The Green Bay Packers have a quirky schedule right now that has them playing only one game over a 23-day span. Turns out, that was one too many games to have to watch. Playing in a city that never sleeps, Green Bay’s offense sleepwalked through yet another first half and couldn’t do any damage against a bottom-tiered defense playing without half of its secondary.
It’s been a rough couple of weeks for Jordan Love, whose ball security and decision-making have taken a sharp turn after a pristine opening three weeks. We know there will be growing pains for a quarterback in his first season as a starter. And unlike many, I refuse to make any grand pronouncements about his right to the throne until after next season.
He gets a two-year audition to apply for the position, and he will need a little help from his friends, like his head coach, whose play calling did him no favors on Monday night. Matt LaFleur called this game as if he was playing the San Francisco 49ers, not the Las Vegas Raiders’ 23rd-ranked defense.
LaFleur did his best to establish the running game, and AJ Dillon ran harder and more successfully than he had all season. Still, the passing game has no rhythm. Love is either chucking it downfield or checking it down. Romeo Doubs and Jayden Reed were merely rumors in this game, and Vegas matched them up with guys they had just called up from the practice squad.
And that young receiving corps did Love no favors the few times he targeted them. Christian Watson, Luke Musgrave, and Doubs all had drops that could have changed the game’s outcome. Again, growing pains. Despite getting their starters back, Maxx Crosby and Co. manhandled Green Bay’s offensive line – just a failure across the board.
Green Bay’s offense has no identity right now. Going into the season, Aaron Jones figured to be the centerpiece. But as you know, he hasn’t been in uniform since the opener. The game plan was to feature him heavily in this game. However, they scrapped that when his hamstring acted up on Saturday, and the team had to hold him out again.
Ultimately, the defense played pretty well. They held the Raiders to a field goal following Love’s worst pass of the year, the gift-wrapped interception to linebacker Robert Spillane that set the Raiders up with first-and-goal. Despite losing Quay Walker and Darnell Savage to injuries in the first half, the defense kept the Packers in the game.
They did it despite Joe Barry leading them, who gives us reason to question his continued employment every week. I mean, when you see Preston Smith lined up against Davante Adams with Vegas in the red zone, don’t you check out of that formation? At the very least, you call a timeout. What you don’t do is allow Jimmy Garoppolo and Adams to say ‘thank you very much’ and complete the easiest 21-yard connection in NFL history.
Heading into this matchup, I called it a crossroads game for the Packers. I thought the season could be headed in one of two directions, depending on their performance and the outcome. They had 11 days to prepare for the hapless Raiders and weren’t up to the challenge. Now they have another 13 days to get ready to hit the road to play the Denver Broncos, another of the league’s have-nots.
We’ll hear all the usual clichés: We have to do a better job coaching and putting the players in a position to succeed, a time for self-scouting, a chance to recharge the batteries, an opportunity to heal up, blah blah blah.
The reality is the Packers are a young team trying to carve out an identity, with a coaching staff that occasionally doesn’t appear to have their best interests at heart. They look nothing like a team ready to compete for an NFC wildcard spot or, dare I say, an NFC North title.
Right now, they look like a team making a top-ten selection in next year’s draft.
