As is the case with most late-game collapses, a lot of different things had to go wrong for the Green Bay Packers to blow a 24-12 lead in the fourth quarter and lose to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.
The offense fell apart. The defense couldn’t make a stop. The special teams gave away important yards. The complementary football that led the Packers to the doorstep of a 2-0 start evaporated during the final 15 minutes of football for the visitors at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Buy Packers TicketsAs a result, the Packers are 1-1 and heading home after a stingingly disappointing defeat.
Here are all the big things that combined to create the Packers’ collapse on Sunday:
Giving up explosive plays
On each of the Falcons’ three scoring drives in the fourth quarter, the Packers gave up an explosive play. Mack Hollins made a 45-yard catchover Darnell Savage on a flea-flicker on the first drive, Bijan Robinson had a 29-yard catch on busted coverage on the second drive and Drake London started the third and final scoring drive with a 24-yard catch against Jaire Alexander. Giving up explosive plays is the quickest way to giving up points in the NFL. The three plays listed above were the three longest passing plays allowed by the Packers on Sunday.
Jordan Love, 0-for-6
Jordan Love did not complete a pass on six attempts during the fourth quarter. On the first drive, he sailed a pass over the head of Jayden Reed off a deep crosser on first down and threw a near-interception short of the sticks on third down. Two drives later and down 25-24 with under a minute to go, Love threw four consecutive incomplete passes to end the game. He was under pressure and throwing to covered receivers on the final possession. Needless to say, it’s tough to get anything done offensively without a single completion over three drives. The passing game was short-handed, but it had to be better late.
Botched sneak
Who knows how the game would have ended if Jordan Love and the Packers had successfully executed a quarterback sneak on 4th-and-1 from Green Bay’s own 34-yard line with 6:49 left. Instead of a drive-extending conversion with the Packers up 24-22, Love drew a false start penalty and the Packers punted the ball away. The first-year starter took all the blame for the miscue, admitting he said the wrong “live” word to check the play into the sneak. When Love went, the snap never arrived, creating an awkward-looking play and a turning point.
Run game falters
A.J. Dillon got four carries over the final three drives and produced only 11 total yards. He got two yards on 2nd-and-10 on the first drive and then failed to get 10 yards and a first down over three consecutive carries on the second drive. The crucial failure came on 3rd-and-1 on the second drive; Dillon stumbled down for no gain, setting up the failed quarterback sneak. When the Packers desperately needed the run game to help execute a game-sealing drive, Dillon and the offensive front weren’t up to the task. Good teams get leads with the passing game and then drive home wins with the run game. Not having Aaron Jones, Elgton Jenkins and David Bakhtiari really showed up late.
Defense can't get a stop
The Falcons converted five third or fourth downs to help create the three scoring drives in the fourth quarter. On the first drive, Desmond Ridder hit Mack Hollins for 45 yards on 3rd-and-3 and then made a huge play on 4th-and-4 with a 6-yard touchdown run. Both times, the Packers had chances to get off the field up 24-12. The Falcons got another third-down conversion on the second scoring drive, and conversions on 3rd-and-3 and 4th-and-1 on the final drive put the Falcons into go-ahead field goal range. Five of the Falcons’ nine conversions on third or fourth down came in the fourth quarter. The Packers needed clutch plays on defense late but the one or two disruptive plays that could have sealed the deal never arrived.
Special teams lose field position
Small things, sure, but field position matters in close games. On back-to-back punts, the Packers special teams gave up yards. On the first, Jonathan Owens committed a 15-yard face mask penalty. On the second, the Packers allowed a 16-yard return. On both ensuing drives, the Falcons kicked field goals. Did it make a difference? Hard to say. But Younghoe Koo’s kick on the first drive was a 39-yarder. Tacking on 15 yards would have made it a 54-yarder. Two little things prevented the Falcons from having to go the length of the field to score.
