Good afternoon, everyone. On Sunday at Lambeau Field, the Green Bay Packers hosted the New York Jets. Entering this contest, the Packers were looking to bounce back after an embarrassing loss in London to the Giants in week 5. What happened instead was a beat down in front of the home crowd. Let’s jump right in and find out what occurred at Lambeau.
The first three drives for both teams ended with a punt, with 4 of those drives being three and outs. With 2:22 left in the first quarter, the Packers drove down the field from their own 27 yard line for a potential score. On third and 7 from the Green Bay 30, Aaron Rodgers connected with Allen Lazard for a 35-yard pass completion that got the Packers into Jets territory. After that though, the Packers only gained 6 more yards before they settled for a field goal. The kick was allowed to be blocked by the Jets, giving the Packers no points. The Packers then responded with forcing the Jets to a three and out and blocking their ensuing punt to give the Packers great field position at the NYJ 36. However, the Packers did nothing as there was a holding penalty on the first play (which nullified a great run by Aaron Jones) and a sack of Aaron Rodgers on third and 9 from the 35. At least the punt by Pat O’Donnell went to the 8 yard line before going out of bounds. After another three and out by the Jets offense, the Packers got the ball back at their own 24 yard line. Disaster struck 3 plays later when there was a muffed handoff exchange that was recovered by the Jets defense. The Jets were able to take advantage of this turnover with a field goal to go up 3-0 with 5:46 left in the second quarter. The Packers tried to respond with a touchdown on their next drive, which included a great sideline catch by Robert Tonyan. Unfortunately, they turned the ball over on downs when Aaron Rodgers threw incomplete to Romeo Doubs on fourth and 3 from the Jets 46. The Jets nearly added onto their lead with another field goal, but Greg Zuerlein missed it from 53 yards out with 31 seconds left. That was enough time for the Packers to go down the field and score some points as time expired in the first half. With Mason Crosby’s 29-yard field goal, the game was tied 3-3 at halftime.
After each team’s first drive of the third quarter ended in a punt, the Jets took over from their own 26 yard line. They only needed 4 plays to get to the end zone. After Breece Hall ran for 2 yards on the first play, quarterback Zack Wilson connected twice to WR Corey Davis for a total of 52 yards (11 on the first play, 41 on the second play). After the deep completion, Braxton Berrios ran it in from 20 yards out, giving the Jets a 10-3 lead. Things got even more disastrous for the Packers when Pat O’Donnell’s next punt was blocked and returned for a touchdown, which gave the Jets a 17-3 lead with 5:43 left in the third quarter. The Packers offense was finally able to score a touchdown on their next drive, partly thanks to a couple of penalties on New York that gave them free first downs. The drive concluded with a 25-yard scoring strike from Aaron Rodgers to Allen Lazard that (with the extra point) cut the lead to 17-10 with 2:35 left in the third quarter. The defense was unable to keep the Jets from increasing their lead back to 14 as they let Breece Hall score from 34 yards away. With 14:52 left in the fourth quarter, the Packers went on a 12-play drive that was meticulous. Little by little, the Packers were making their way down the field as they were trying to answer with another score. However, due to some penalties and an incomplete pass intended for Robert Tonyan, the Packers once again turned it over on downs. From their own 42 yard line, the Jets went on a 13-play drive that pretty much sealed the game by burning out nearly 7 minutes off the game clock. The Jets scored three more points with 2:34 left in the game to make it a three possession game. After another turnover on downs (with Jordan Love under center), the game was over with the Jets winning 27-10. With this embarrassing loss at Lambeau Field, the Packers are now 3-3 on the season. This is the first time under Matt LaFleur that the Packers have lost two regular season games in a row.
(Here are the "lowlights" of the game, provided by the NFL's YouTube page. Click on the "Watch on YouTube" link.)
On offense, the Packers did not play well at all. Once again, Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon combined for 19 total carries (10 for Dillon, 9 for Jones). They only combined for 60 rushing yards on the day. Aaron Rodgers looked off again, missing some deep shots either due to overthrows or deflections by the Jets defense (kudos to rookie CB Sauce Gardner). It didn’t help that the receivers dropped a few passes on Sunday. Even worse was that Randall Cobb suffered an ankle injury and was carted off during the game. Hopefully Cobb recovers well soon. Robert Tonyan led the pass catchers with 10 receptions for 90 yards, while Allen Lazard caught 4 passes for 76 yards and Green Bay’s only touchdown. As for the offensive line, they didn’t play particularly well. Aaron Rodgers was sacked 4 times, including twice by Quinnen Williams. Elgton Jenkins was called for a couple of holding penalties, including one that negated a great run by Aaron Jones. Jenkins needs to be moved to left guard to better protect Rodgers’ blind side. Royce Newman needs to get replaced ASAP, but not with Jake Hanson (Zach Tom, please). Matt LaFleur needs to quit talking about how Aaron Jones needs to get more touches and just do it! Rodgers played with a thumb issue (plus he was under pressure for much of the game) and Jones is the best player on the Packers offense. This team needs to be more focused on Jones and Dillon and less on hero balls when there’s even a bit of adversity. Hopefully Rodgers and LaFleur agree on this and fast (with no turnovers).
On defense, there were plenty of good moments. They forced the Jets to numerous three and outs in the first half. Jaire Alexander played well and nearly picked off a pass from Zach Wilson. After a while though, they were tired and gave up three scoring drives (2 touchdowns and a field goal) in the second half. Breece Hall was able to run past them for 116 yards and a touchdown on 20 rushing attempts. What was embarrassing was that Hall did a Lambeau Leap after his touchdown. Everyone involved with the defense, from the players to the coaches, need to play better and not struggle against anyone. Some players, including De’Vondre Campbell, need to tackle better. The run defense needs to get much better from here on out. The pass rush needs to get home more and sack the quarterback more than just twice. Will they respond in the coming weeks and play with heart? We’ll have to wait and see. On Special Teams, the Packers did not play as good as in previous games. They allowed both a field goal and a punt to get blocked (the latter was returned for a touchdown). Amari Rodgers was back on punt returns, but he didn’t run well at all. Other than that blocked field goal, Mason Crosby made both of his kicks (a field goal as time expired in the first half and an extra point after Allen Lazard’s TD catch). Pat O’Donnell had a couple of punts that went inside the Jets 20 yard line, with one of them going to the 8 yard line. It’s crazy to believe that the Special Teams unit needs played the most well, despite some blunders. All three facets of the game need to compliment each other from now on.
Overall, this loss was embarrassing for the Packers. To get smacked around like that in front of their home fans while wearing the all-green throwback uniforms was tough to see for everyone. At this point, the Packers need to not panic. What they need to do is to play with more heart, passion, and enthusiasm than that pathetic showing on Sunday. Next week for the Packers is a road trip to somewhere near Washington D.C. to take on the Commanders. Until then, I hope the Packers learn to adjust in-game and get determined to play with heart for the rest of the season. Have a good week, everyone. Go Pack Go.
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