Monday Six-Pack: Jordan Love Gets Lame Ball in Packers’ Loss to Raiders
The Green Bay Packers simply aren't going to make anything easy on themselves in 2023.
Their struggles in the first half offensively continued with another abysmal showing. Their wide receivers had two catches for 13 yards in the first 30 minutes while the unit converted just one third-down opportunity.
The defense was mostly solid but still does things that make you scratch your head. Covering Davante Adams with Preston Smith, if even for one snap, is enough to scratch your head until all your hair falls out.
Combine all of that with playing a bad Raiders team, and you get a game that looks a lot like the Packers’ 17-13 loss on Monday Night Football.
Monday's game looked like a battle between two teams that are not contenders to do anything serious in 2023.
At best, the Packers are aggressively mediocre. At worst, they're a bad team with an uncertain future.
There's plenty of time left in the season to determine what that future looks like, but those are problems Matt LaFleur and his coaching staff need to solve during the bye week.
Here is more on that and six thoughts coming out of Monday's game.
Game Ball: Rudy Ford
Rudy Ford was beaten for a touchdown early in the game, which is the nature of playing defensive back in the NFL.
The second half started with the Packers trailing 10-3 and the Raiders having the ball with a chance to go up two scores.
Ford ensured that would not happen.
Jimmy Garoppolo rolled to his left before trying to hit Jakobi Meyers down the field. Ford stepped in front of Garoppolo's pass and picked it off to set up the Packers' offense with good field position.
Ford's interception is his second in as many weeks. He has half of the team’s total of four.
Starting safety Darnell Savage missed most of the second half with a calf injury. If it’s significant, the Packers would have to rely on Ford to provide a steady presence next to Jonathan Owens or whoever would replace Savage in the lineup.
Ford finished the game with an interception and five solo tackles in a solid overall performance that gets him the game ball.
Lame Ball: Jordan Love
Quarterbacks are paid to win games in the NFL. Fair or not, that’s the reality.
LaFleur has said the top job of a quarterback is to take care of the football. Jordan Love has not done that in the Packers’ last three games. Not coincidentally, the Packers are 1-2 in those games.
They're probably lucky to not be 0-3 given how the way this team has played for the majority of those games.
Love threw three interceptions against the Raiders, including one that sealed the fate for the Packers, who fell to 2-3.
The Packers have a lot invested in Love. They'll need a lot better than what they've seen in the first five games to believe he's the quarterback of the future.
Jordan Love throws the game-ending interception.
Photo by Stephen R. Sylvanie/USA Today Sports Images
Play of the Game: Christian Watson for 77
The Packers were knotted up with the Raiders at 10 apiece when they got the ball for the second time in the third quarter.
Their first drive of the period, coming after Ford’s interception, featured running back AJ Dillon. Getting the ball six times in eight plays, Dillon’s 5-yard touchdown run tied the game.
Their second drive? They had the Raiders thinking about their run game.
Love saw a safety drop into the box as he took the snap. He rolled to his left and flipped his hips to find a wide-open Christian Watson.
Watson raced inside the 10, totaling 77 yards on the play. Had Raiders cornerback Marcus Peters not been flagged for a horse-collar tackle, it's possible Watson would have scored.
The penalty was worth it for the Raiders, as some uninspired play-calling inside the red zone netted the Packers only three points.
Pivot Point
The Packers trailed 17-13, when they started to put together a drive that saw them cross into Raiders' territory.
Jordan Love completed a pass with a short pass to Patrick Taylor getting them a first down.
Love would throw incomplete two more times before making his third blunder of the night.
Love rolled to his left and tried to throw a touchdown pass to Christian Watson that could have won the game.
It was a difficult throw, but the pass was badly underthrown, making for an easy interception for Amik Robertson.
After not turning the ball over in the first two games, Love has turned into a pumpkin in that regard.
He has six turnovers in his last three games.
Whether they're all his fault or not can be questioned. What cannot be debated is the Packers have to take better care of the ball, and that starts with their quarterback.
No Shadow Time
Monday night's game was billed to be a matchup of two of the game's premier players at premium positions.
Jaire Alexander said earlier in the week he couldn't miss Monday's game because it was a chance to compete against the best.
He didn't really get the opportunity. Alexander lined up across from Adams on each of the first two plays from scrimmage when Adams lined up on the offense's right side.
As soon as Adams moved to the left, Rasul Douglas was standing there waiting for him.
The Packers limited Adams to just one catch in the first half, but it's a pretty clear sign that the Packers will not have Alexander shadowing an opposing team's best receiver.
Monday night was no different. The Packers have a litany of issues right now, but not allowing their premier players to face off against opposing premier players is puzzling, to say the least.
Offensive Woes
Green Bay's offense is going to take time to find a rhythm.
If you've heard that once at this point, you've heard it a million times.
It's true. The offense is young. They were young by design. Brian Gutekunst and company chose to not add a veteran receiver or tight end this offseason.
That gave way for a historic youth movement.
That has caused some struggles.
Green Bay has not scored more than 20 points since the second week of the season.
They've struggled mightily in the first half. They've only scored six points in the last three games in the opening half.
They've struggled to run the ball. They've struggled recently when trying to travel through the air.
Yes, they've missed Aaron Jones, but that does not excuse the performance of an offense that still has explosive players even with Jones out of the lineup.
The offense has to find an identity. Their bye week is up next, which would be a good time to search for one.
The Raiders only scored 17 points. The defense did its job. The offense did not do theirs, and they have not for the last three weeks.
Next up for Green Bay is a Denver defense that gave up 70 points to the Miami Dolphins. They just allowed 31 to a Jets offense led by Zach Wilson.
If they cannot find some stability on offense against that defense, it may not happen at all in 2023.
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