to showcase our offense in the way it's meant to be played," tight end Tucker Kraft said. "Got it going (toward) that last week and we're just trying to be more consistent this week."
Perhaps it's all starting to come together at the right time.
"I feel like every week we're just trying to be better than we were the week before," left tackle Rasheed Walker said. "We're just trying to keep it rolling because we know we have a really good solid, young team and we haven't even played a complete game yet. I feel like this will be a good test for us, for ourselves."
