Few issues were due to Love
Dropped passes, missed blocks, penalties add up
GREEN BAY – Rasul Douglas sat at his locker, still wearing his game pants and undershirt, in no hurry to start his Sunday night.
He was lost in conversation with Green Bay Packers safety Darnell Savage, who was wearing jeans and sneakers, backpack strapped to his shoulders. Savage didn't play Sunday afternoon against the Minnesota Vikings, his first game of four he'll miss on injured reserve, but Douglas' postgame shower could wait. He wanted to hear his veteran teammates' perspective.
A few minutes passed. Savage stepped out the back door, exiting toward the players parking lot. Douglas stayed at his locker. The Packers are desperately trying to salvage their season after another loss, their fourth straight, this one 24-10 to a Vikings team that didn't have top receiver Justin Jefferson. It feels like a lost cause at this point, like contention in 2023 is already in the rearview, but the postgame conversations haven't stopped.
Undrafted rookie Malik Heath stopped at Douglas' locker after Savage. Next, fellow rookie receiver Dontayvion Wicks wandered over. Then Elgton Jenkins.
“I might just stay here for a little while,” Douglas said.
There are so many problems plaguing the Packers seven games into their season, so many mistakes happening on so many plays, it's hard to find the answers. The best Douglas could explain it, it's like the Packers have 20 separate issues combining into one unmistakable result: bad football.
What's most puzzling, so few of the issues revolve around first-year starting quarterback Jordan Love. That's the crux of this season at this point, more than any one particular game, the winning or inevitable losing. By January, the Packers would like to know the right path forward with the most important position on the field. As the calendar turns to November, the calamities around Love are making that difficult.
Take Sunday's opening drive. The Packers had a third-and-1 at their 28-yard line, and a run-pass option was sent into the huddle. A Vikings pass rusher broke through the offensive line off the snap,
Minnesota Vikings defensive tackle Harrison Phillips celebrates sacking Packers quarterback Jordan Love on Sunday.
wrapping two arms around Love. It was a sure sack, until Love broke free. The young quarterback kept his composure on a busted play, dropping a dime to Romeo Doubs down the right sideline for what would have been 20 yards.
Except back at the line of scrimmage, left tackle Rasheed Walker was run blocking, because that’s what offensive linemen do on a run-pass option. By the time Love released his pass, Walker was too far downfield. Instead of a highlight-reel conversion, the Packers got a 5-yard penalty.
“It’s an RPO,” right tackle Zach Tom said, “so linemen are going to be downfield. And it’s extended. That’s going to happen. Yeah, it hurts, but I wouldn’t say that’s something we need to work on because it’s such a nuanced type of play.”
On the next snap, the Vikings jumped offside. Love tried to connect with rookie Jayden Reed deep downfield, taking advantage of a free play, but overshot his open receiver. The Packers still got 5 yards from the Vikings penalty. Another thirdand-1.
Love handed off to big tailback AJ Dillon, but Vikings defensive tackle Harrison Phillips was unblocked. Phillips stuffed Dillon for no gain, and the Packers were forced to punt.
“That play was a miscommunication,” Tom said. “That’s the type of (expletive) we’re talking about. It’s just stuff like that, you’ve got to be on it. That should have been an easy first down, but the nose guard came unblocked because it was a miscommunication. It’s a TFL, and we’re off the field.”
In that sequence, Love missed an open receiver on a free play, but also broke a sack for a 20-yard conversion on third down. It just didn’t count because of a penalty. Love didn’t miss the block on Phillips. The Packers offense punted anyway.
There were plenty of examples throughout Sunday’s loss of mistakes that had nothing to do with quarterback play.
Right guard Jon Runyan was called for a holding penalty in the second quarter, wiping out a 5-yard run for Aaron Jones on second-and-6. Eventually, the Packers faced third-and-16, and Love scrambled
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for 7 yards. Another punt.
In the fourth quarter, left tackle Yosh Nijman was penalized for a face mask penalty. Love was sacked anyway, so the Vikings declined. The Packers, trailing by two touchdowns, needed to somehow find their way into the end zone. Two plays later, on fourth-and-16, Love scrambled up the middle for 15 yards. He needed 1 more.
The Packers defense has been crisper through their losing streak, perhaps a byproduct of more experience. It’s still struggling to generate game-changing takeaways. Outside linebacker Preston Smith had a strip sack in the fourth quarter against Vikings backup quarterback Jaren Hall, and defensive lineman Devonte Wyatt recovered. By then, the Packers were in full-fledged catchup mode.
In the first quarter, Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins – who left the game with an apparent torn Achilles – threw a pass directly to Quay Walker. Cousins’ pass hit Walker’s hands, an easy interception, but the Packers linebacker couldn’t catch it. A takeaway would have given the Packers a short field in a game still knotted at 0.
“I’ve got to come down with that,” Walker said. “If I want to be a captain of this defense, this team, an elite guy that I consider myself to be, I’ve got to come down with that play. At the end of the day, it touched my hands. It’s a play I need to come down with.”
Walker spoke to his teammates after the game, essentially apologizing for dropping the interception. Douglas stopped him in his tracks. The reality is, just about everyone up and down the Packers roster left a play on the field, if not Sunday afternoon, certainly in the past four games.
“If we had 11 of him,” Douglas said of Walker, “we’d probably be 7-0 right now.”
Wicks caught two passes for 28 yards as the rookie continues to see his role in the offense increase, the second a 17-yard gain on first-and-15. (False-start penalty, Rasheed Walker.) Wicks also dropped a pass on an open slant near the goal line, which would have put the Packers on the doorstep of a touchdown to pull within one possession in the fourth quarter.
Christian Watson had two targets in the end zone in the fourth quarter. The first came on a fade route on third-and-16 with 5 minutes left. Love’s pass was on the money, but cornerback Akayleb Evans subtly prevented Watson from lifting his right hand for the football. By the time Watson recovered, it was too late to make the catch.
On the second, Watson was double covered as Love launched from the 34yard line. Watson turned before either Vikings defender, giving himself a good track on the football, but it bounced off his hands after he leaped into the air.
“It was a must-have at that point in the game,” Watson said. “So just got to find a way to make them.”
The Packers are letting too many “must-haves” slip through their fingers. The issues around Love don’t absolve him. On third-and-8 in the third quarter, Reed ran behind the Vikings secondary. Love’s pass was underthrown, forcing the rookie to turn for the football, where Vikings safety Josh Metellus was waiting. Metellus intercepted Love and headed 43 yards the other way, setting up a Vikings touchdown one play later.
The pick was a blemish on Love’s final line. He completed 24-of-41 passes for 229 yards, one touchdown to Doubs, the interception and a 72.1 passer rating. What his final line doesn’t show are the mistakes surrounding him, issues that could cloud his final evaluation this season if they continue. An MVP-caliber quarterback − OK, an Aaron Rodgers in his prime − can mask the mistakes around him.
It’s hard to expect the same from a quarterback in his first season as an NFL starter.
“There’s going to be a couple plays you want back,” coach Matt LaFleur said, “but also we’ve got to make some plays for him, too. I think we had like six dropped balls. That’s going to be tough to overcome. We’ve got to catch it. We’ve got to throw it better, we’ve got to catch it better, we’ve got to block better. We’ve got to stop having penalties that knock us back and put us in these obvious pass situations. We’ve got to find a way to convert a third down early in the game so you can run your offense. We’re running 2-minute offense half the game, so what you work on all week and what you plan for, you can’t even get into your normal rhythm because you’re not moving the chains.
“That’s what’s disappointing. You put all this time and effort into something, you come up with a plan, and you don’t even come up with a chance to execute it.”