The Good, Bad and Ugly From Packers’ Loss to Falcons

The Green Bay Packers are 1-1 after splitting road games against the Bears and Falcons. There have been some encouraging signs, but also some things to cause concern.

When the 2023 season started for the Green Bay Packers, most fans likely would have nodded along had you told them they were going to start the season 1-1.

While the Packers' loss in Atlanta is a missed opportunity for a litany of reasons, winning on the road is difficult. It's even more difficult with a team full of first- and second-year players.

Nonetheless, coach Matt LaFleur wasn't in the mood to take any moral victories during Monday's media availability.

"The film was tough to watch," LaFleur said, referring to missed opportunities. 

The story of the 2023 season is yet to be written, but it's likely a young team will experience more games like the one on Sunday in Atlanta.

All that said, 1-1 with a division win banked, and being tied for first place in the NFC North, is a good spot for the Packers as they get set to welcome the New Orleans Saints for their home opener. 

Here are things that have been good, bad, and downright ugly through the first two games.

Good: Jordan Love 

Quarterback Jordan is the player all eyes are going to be glued to on a weekly basis. There may not be a draft pick that has been more polarizing in the history of the sport. 

Love finally got his opportunity after sitting for three seasons behind Aaron Rodgers.  The results, so far, have been encouraging. Love has thrown three touchdown passes in each of the first two games. He has posted a quarterback rating over 100 in both games, as well. 

He has yet to turn the ball over, after doing so in every appearance he'd played more than a quarter before this season. 

It hasn't been perfect. Love and the offense faltered down the stretch of Sunday's loss in Atlanta. They failed to pick up a first down in the fourth quarter of a game the should have won. 

The next step for Love and the offense will be whether they can close out games and score late in the game when they're trailing. 

Love has been productive despite his two most explosive playmakers missing most of the first two games. Aaron Jones exited the season opener early in the third quarter. Christian Watson has yet to play a snap. 

It's only two games, but the early returns have been mostly positive. 

Good: Young Playmakers

As just mentioned, Christian Watson has yet to play this season. He is the most talented of the Packers' receivers and the top target by the end of last season.

The run game, which we'll get to in a moment, has been a nonfactor, so they've had to rely on Love and the most inexperienced receiver group in the NFL to lead the offense.

Jayden Reed has been the most productive of the young receivers. His speed looks to be a difference-maker. He scored the first two touchdowns of his career at Atlanta and had two big catches against the Bears in the opener. 

Fellow rookie Dontayvion Wicks leads the receivers in snaps through the first two weeks. He had two catches on Sunday, including his first touchdown, when he made two men miss in the open field. 

Packers WR Jayden Reed celebrates a touchdown :: Photo by Brett Davis/USA Today Sports Images

Wicks missed most of training camp due to injuries, but that hasn't affected him in the early going. 

Rookie tight end Luke Musgrave made a big play in the opener and looks to be a big part of the offense. 

The only young player who has yet to flash in the first two games is tight end Tucker Kraft, who likely will see more opportunities as the season goes on. 

Even if he doesn't, the Packers have to be thrilled with the production they've gotten from their young pass catchers.

Bad: Run Game

The run game was supposed to be the linchpin of this team as the passing offense tried to find its way.

If anything, it's been the opposite. 

Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon are supposed to form a fearsome one-two punch in the backfield.

Instead, the run game has lacked punch. Dillon has been unproductive. He's struggled to stay on his feet and lacked explosion.

Jones scored two touchdowns in limited chances against Chicago, then missed the Atlanta game with a hamstring injury.

Emanuel Wilson only had three carries on Sunday, but didn't do much with them. Patrick Taylor is core special-teamer and not much more than that. 

Packers RB AJ Dillon :: Photo by Brett Davis/USA Today Sports Images

When the reports about the Packers' interest in Jonathan Taylor surfaced, they were mostly brushed off.

After watching Dillon for two weeks, their reported interest makes more sense.

Bad: Penalties

A young team is going to make mistakes. Sometimes that comes in the form of penalties.

The Packers have racked up 16 penalties in their first two games. That's tied for the third-most in the NFL. They include two for unnecessary roughness and a facemask.

Penalties are going to happen, but the ones of the 15-yard variety are typically killers.

It hasn't always been the young players, either. One unnecessary-roughness penalty was on De'Vondre Campbell, one of the veterans on the team. The infraction knocked the Packers out of field goal range, and they came away with no points.

One egregious foul was Sunday's delay of game, when LaFleur inexplicably did not call a timeout to prevent the penalty. The blunder cost the Packers three points.

The Packers have enough issues working against them. They need to get out of their own way. 

Ugly: David Bakhtiari's Injury

This has nothing to do with David Bakhtiari's play. When he's on the field, he is excellent. 

The issue has been staying on the field. Bakhtiari's 11 games last year marked the most he'd played since 2020, when he suffered a knee injury that looks to be permanently derailing a Hall of Fame career. 

Bakhtiari's absence from Sunday's game caused some reckless speculation that either Bakhtiari or the Packers were using tactics from the NBA. 

Instead, the answer LaFleur gave in Monday's press conference was much worse.

"His knee is injured." LaFleur said. "There was swelling." 

The reality is that no answer LaFleur gives when Bakhtiari misses time is going to be comforting.

The Packers truly don't know what each week is going to bring for one of the best players on their offense. It's a situation they've navigated for two years now, but it's more difficult as they're trying to establish a new quarterback.

The mind is willing, but is the body able? 

Ugly: Run Defense

"They shredded us." LaFleur said. 

That sums up the Packers' run defense against Atlanta pretty well. 

Any goodwill that was established from their performance at Chicago was wiped away as Bijan Robinson scampered through their secondary for 124 yards. 

The Packers are at the bottom of the league in defending the run since LaFleur took over in 2019. 

Until the Packers can consistently prove otherwise, their run defense will once again be their fatal flaw. 

More Green Bay Packers News

According to LaFleur, Bakhtiari’s knee might have kept him out even at Lambeau. The latest, including Rasheed Walker’s first start. https://t.co/aGCD11QZSX

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 18, 2023

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