With a mix of penalties, offensive ineptitude and untimely defensive breakdowns, the Green Bay Packers stumbled into another loss on Sunday, falling 23-21 to the Washington Commanders at FedEx Field.
The Packers are now 3-4 after seven games and approaching the very real possibility of losing four straight games when Matt LaFleur’s team goes to Buffalo to play the Bills this week.
First, here’s the good, the bad and the ugly coming out of the Packers’ third-consecutive defeat:
The Good
A look into the future along the offensive line. Considering the long-term availability of David Bakhtiari looks bleaker and bleaker, it’s possible Sunday’s configuration of the offensive line was a preview of what the starting five could look like for many games into the future, both this year and to start 2023. Rookie Zach Tom started at left tackle next to Elgton Jenkins, Josh Myers played center, and Jon Runyan and Yosh Nijman handled the right side. It was never perfect, but it also wasn’t a complete disaster. The Packers need to figure out the long-term positions of both Tom and Jenkins, the two chess pieces up front, but having them both on the left side makes sense. Tom moves like a left tackle; Jenkins’ best position is at guard. On Sunday, Aaron Rodgers wasn’t sacked and took just one quarterback hit.
The Bad
Second-half defense. Washington opened the second half with three consecutive scoring drives – helping create a two-score lead – and then converted a huge third down on the final drive to bleed most of the remaining clock. The Packers defense, despite a strong first half, once again wilted over the final 30 minutes. The offense is talent deficient. The defense? It’s filled with first-rounders. Jaire Alexander allowed three huge plays to Terry McLaurin, including the late conversion, and the Commanders rushed for 166 yards. The Packers have allowed 23 or more points in four consecutive games against these quarterbacks: Bailey Zappe, Daniel Jones, Zach Wilson and Taylor Heinicke. Ouch. The Packers defense provides dominant stretches, but it’s been a big disappointment through seven games.
The Ugly
Decrepit offense. The quarterback is 38 years old, playing with a bum thumb and hasn’t played well all season, and everything around him looks broken in one way or another. The Packers offense shoots its foot completely off every single week, and Sunday was no exception. In fact, it was the perfect encapsulation of the season so far. Penalties. Drops. Mental errors. Bad throws. Missed reads. Poor blocks. It was all there. On seven third or fourth downs, receivers dropped four passes. And it wasn’t just the receivers; the Packers need Aaron Rodgers to be superhuman but he’s looked perfectly mortal. This thing has felt “close” for a few weeks, but it’s also fair to wonder if it’s just broken altogether, and the Packers simply have too many holes on offense to get it patched up in time. An aging quarterback surrounded by execution errors everywhere has turned out to be an excellent way to create a god-awful offense.
