The hope was that Sunday’s showdown with the Denver Broncos was going to be an opportunity for the Green Bay Packers offense to get back on track. However, that wasn’t the case as the Packers lost their third straight game and now sit at 2-4 on the season.
As always, here are my instant takeaways from the Packers’ performance during the 19-17 loss to the Broncos:
— This Packers offense, even coming off a bye and against statistically the worst defense in football, cannot figure out how to move the ball with any regularity or put up points in the first half. Green Bay has now scored six total points in the last four first halves. I think that, in part, it’s difficult to make adjustments on the fly because of all the inexperience they have. It also takes them too long to get a feel for how the defense is defending them—again, I’m sure a product of youth to a degree.
— For the second straight game, the Packers’ hopes were ended on an interception by Jordan Love. This was just a bad decision and a bad throw by Love. And as has been the case for most of the season, first and second down struggles put them in that 3rd-and-20 situation.
— Brian Gutekunst took a gamble relying so heavily on a young group of pass catchers and the Packers are dealing with the ramifications of that decision. It’s been a very inconsistent group and while there is a lot of speed and versatility, Matt LaFleur has been unable to maximize it consistently. It’s an easy answer, but it’s the truth. The play of this unit is on all 11 players and the coaching staff. Unfortunately, there isn’t one simple answer.
— Green Bay was able to find success on the ground for the first time this season, averaging close to five yards per rush, which gave them something to lean on throughout the game. A run game to lean on can help the passing game as well. For the most part, the offensive line did alright in pass protection, or just enough at times. It was better than their last two games, although Denver doesn’t have as stout of a pass rush.
— Eric Stokes hadn’t played in almost a year, so it’s not surprising that Carrington Valentine got the start today. Matt LaFleur told us earlier in the week that he was going to be eased in. Unfortunately, following his first special teams rep, Stokes exited with a hamstring injury. Valentine was also picked on by Russell Wilson on third downs specifically.
— The deep ball isn’t working so there was a greater emphasis on shorter area throws to help keep the Packers ahead of the sticks. A few issues with that, however, is that this isn’t a cure-all for the issues Green Bay has been experiencing. Defenses don’t fear the deep ball, so they are able to shrink the field, leading to less space for the offense to operate in. It’s also tough to routinely put up points if you’re expected to put together 12-plus play drives, especially for a mistake prone offense. Until Love and the offense gets better at connecting on those attempts, moving the ball won’t be easy. There is only so much that can be done when the middle of the field is clogged up.
— It’s nice to see the Packers trying to involve Luke Musgrave, but again, these targets around the line of scrimmage are not the best of his skill set. No, he can’t only be an intermediate and downfield target, but he also shouldn’t only be targeted a few yards from the line of scrimmage. Using Musgrave in this capacity could be a product of what was described above—there just isn’t a lot of room.
— The Packers struggle to consistently block inside zone or outside zone running concepts—staples of the LaFleur offense. So asking this group to execute on toss plays and end-arounds has been a mess, with several defenders flying into the backfield each play. Rasheed Walker really struggled to make these blocks in this game.
— The Broncos came into the game with one of the most efficient run games in football. The issue has been that they’ve often been trailing and haven’t been able to rely on it. However, since they led the entire game, it was a key factor for them, and the Packers struggled to stop it.
— If Denver was able to get the run game going, this was always going to be a tough matchup for the Packers defense because the Broncos also have playmaking potential at receiver and a quarterback very willing to push the ball. Green Bay has not shown this season that they can stop a defense where both elements have to be defended. Denver converted over 50 percent of their third down attempts and were able to put together long drives. Credit to the Packers defense for keeping them out of the end zone, however, they just can’t quite get the big stops when needed. This group isn’t good enough to be relied upon as heavily as they currently are.
— Running backs coach Ben Sirmans has talked about wanting to see AJ Dillon play more free. We’ve seen that the last two games. He is much more physical and decisive, leading to him being more productive.
— There were so many missed tackles by this Packers defense.
— Russell Wilson is not easy to bring down, and the defense was fairly disciplined in limiting his running opportunities—credit to them for that. But they didn’t generate a ton of pressures either.
— What a rough sequence before the first half. At a minimum, it looked like the Packers were going to go into halftime down three and receiving the ball. But Anders Carlson missed his first field goal of the year and then the defense let Denver drive down the field for three.
— Packers need to continue to give Dontayvion Wicks more opportunities. He doesn’t have blazing speed like Christian Watson or Jayden Reed, but he knows how to create space with his route running and release abilities.
— Injuries once again struck the Packers. Eric Stokes, Darnell Savage, Devonte Wyatt, Christian Watson, and Luke Musgrave all left the game and did not return.
