Packers’ Work-In-Progress Passing Game Showed No Progress vs. Vikings

Packers QB Jordan Love wasn’t good enough to beat the Vikings on Sunday. His teammates weren’t good enough, either, as Green Bay lost 24-10.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Jordan Love says he needs to play better. Coach Matt LaFleur says everyone else needs to play better.

They’re both right.

In the Green Bay Packers’ 24-10 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, the Love-led and LaFleur-coached offense stumbled and bumbled their way around Lambeau Field for the better part of 60 minutes en route to a fourth consecutive loss.

As usual, Green Bay’s offense was JV-level in the first half. It took 26 minutes to get a first down.

As usual, Love’s accuracy was scattershot. For the fifth time in seven games, he completed less than 60 percent of his passes. For the fifth consecutive game, he threw at least one interception.

As usual, Love didn’t get much help from his friends. LaFleur counted six drops among Love’s 17 incompletions.

As usual, the work-in-progress offense failed to show any progress.

“That was obviously tough to watch,” LaFleur said after his team failed to reach 20 points for a fifth consecutive game.

That starts with Love. On the second series, Luke Musgrave was open on a third-down crossing route. Had the ball been out in front of Musgrave, it would have been a catch for a first down. Instead, it was batted away for the second of four consecutive three-and-outs.

On the final drive of the first half, Love’s second pass was thrown with too much arc and was almost intercepted. Later, with the Packers on the move, Love stepped up in the pocket, bumped into center Josh Myers and tumbled to the turf for a sack. Then, with enough time to throw two passes into the end zone, Love held the ball too long, almost took a sack and perhaps should have been flagged for intentional grounding. The Packers were fortunate to score a field goal.

With Green Bay trailing 17-3 in the third quarter, Love on third-and-8 went deep to Jayden Reed. Reed needed to make more of an effort to make a play but the ball was thrown into triple coverage and intercepted.

Packers WR Christian Watson caught 3-of-8 for 33 yards :: Photo by Benny Sieu/USA Today Sports Images

“I think he just ripped it out of his hands,” Love said. “Those are the things that we can look back and say, ‘I wish I could have thrown this ball a little bit farther,’ but it comes down to execution, making those plays, me making better throws and guys just going out there and competing and winning when the ball’s in the air.”

With Green Bay facing a fourth-and-5 from the Vikings’ 10 midway through the fourth quarter, Love’s pass would have had to go straight through safety Camryn Bynum to get to Romeo Doubs. Facing a third-and-16 from the Vikings’ 18 on the next drive, Love threw into double coverage and the pass was deflected. On fourth-and-16, Love somehow thought his best option was to run.

On the final drive, Doubs was open for what could have been an 80-yard touchdown but Love – after shot-hopping a couple passes to Doubs earlier in the game – led him too far. A few plays later, Watson was open for what should have been a 34-yard touchdown but that ball was thrown too far, too.

“Myself, it’s too bumpy right now,” Love said. “I need to find consistency in my play where I’m able to make every play, go to the right place with the ball on every play. It’s got to be more consistent from me, and I think that’s where I’m lacking right now.”

It wasn’t all Love’s fault, though. Far from it.

On the second consecutive three-and-out to start the game, Aaron Jones dropped a pass on second down. On the third consecutive three-and-out, the Packers had two blockers on D.J. Wonnum but he sacked Love, anyway. On the fourth consecutive three-and-out, Jon Runyan was called for holding.

With Green Bay trailing 24-10 midway through the fourth quarter, Love on second-and-5 from the Vikings’ 10 threw a strike to Dontayvion Wicks. At worst, Wicks would have given the Packers a first-and-goal from the 3. Maybe he would have scored. Instead, Wicks dropped the ball. The series ended with two more incompletions.

Beyond specific plays: There wasn’t a single contested catch. There wasn’t a single “wow” play made by a player tasked with catching the football. 

By our live tracking: Of Love’s 24 completions, his receivers didn’t break a single tackle and there were 117 yards after the catch. (PFF found one tackle and 127 YAC.) Doubs averaged a dreary 2.0 yards per target; Watson looks nothing like the explosive player who burst onto the scene during the second half of his rookie season.

There’s no doubt Love needs to play with greater accuracy and efficiency. He needs to play smarter and more decisively. But somebody needs to make a play.

“It’s frustrating, man,” Love said. “I’m frustrated. Everybody in that locker room’s frustrated. Plain and simple, we’re not winning. We’re losing games and it’s all games that we should be winning, I think, that we’re right there. It comes down to a play here, a play there. We’re not executing enough and we’re not making those plays, and it’s frustrating. And everybody’s frustrated, but the question is what are we going to do to change that?”

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In his seventh start in 2008, Aaron Rodgers got plenty of help to beat Peyton Manning.

In his seventh start in 2023, Jordan Love didn't get much help from the #Packers in their loss to the Vikings.

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— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) October 30, 2023

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