NFL Fact or Fiction: Packers Will Miss the Playoffs After Jordan Love Injury

Plus, did the Giants make a mistake trading for Brian Burns? And is it time for the Browns to bench Deshaun Watson?

Love sustained a knee injury in the final moments of the Packers' regular-season opener against the Eagles. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Week 1 slate of the 2024 NFL regular season seems like months ago because of the Friday game in Brazil between the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers.

I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to Friday games, even though the league will likely add a few more to upcoming seasons. This would be a great time for TGI Fridays, the restaurant chain, to reach out to the NFL for a sponsorship opportunity. 

It’s been a while since I’ve eaten at TGI Fridays, a place I used to frequent during my college days because of the happy hour menu. Now I’m either eating Korean BBQ, DoorDashing or forcing myself to save money and eat my mediocre cooking. Notice how I didn’t say terrible. I’m occasionally decent, like the many average quarterbacks in the NFL. 

Sam Darnold, Jacoby Brissett, Justin Fields and many other nonsuperstar quarterbacks had a good start to the season. (I stopped listing QBs to avoid annoying more people.)

Unfortunately, NFL fans won’t get to watch one of the game’s young star quarterbacks for about a month after Jordan Love sustained a knee injury in the final seconds against the Eagles. We’ll discuss how the injury could impact the Packers’ season for this week’s edition of “Fact or Fiction.” 

We’ll also overreact a bit to the Baltimore Ravens’ Week 1 loss, and debate whether the New York Giants made a mistake trading for Brian Burns.  

Packers will miss the playoffs after Jordan Love injury

Manzano’s view: Fact

I was kicking myself for leaving the Packers off my playoff bracket while watching Love connect with Jayden Reed for a 70-yard touchdown against the Eagles. 

I don’t have a strong argument for doing that other than it’s the NFL and a handful of teams usually don’t make the playoffs in consecutive seasons. But now there’s a real concern for the Packers potentially missing the postseason after Love injured his knee against the Eagles. He’s expected to miss three to six weeks, according to reports. 

First of all, this injury stinks and it’s unfortunate football fans won’t get to watch one of the best young quarterbacks in the league for likely the next month. This is definitely not my way of saying my dumb prediction might be right. The Packers likely would have proved me wrong—and still could—had Love not sustained the injury. Love played well in the season opener and his young pass catchers appeared to be better than last year, which is a problem for the rest of the league.

But the Packers currently don’t have ideal quarterback options. Malik Willis is scheduled to start Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts if Love is ruled out. There’s also Sean Clifford, whom the team clearly had doubts about after trading for Willis a few weeks ago. Willis had a few rough starts in the past two seasons with the Tennessee Titans. 

It wouldn’t surprise me, though, if coach Matt LaFleur delivers productive game plans to record a few upsets while Love is sidelined—the Packers have upcoming games against the Colts, Titans, Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams.

But the Packers might be playing catch-up in the NFC North standings, and who knows whether Love will be close to full strength when he returns. Green Bay can definitely earn a wild-card spot if the Detroit Lions pull away in the division. It’s tough to bet against the Packers, who have many impressive playmakers on both sides of the ball. But at the moment, the QB options don’t appear promising. 

Giants made a mistake trading for Brian Burns

Manzano’s view: Fiction 

Daniel Jones got the bulk of the blame for the Giants’ disastrous Week 1 loss to the Vikings. But the strength of the Giants was supposed to be the defensive front after the trade for Burns. 

The group of pass rushers didn’t do its part, recording only one sack and one QB hit on Darnold, who carved up the Giants without much pressure in the pocket. The defense also struggled against the run, allowing Aaron Jones to average 6.7 yards per carry for 94 rushing yards on 14 attempts.

I mentioned in my “winners and losers” column that GM Joe Schoen might have made a mistake relinquishing draft picks and signing Burns to a five-year, $141 million contract to join a team that doesn’t appear close to contending. After thinking it over, that was a bit of a reach because the Giants could turn it around in the foreseeable future and Burns is only 26. It might not happen this season, though, with Jones as the starter. 

New York’s pass rushers will likely play better in the coming weeks, but it’s not a good look that Kayvon Thibodeaux couldn’t answer a fair question about the lack of pressure on Darnold last week. 

