Aaron Jones, Not Young Playmakers, Made Biggest Mistakes for Packers

Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones has had a lot of great days. The 23-19 loss to the Steelers on Sunday at Pittsburgh was not among them.

Aaron Jones will go down as one of the best players in Green Bay Packers history. He’s been the playmaker in a lot more wins than he’s been the mistake-maker in losses.

On Sunday, however, for all the consternation over the youth of the passing game, Jones made a couple mistakes that loomed large in a 23-19 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

On third-and-11 on the first play of the fourth quarter, coach Matt LaFleur dug into his bag of tricks. Jordan Love threw a backward pass to Dontayvion Wicks, who fired the ball across the field for Jones.

Had Jones caught the ball, would he have run for the 15 yards necessary to get the first down? Maybe not, but there was a chance with center Josh Myers and right guard Jon Runyan leading the convoy. Instead, Jones dropped the ball.

“I just tried to keep moving and didn’t secure the ball,” Jones said. “That’s on me. It’s no excuse. I’ve got to catch it.”

The biggest mistake came in the waning moments. A 46-yard completion to Jayden Reed gave the Packers a first down at the Steelers’ 45 with 51 seconds remaining and a real shot at stealing a victory. On the next play, Love threw it short to Jones.

With where Jones was on the field in relation to the Steelers’ defenders, the play had no prayer of being successful.

In retrospect, Jones should have intentionally dropped the ball. That’s an easy decision in hindsight. Jones caught the ball and, rather than making a sprint to the sideline, he was tackled inbounds for no gain. The ball was snapped with 51 seconds to play; it wasn’t snapped again until 28 seconds remained.

“I had to come towards the ball so, once I came back towards the ball, it felt like the defender was outside of me,” Jones said. “It would’ve been hard for me to get out of bounds, but everything happens so fast. Got to go back and look at it and make sure he was outside of me. If not, then I’ve got to get out of bounds.”

Packers RB Aaron Jones at the Steelers :: Photo by Philip G. Pavely/USA Today Sports Images

Jones might be right that he wouldn’t have made it out of bounds. Even if he had, they might have run out of time. Whatever. It was a disastrous play for the Packers, who needed every second on the clock and every snap possible to get the ball into the end zone.

After Love scrambled for 8 yards on second down and incomplete on third down, he checked it down to AJ Dillon for a gain of 11 on fourth-and-2. The offense rushed to the line to kill the clock, which it did with 3 seconds to go. On the do-or-die final play from the 16, Love was intercepted.

“We had an opportunity,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “I thought when we checked the ball down there to Aaron Jones, I thought there was an opportunity to get out of bounds and we didn’t. That was critical because that wasted a ton of time, and we would have had a couple of opportunities at the end of the game. There was like 20 seconds or so. It felt like forever.”

Facing a defense that entered the game ranked third in completion percentage and interceptions, Love was 21-of-40 passing for 289 yards. His two first-half touchdown passes were outweighed by his two fourth-quarter interceptions.

How about the rookies?

Rookie receivers Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks and rookie tight end Luke Musgrave combined for 10 receptions for 199 yards. Reed scored a 35-yard touchdown in the second quarter, Musgrave had a 36-yard catch on a drive that led to the go-ahead field goal in the third quarter and Wicks’ 32-yarder put the Packers in position for the go-ahead touchdown with about 4 minutes to go.

Was it Jones’ fault the Packers lost? Of course not. The defense gave up 205 rushing yards, missed about 15 tackles and flubbed a potential pick-six by De'Vondre Campbell. The offense was a dreadful 1-for-5 in the red zone. The special teams allowed a blocked extra point; the Packers only would have needed a field goal for the final two drives.

But for a struggling team, it needs its best players to be at their best. When they’re not, you get what you got on Sunday. Among the plays that disappointed Jones was his getting tackled from behind on a third-and-3. Had he avoided linebacker Elandon Roberts, it might have been a 26-yard touchdown rather than a 31-yard field goal.

“I was upset about that one. That could’ve really changed the game. Just got to play better,” Jones said.

“You see how close we are – a play here or a play there. I feel like we just keep pushing at it. If we keep putting in the work, it’ll go in our favor.”

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