Three Overreactions From Packers’ Loss to Raiders

Why react when you can overreact? Here are three views of the Green Bay Packers following their 17-13 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday night.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers had a chance to steal a road win against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2 but blew it. They had a chance to take an early lead in the NFC North when they hosted the Detroit Lions in Week 4 but got manhandled.

With four bonus days to get ready and a partisan crowd in their favor, the Packers had a chance to earn a victory at the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday night. Instead, another dismal performance by the offense left them with a 2-3 record at the bye.

Teams in the murky middle of the NFL can’t afford to give away too many games. The Packers will come back from their bye next week and visit the Denver Broncos. If Green Bay’s sputtering offense can’t put up a winning performance against a team that’s allowed 35, 70, 28 and 31 points in its last four games … well, that’s a matter for next week.

Here are three overreactions from a sinful 17-13 loss in Sin City.

1. Identity Crisis

What are the Packers doing on offense? What is the dependable starting point with which to build a game plan? If the Packers absolutely needed to get a first down, how would they get it?

That Green Bay’s offense is off to a slow start to the season shouldn’t be a surprise. With a first-year starting quarterback and a bunch of young receivers and tight ends, everyone knew the offense would be a work in progress. That would be fine, so long as there was progress.

Where’s that progress? In what part of the game can anyone with a bit of honesty say, “OK, at least that’s trending the right way”?

For four games, Jordan Love pushed the ball downfield. Sure, he had the lowest completion percentage in the NFL, but at least it only took a few completions to get into scoring range.

On Monday, the offense went the opposite direction.

While it was bomb’s away to Christian Watson, four passes to Romeo Doubs averaged 6.0 air yards. Seven passes to Luke Musgrave averaged 1.4. It’s as if the Packers went from one extreme to another all in the hope of completing some passes. And yet Love’s completion percentage was still terrible.

The AJ Dillon-fueled running game had success at the start of the game and the start of the third quarter with straight-down-hill runs. Then, those power plays got pushed to the back burner.

A serious self-scout is needed this week. Get back to what’s supposed to be the hallmark of the offense, which is stringing together lookalike plays. Get Love out on the perimeter.

More than that, the Packers should watch every snap – repeatedly, on a never-ending loop – of the Brock Purdy-led offensive machine that’s had the 49ers score 30, 30, 30, 35 and 42 the first five games. Why does Mr. Irrelevant have so many easy completions and no interceptions while Love has almost no easy completions and a compounding number of interceptions?

2. Young and Talented or Young and Overrated?

Romeo Doubs drops a pass on the final drive :: Photo by Stephen R. Sylvanie/USA Today Sports Images

When Aaron Rodgers took over as quarterback in 2008, his primary receivers were veteran Donald Driver, third-year player Greg Jennings and second-year player James Jones. Receiver Jordy Nelson and tight end Jermichael Finley were added in the draft.

Driver, Jennings, Jones and Nelson were the fearsome foursome that helped the Packers win a Super Bowl in 2010. A year later, “The Perfect Pack” graced the cover of Sports Illustrated. Randall Cobb, a rookie at the time, was part of that group.

Jordan Love doesn’t have a Driver, but he does have a young and talented core. For the sake of loose comparisons, Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs are Nelson and Jennings. Jayden Reed is Cobb. Dontayvion Wicks is Jones. Musgrave, of course, is Finley.

The Packers have had such a run of success with their second-round receivers – Jennings and Nelson led to Cobb and Davante Adams – that it’s taken as gospel that Watson and Reed (and Doubs, a fourth-rounder) will lead the next generation of great receivers. But what if they’re not?

One number sticks out from Next Gen Stats. It’s passing aggressiveness. For Love, 25.3 percent of his passes have been deemed aggressive, meaning there is a defender within no more than 1 yards of the receiver when the ball arrives. That number, the second-highest in the league, suggests Love has been forced to throw to a bunch of well-covered receivers.

With the game on the line on Monday, Doubs dropped an easy pass on the sideline, Musgrave dropped a pass over the middle and Watson did nothing to prevent the game-ending interception.

This isn’t to suggest that Watson and Co. aren’t very good. But it’s possible their presumed upside has been overhyped. If that’s the case, we all can enjoy another two months of mock drafts that state this will be the year of the first-round receiver.

3. Step Forward for Defense

A strong performance against a weak Raiders offense, obviously, shouldn’t put the Packers on the map as a top-10 defense.

However, the ridiculed run defense held Josh Jacobs to 69 yards on 20 carries. Indomitable Davante Adams caught four passes for 45 yards. That’s good work by defensive coordinator Joe Barry’s crew.

Here’s what matters – maybe. The defense gets it. It’s up to them. Aaron Rodgers isn’t here to save the day. Jordan Love and all those young pass-catchers haven’t been ready for primetime. If the Packers are going to win, it’ll be up to the defense to get it done.

“It’s pretty obvious that the defense has to not give up any touchdowns,” cornerback Jaire Alexander said. “I was telling the guys that today. On defense, we have to be better. We know that the offense is young and they’re still finding their way, so the defense is pretty old. We’ve got to stop people from scoring.”

Defense is about attitude. The defense played good against the Raiders but good wasn’t good enough. Maybe that reality will push a talented unit to the necessary heights.

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The #Packers had four extra days to not just come up with a game plan for their young offense to beat the Raiders but a plan to attack the rest of the season.

Instead, it was another terrible night, which leads to some unsettling questions. ⬇️https://t.co/FYVr7yeKYm

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) October 10, 2023

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