Goff led the Lions to a 26–20 overtime victory over the Rams. / Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

Lions should be concerned about Jared Goff’s rough Week 1 performance

Manzano’s view: Fiction 

Jared Goff’s impressive 2023 season shouldn’t be forgotten after one rough game against the Los Angeles Rams.

The doubters have been waiting for Goff to return to his inconsistent ways, which led the Rams to trade him to Detroit for Matthew Stafford three seasons ago. But this one rocky game for Goff was more about the Rams having a productive game plan for containing Amon-Ra St. Brown and Sam LaPorta before the Lions prevailed in overtime. 

Goff, who only recorded 217 yards for a touchdown and an interception vs. the Rams, never has been a quarterback who’s capable of putting his team on his back during bad days for his playmakers. He needs his best pass catchers to establish a rhythm for the offense. And there likely won’t be too many games with St. Brown and LaPorta combining for just 58 receiving yards, as they did against the Rams.

The Lions appeared sluggish at times and it wasn’t the best game for offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, but they adjusted by getting Jameson Williams involved and leaning on running back David Montgomery in overtime. The Lions have enough weapons to overcome a few rocky performances from Goff, which is why this partnership has worked the past few seasons. There shouldn’t be any cause for concern in Detroit.   

Lamar Jackson, Ravens won’t be as good as last season

Manzano’s view: Fact 

I might have shouted “go down” a few times while watching Lamar Jackson take unnecessary hits as he attempted to carry the Ravens to an upset road win vs. the Kansas City Chiefs. 

Jackson running through open lanes is fine, but lowering his shoulder for extra yards is not ideal for a quarterback who possibly weighs under 200 pounds. (The Ravens have him listed at 205 pounds, which I’m not sure I buy.)

Anyway, the point is that the Ravens are thin in key spots offensively, which could lead to more Superman-like performances from the two-time MVP. That’s not necessarily a good thing if it means Jackson taking punishment just to give his team a chance to win games. 

Jackson needs more help than just handing it off to running back Derrick Henry. The duo could be a work in progress because Jackson prefers to play out of the shotgun and Henry might perform better when Jackson is under center. But that should be the least of Baltimore’s concerns.  

The Ravens have real issues on the offensive line after replacing three starters from last year’s group with unproven players. Yes, they won’t play Chris Jones every week, but the schedule won’t let up, especially in the AFC North. The emergence of tight end Isaiah Likely is a welcoming sight, but the Ravens are going to need more consistency from Zay Flowers due to the lack of depth at wide receiver. 

It’s only one game, so I don’t want to overreact too much. But it’s hard to top last year’s 13–4 record with many concerns on the offensive side. And the Ravens’ flat defensive performance vs. the Chiefs with new defensive coordinator Zach Orr is also on my radar. 

Jackson and the Ravens fell to the Chiefs 27–20 in their regular-season opener. / Denny Medley-Imagn Images

It’s time for the Browns to bench Deshaun Watson

Manzano’s view: Fact 

The Cleveland Browns won’t admit this, but they’re likely giving Deshaun Watson countless opportunities to prove himself to avoid going down in history as the team that handed out the worst contract in NFL history. 

The Browns won’t do it after one game, but they need to strongly consider benching Watson and see how the team responds to backup Jameis Winston. 

The Browns got desperate when they handed Watson a fully guaranteed, five-year, $230 million contract, even though the quarterback was facing allegations of sexual assault. (He reportedly has new legal issues.)   

The Browns embarrassed themselves for doing everything they could to land Watson and now they’re refusing to admit their mistakes more than two years later. Watson appears lost on the field and hasn’t had much production since he arrived in Cleveland in 2022. He went 24-of-45 for 169 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in the blowout Week 1 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. (Most of those passing yards came in garbage time.)

It’s a shame that Cleveland didn’t realize that it was time for change after the team took off with Joe Flacco as the starting quarterback last season. The Browns have a stout defense and one of the best offensive play-callers in the league with coach Kevin Stefanski. Instead of prioritizing those strengths, the Browns continue to hinge their season on the hope of Watson possibly returning to his old form when he was a standout signal-caller for the Houston Texans.