The Green Bay Packers looked well on their way to a 4-1 record after taking leads of 17-3 and 20-10 over the New York Giants during the first half Sunday in London.
Once the ball kicked off for the second half, everything changed.
Does this all feel familiar? It should. At the end, we’ll explain how this result was probably overdue.
Here’s how it all went wrong for the Packers during a stunning 27-22 defeat on Sunday:
Penalty takes away sack
How did the second half start? With a holding penalty on Darnell Savage wiping away an 11-yard sack from Rashan Gary on first down. What could have been 2nd-and-21 stayed 1st-and-10, and the Giants used the redemption to stage a scoring drive. It’s tough to imagine the Giants converting 2nd-and-21, so this turned out to be a 3-point penalty.
Sack eliminates scoring opportunity
The big swing toward the Giants began on the Packers’ first drive of the second half. Big plays by Allen Lazard (17 yards), A.J. Dillon (11 yards) and Randall Cobb (14 yards) got the Packers to New York’s 36-yard line, but a third-down sack from Dexter Lawrence – who beat right guard Royce Newman clean – knocked the Packers out of field goal range and forced a punt. This was another 3-point swing.
Marathon drive
Pat O’Donnell pinned the Giants back at the 9-yard line, but Daniel Jones led the offense on a marathon march, traversing the full 91 yards in 15 plays. The drive featured a pair of third-down conversions and took eight minutes off the clock. Jones completed seven passes and ran three times on designed plays. The Packers defense, on the field for over 15 minutes of game time to start the second half, ran out of answers.
Three-and-out
Desperate for a drive to change momentum and give the defense a break, the Packers offense went three-and-out on three incomplete passes from Aaron Rodgers. The Packers quarterback said he liked all three playcalls, and he believed a big play was a legitimate possibility on at least two of the three dropbacks, including a near-miss on an in-breaker to Randall Cobb. On all three passes, the Giants brought an eighth defender into the box and dared the Packers to pass against a single-high safety and man-to-man coverage. The passing game didn’t execute.
Barkley makes a big play
On the second play of the ensuing drive, the Packers defense had a major coverage breakdown and let Saquon Barkley cross into the field on a mesh concept and catch an uncontested throw. In the open field, Barkley made Darnell Savage miss and created a 41-yard play that immediately put the Giants into the red zone. Five plays later, and following a penalty on Rasul Douglas, Barkley and the Giants were in the end zone on a go-ahead score.
Back-to-back failures
Down seven, the Packers methodically drove to the Giants’ 6-yard line. From there, it all went haywire. On both 3rd-and-2 and 4th-and-2, Rodgers had his passing attempt batted down at the line of scrimmage. On third down, Rodgers’ attempt might have given Randall Cobb a chance to make the play. On fourth down, Rodgers was attempting the back-shoulder to Allen Lazard. Should the Packers have run Aaron Jones or A.J. Dillon two times to get two yards? The Giants dared the Packers to pass, as they did for much of the second half. Rodgers and the passing game couldn’t get it done, even on an RPO look on fourth down. Had Rodgers handed the ball off against the blitz on fourth down, Dillon probably would have converted. The 14-play, 5-minute drive came up empty.
Feels familiar?
The Packers have basically played this same game for the last month. After getting an early lead, the lull hits on offense, the defense gives up a couple of drives, and suddenly it’s an unexpected fistfight. This time, the end result was a loss. The Packers are probably lucky to be 3-2 after how poorly they’ve played in the second half of the last four games. The Bears, Buccaneers and Patriots all had chances to beat this Packers team late; the Giants finally did.
