The Green Bay Packers lost a fourth-straight game and dropped to 3-5 after losing 27-17 to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night.
Matt LaFleur’s team fell behind by scores of 14-0 and 24-7 in the first half and didn’t have enough on offense to come back over the final 30 minutes against one of the NFL’s best teams.
Here’s the good, the bad and the ugly coming out of Sunday night’s loss in Buffalo:
The Good
The run game. Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon turned 30 carries into 197 rushing yards, and both running backs had a run of at least 25 yards. Per Next Gen Stats, 189 of the team’s 208 rushing yards came against light boxes, so the Packers consistently took advantage of the Bills playing two-deep safeties. Running the ball effectively helped the Packers out-gain the Bills and win the time of possession battle, but Buffalo looked content giving up yards in the run game, especially after going up big early. But there’s no denying how good Jones and Dillon looked as runners on Sunday night. Jones is a gliding runner with excellent contact balance; Dillon ran hard and consistently picked up extra yards after contact. This was the dynamic duo at its very best.
The Bad
Fourth down. The Packers lost by 10 points, but twice the offense was stopped on fourth down in Bills territory. On 4th-and-3 from Buffalo’s 38-yard line to open the game, immediate pressure killed the play and Aaron Rodgers threw incomplete. On 4th-and-1 from Buffalo’s 26-yard line to start the fourth quarter, the Bills ran Cover-0 and blew up the run play. We’re probably talking about a much different game if the Packers convert either (or both) fourth-down opportunities. The aggressiveness in each situation was the right call. Once again, the execution from all 11 players in a big spot was lacking.
The Ugly
First half defense. Once again, the Packers were capable of only playing one good half of defense, but it came in the second half with the game already in shambles. Over the first 30 minutes, the Bills put up 24 points and scored on four straight possessions, including a stretch with three straight touchdowns. Counting the first drive of the second half, the Bills gained at least 50 yards and scored on five straight possessions. The Packers gave up explosive plays in both the run and pass game and struggled to tackle, and Josh Allen consistently made the defense pay by using his legs to escape initial pressure. Sunday night was a big opportunity for the Packers defense to step up to the challenge and prove it can be an elite group against one of the NFL’s best. Consider the performance, especially in the first half, another big failure.
