The Green Bay Packers wore their 1950s throwback jerseys on Sunday in their game against the New York Jets, and in homage to the attire, they looked like a team from that troubled era. Despite a poor showing on offense in the first half, Green Bay still found themselves with a tie game at intermission. You would expect the Packers’ offense to come out of the locker room with an adjusted game plan. Nope. They struggled again, with Rodgers having a hard time getting on the same page as his receivers.
A blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown salted the wound. A brief flash of resilience from the Packers‘ offense didn’t help much, and New York cruised to victory, 27-10.
Here are five numbers that tell the story of the Packers’ loss.
5
Quinnen Williams was a nightmare for Green Bay’s interior offensive line, recording five pressures. Before the game, I highlighted Williams as one of New York’s keys to victory, citing his ability to get pressure through the interior. Williams showed out against the Packers, recording two sacks and three run stops.
It’s no secret that the Packers’ offensive line is weakest in the interior, and the Jets used that to their advantage. Specifically, they targeted Royce Newman throughout the game through their use of stunts specifically designed to isolate him against the best rusher. Newman surrendered six pressures on 44 pass-blocking snaps and was involved in multiple instances of miscommunication.
Rodgers certainly wasn’t at his best this week, but the offensive line did him no favors in their feeble efforts to stop the Jets’ pass rush.
8
Jets’ rookie corner Sauce Gardner also had an outstanding game, allowing just eight yards. He was incredible in coverage, smothering whoever was foolish enough to challenge him.
Rodgers targeted Gardner, as he often does with rookie corners, throwing the ball his way a whopping six times. But unlike most rookie CBs, Gardner didn’t back down, only allowing one completion. It looked like Gardner had recorded a pick-six off a ball that ricocheted off Robert Tonyan‘s hands, although the call was eventually overturned.
To put an exclamation point on what had already been an incredible day, Garnder left the field parading around in a foam cheese head until Allen Lazard eventually knocked it off of him. That might have been the most effective any Packers receiver had been on Gardner all day.
5/34
The Packers’ wide receivers didn’t have the best afternoon either, dropping five of 34 catchable passes. Coming into the season, Packers fans knew this would be a problem. Rodgers had already berated the Packers’ young wideout room in joint practices about needing to keep keep a grip on his passes.
The loss of Davante Adams has reverberated through the entire offense and forced them to shift their style. Adams is most missed because of his soft hands. He may have had a high drop percentage (12.5%) as a rookie, but he had time to gel with Rodgers. Green Bay’s current rookies have been afforded little time and have been thrust into a win-now situation.
157
With Green Bay’s addition of Quay Walker alongside De’Vondre Campbell at inside linebacker, most people assumed the defense would be excellent against the run. Instead, they have left a lot to be desired. The Jets’ duo of Breece Hall and Michael Carter ran for a combined 157 yards on Sunday.
Hall carried the ball 20 times for 116 yards, averaging 5.8 yards per carry. He was key in the Jets’ ability to chew up the clock in the second half. Carter only carried the ball six times, but he was very efficient, averaging 6.8 yards per attempt.
Green Bay’s sputtering run defense allowed the Jets to have long, sustained drives. New York methodically moved the ball and kept their defense fresh on the sideline. The success of the run game also made quarterback Zach Wilson’s job much easier. He was 10/18 for 110 yards.
4,305
The Packers only scored 10 points at Lambeau Field this Sunday, the fewest for Aaron Rodgers in a regular-season game since Week 17 of the 2011 season.
That was 4,305 days ago.
Some of the criticisms over just how poorly the Packers played this week have seemed over the top. But they’re more justified when you put it into context. For most of this season, the offense has struggled. Whenever they do manage to conjure up the Rodgers offense of yesteryear (or last year), it disappears by the the next half.
You can blame this on the offensive line, management, or draft strategies. Ultimately, the blame should fall squarely on one man’s shoulders. For the past two seasons, Rodgers and his will-he-or-won’t-he saga wore heavy on the minds of fans and even his teammates.
Despite the front office offering a potentially more lucrative deal, Davante Adams left for Las Vegas in part because he didn’t know how long Rodgers would stay with the Packers. It is clear that this had a factor in the best wide receiver Rodgers has maybe ever had wanting out of Green Bay. As a result, he’s left on the island of misfit toys.
The Packers can still find ways to add pieces to this roster, but none of them can ever fill the hole Adams left. Adams left Green Bay in part due to Rodgers, and that decision may have closed the Packers’ championship window as they slide two games back from the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC North.
