The Green Bay Packers were far too sloppy on offense — featuring drops, penalties and a game-changing interception — and not disruptive enough on defense to beat the Detroit Lions at a rain-soaked Lambeau Field on Sunday.
The loss dropped the Packers to 6-3 entering the bye week.
By overall grade at Pro Football Focus, Sunday’s performance was the Packers’ third worst of the season.
Based on grades from Pro Football Focus, here are the best and worst players from the Packers’ Week 9 loss to the Lions:
Top 5 offense
1. TE Ben Sims: 83.2
2. RB Emanuel Wilson: 77.3
3. WR Jayden Reed: 77.3
4. LT Rasheed Walker: 73.3
5. RT Zach Tom: 73.3
Sims graded out highly as a run-blocker over 12 snaps. One of his best blocks helped create Josh Jacobs’ 37-yard run in the first half. Wilson forced two missed tackles, had a run over 10 yards, scored a touchdown and earned a solid grade as a pass-blocker. Reed caught five of six targets and produced 113 yards on 30 routes run. He had three catches over 25 yards, including a contested catch on fourth down. Walker allowed only one hurry over 38 pass-blocking snaps and earned an elite pass-blocking grade. Tom allowed two pressures and had a false start but was solid as both a pass-blocker and run-blocker.
Top 5 defense
1. LB Isaiah McDuffie: 89.5
2. DE Preston Smith: 72.7
3. S Javon Bullard: 71.3
4. CB Carrington Valentine: 67.2
5. S Xavier McKinney: 65.7
McDuffie was far and away the team’s highest graded player against the run. Smith had a run stop and was in coverage on an incompletion. Bullard missed a tackle but was effective both against the run and in coverage (didn’t give up a catch). Valentine missed a tackle but allowed just a single catch across 15 coverage snaps. McKinney tackled well and didn’t give up a catch.
Bottom 5 offense
1. WR Dontayvion Wicks: 40.6
2. WR Romeo Doubs: 43.5
3. RG Sean Rhyan: 51.5
4. RB Chris Brooks: 53.6
5. C Elgton Jenkins: 56.5
Wicks dropped two passes, including one in the end zone, and finished with zero catches and zero yards on 18 routes run. Doubs had a drop and a false start, and he produced only 28 receiving yards on 32 routes run. Rhyan gave up two hurries, struggled in the run game and had a false start on third down. Brooks dropped a pass on third down but did have a 9-yard run in the red zone and graded out well as a pass-blocker. Jenkins didn’t allow a pressure but had several poor snaps and graded out as a poor run-blocker at center.
Bottom 5 defense
1. DL Karl Brooks: 32.8
2. LB Eric Wilson: 38.6
3. DL Kenny Clark: 39.7
4. LB Quay Walker: 50.4
5. DE Lukas Van Ness: 51.5
Brooks didn’t have a pressure over six pass-rushing snaps and graded out poorly against the run. Wilson missed a tackle, gave up three catches into his coverage and struggled against the run. Clark didn’t have a pressure on 14 pass-rushing snaps and wasn’t effective against the run. Walker tackled well but struggled against the run and gave up six catches in coverage. Van Ness had a hurry and a run stop but missed a tackle across 24 snaps.
Special teams
Ty’Ron Hopper and Xavier McKinney had tackles covering kickoffs. Bo Melton missed a tackle, while Kamal Hadden had a holding penalty blocking on a punt return. Keisean Nixon was also penalized for unnecesary roughness. Brandon McManus missed a 46-yard field goal. Both of Daniel Whelan’s punts ended up inside the 20-yard line — his net average was 42.0.
Quarterback play
Jordan Love: 68.3
Love completed 17 of 25 passes for 215 yards and one big-time throw from clean pockets, but he struggled under pressure and when blitzed. His adjusted completion percentage was 80.0 when factoring in five drops and two throwaways. Love wasn’t sacked. He completed three passes thrown over 20 yards and was 3-of-4 passing for 52 yards in the intermediate (10-19-yard range). He was dinged severely for throwing a pick-six under pressure and a few mishandled snaps.
Stat to know
The Packers dropped five passes by PFF’s count: two from Dontayvion Wicks, one from Chris Brooks, one from Romeo Doubs and one from Tucker Kraft. Four of the five came on third down.
Jordan Morgan’s first career start
The Packers’ first-round pick started his first career game. He played 65 snaps at left guard. The results were mixed. He delivered a few nice blocks in the run game but was inconsistent, and he allowed four total pressures — including a quarterback hit that led to Jordan Love’s pick-six. Morgan was also flagged for holding. His final grade was 62.6.
