Packers Lose to Jets, Season in Deep Trouble
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers have never been in this kind of trouble under coach Matt LaFleur. With a 27-10 loss to the New York Jets on Sunday, their auras of regular-season dominance have been stripped.
- Snapped: Their 15-game home winning streak, third-longest in franchise history.
- Broken: LaFleur’s incredible run without back-to-back losses in the same regular season.
- Over: Aaron Rodgers giving Green Bay the overwhelming superiority to win any game, whatever the circumstances.
As the final seconds melted away, the remaining Packers fans booed. The numerous Jets fans in the building yelled “J-E-T-S Jets! Jets! Jets!”
“That was very humbling when you’re in your own building and you get taken like that and lose by three scores,” LaFleur said. “We all got to be better, absolutely. Coach it better, got to execute better. We got to get back to work. But the reality is right now, we’re six games into this thing, we’re 3-3, there’s a lot of ball in front of us but we have to have that urgency to want to improve.”
Green Bay fell to 3-3, having been swept in back-to-back games by the New York City teams that each went 4-13 last year. The Packers lost only three games in 2019 and 2020, and they lost only three in 2021 until playing backups in the finale at Detroit.
The Packers will play at struggling Washington next week. Then comes the meat of the schedule, with games at Buffalo, home against Dallas and Tennessee, and at Philadelphia as part of the grueling five-game stretch that follow. For a team that’s always had one eye on the week at hand and another on the playoffs, this season is teetering on the brink of playing meaningless games before the calendar flips to December.
“We’re going to find out a lot about ourselves,” LaFleur said. “I believe in the guys in the locker room. I think we’re going to stick together through this.”
Then there’s the big picture. If this season is on the brink, the possibility that Rodgers will walk off into the sunset with just one Super Bowl ring, won a lifetime ago in 2010, has become a lot more real.
“We’ve got to be realistic about where we’re at,” Rodgers said. “We played a couple subpar games the last two. We’ve got to play better. But, wobbly? Only if people are breaking rank, you know?”
New York took a 10-3 lead on receiver Braxton Berrios’ 20-yard touchdown run on an end-around with 8:11 left in the third quarter. Linebacker Quay Walker went one way, Berrios ran through the void. Moments later, Rodgers was sacked, Pat O’Donnell’s punt was blocked and the Jets were celebrating a touchdown to lead 17-3.
The Packers made it a game on a touchdown pass to Allen Lazard – but only briefly. Breece Hall’s 34-yard touchdown run made it 24-10. In desperation mode on the ensuing possession, the Packers had to go for it on fourth-and-14. Kwon Alexander broke up Rodgers’ pass and that was it, with 9 minutes and 12 seconds of meaningless football left to play.
The first quarter was a disgusting display of offensive football reminiscent of a couple Big Ten West bottom-feeders. After each team had three possessions, they had combined for 37 yards on 22 plays.
Rodgers almost threw a pick-six – his awful pass in the flat to Robert Tonyan was so bad that it hit the ground before Tonyan could deflect it to Jets rookie cornerback Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner. AJ Dillon, Romeo Doubs and Juwann Winfree had drops. Winfree’s drop ruined the only promising drive and Mason Crosby’s 47-yard field goal was blocked.
The teams battled to a halftime draw, 3-3. The Jets were 0-for-7 on third down and quarterback Zach Wilson was 6-of-12 for 28 yards. Rodgers wasn’t much better but he went 5-of-5 for 46 yards on the final drive of the half to set up Crosby’s 29-yard field goal.
Game ball
In the buddy battle between coaches, New York’s Robert Saleh is leading an ascending team and Green Bay’s Matt LaFleur is guiding a team that has one foot in a hole and another foot on a banana peel. Saleh’s defense dominated the action and his offense found ways to get the ball into electric rookie running back Breece Hall. In the battle of star runners, Hall had 121 total yards and one touchdown; Aaron Jones had 44 total yards and zero touchdowns.
Questionable call
After every loss, coach Matt LaFleur laments the limited opportunities for running back Aaron Jones. Jones had four touches for 6 yards in the first half. “It’s not good enough,” LaFleur said with a tone of disgust. It’s not even the limited touches for Jones, though. It’s as if LaFleur, offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich and offensive line coach Luke Butkus had never seen a stunting defense. Aaron Rodgers took a beating as one Jets defender after another got free runs into the backfield. Said LaFleur: “Whether it was our schemes or the execution, or it could have been all of the above, it wasn’t good enough.”
Turning point
Midway through the third quarter, the Packers’ offense was booed off the field after Aaron Rodgers got buried for a third-down sack. It went from bad to worse on the next play when defensive lineman Michael Clemons blocked Pat O’Donnell’s punt and safety Will Parks picked up the loose ball and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown. Just like that, it was 17-3. Given Green Bay’s offensive dysfunction, the lead seemed like 41 instead of 14.
Key stat
The Jets recorded four sacks and nine hits on quarterback Aaron Rodgers, New York’s defensive front running roughshod through the blocking. “We feel like our D-line matching up, from an advantage standpoint, versus anybody,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said. “Whether that’s cocky or unguided confidence, whatever it is, we love our D-line. We think they’re a rolling ball of butcher knives and there’s a lot of them that can play at a high level.”
What’s next?
The Packers are off to Washington next week to face the Commanders (2-4) next Sunday. Kickoff is at noon. Washington beat Chicago 12-7 on Thursday night to snap a four-game losing streak and will have a few extra days to prepare. Safe to say this is a must-win game for the Packers.
Jets 27, Packers 10: Related Stories
Rebounding starts with leadership
Season on the brink?: Game story, game ball and more
Watch: Packers-Jets game highlights
