Three Overreactions From Packers’ Week 2 Loss at Falcons

The Green Bay Packers blew a 12-point lead against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. The team’s fatal flaws emerged down the stretch.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers snatched defeat from the jaws of victory on Sunday, blowing a 24-12 lead and losing to the Atlanta Falcons 25-24.

When it was time to win the game, the Packers were all-around terrible. Quarterback Jordan Love couldn’t complete a pass. Running back AJ Dillon couldn’t stay on his feet. The defense couldn’t get off the field.

Added together, the banged-up Packers wasted a golden opportunity to steal a road win against an up-and-coming team.

Here are three takeaways that may or may not be overreactions.

1. Overrated One-Two Punch

Type “Aaron Jones AJ Dillon one-two punch” into Google and 2.28 million results pop up. The Packers’ proven backfield duo was supposed to be the unquestioned strength of Green Bay’s offense, the reliable tandem capable of carrying the load as the offense started a new era at quarterback.

“They’re two of the premier backs in our league,” coach Matt LaFleur has said.

Jones is a premier player. Dillon is not.

With Jones inactive on Sunday, it was Dillon’s time to shine. Instead, he was as dim as a flashlight with corroded batteries.

Against the Falcons, Dillon carried 15 times for 55 yards, a 3.67-yard average.

With the Monday night games to be played, Dillon ranks 17th in rushes but 31st in yards. Of 53 qualifying players, he is 44th with 2.64 yards per carry. Of his 28 carries, his longest has gone for just 8 yards.

Dillon’s on a dubious six-game streak of games with less than a 3.70-yard average or a run of longer than 11 yards. In fairness to Dillon, as was the case last week, he wasn't exactly blessed with great blocking. But it is his job to turn chicken feathers into at least something edible.

Because he’s such a big, strong man, Dillon is hard to bring down. But, more often than not, that results in pileups, not additional yards. That follows a trend. He was one of the worst in the league last year in terms of broken-tackle percentage and yards after contact.

Dillon spent the offseason and training camp focusing on pad level, to no avail. Maybe he’s overemphasizing that part, which might explain why the Mercedes-Benz Stadium turf had more tackles than he broke (one, by our count).

The fate of Green Bay’s season depends on Dillon running with power and ferocity. His future with the Packers and in the NFL might depend on it, too.

2. Another First-Round Pick for the Defense

Let’s fast forward to March. It’s Mock Draft season! One after another, the draft gurus predict this will be the year the Packers use a first-round pick on a receiver. And then, on the night of April 25, Commissioner Roger Goodell will announce the Packers have selected Joe Beefy, a defensive tackle from Somewhere State.

It will be the 101st first-round pick on the Packers’ defensive depth chart, or something like that.

The Packers’ defensive line with veterans Jarran Reed and Dean Lowry in the starting lineup and Devonte Wyatt and TJ Slaton in reserve was bad last year. The defensive line of Wyatt and Slaton joining Kenny Clark in the starting lineup and rookies Colby Wooden and Karl Brooks in reserve was bad on Sunday.

Packers DT Colby Wooden can't grab Falcons RB Bijan Robinson :: Photo by Dale Zanine/USA Today Sports Images

The Falcons rushed for 211 yards against Green Bay’s new-and-unimproved defense. Clark in 61 snaps had one solo tackle. Slaton in 50 snaps had one solo tackle. Wyatt in 48 snaps had zero solo tackles, a total matched by Wooden in 36 snaps and Brooks in 23. That’s right. In a total of 218 snaps, Green Bay’s five-man rotation had two solo tackles.

With Wyatt, who was last year’s first-round pick, Slaton, who was a fifth-round pick in 2021, and a pair of Day 3 rookies, Green Bay’s defensive line is filled with inexperience. They are going against seasoned blockers with grown-man strength. Early struggles were the expectation.

Sunday’s performance was horrendous, though. Is Jerry Montgomery, who is in his sixth season as the team’s defensive line coach, capable of creating a winning unit?

3. Here’s What’s MIA

With the 2022 season on the line in Week 18 against the Detroit Lions, the Packers wilted on their home turf. Detroit’s final two drives went 13 plays for 70 yards and the decisive touchdown and eight plays for 48 yards to run out the final 3 1/2 minutes. Green Bay’s final two drives gained 29 yards and resulted in a punt and an interception.

With a chance to start the 2023 season with a second consecutive win, the Packers were crushed in the fourth quarter to the tune of 166-11 in total yards, 119-0 in passing yards and 7-0 in first downs.

Where is the heart and toughness? Where is that cold-blooded-killer mentality?

Coach Matt LaFleur is a terrific tactician and play-caller. With an offense that has been hit hard by injuries, he’s put Jordan Love in position to lead the NFL in passer rating with six touchdowns vs. zero interceptions through two games.

But where was that killer instinct on the second-to-last drive, when he called three consecutive runs to the stumbling Dillon? LaFleur decided to give Joe Barry a third year as defensive coordinator; where was the enough’s-enough mindset from that side of the ball?

From 2020 through the start of 2023, the Packers are 35-17. That’s excellent. In games decided by seven points or less, however, they’re only 12-11. Most NFL games are close; playoff games almost always are close.

The Packers lacked the mental toughness to beat the Falcons. They better find some in a hurry.

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