Report Card: Grades From Packers’ 24-22 Loss to Giants
Matt LaFleur probably said it best.
"When you're bad in all three phases, you lose the game," he said after his Green Bay Packers lost 24-22 to the New York Giants on Monday night.
The Packers turned the ball over twice on offense and once on special teams. Their defense gave up more than 200 rushing yard and allowed a third-string quarterback to complete a game-winning drive.
The Packers reached the highest of highs with a win over the defending Super Bowl champions a week ago. Now, they've hit the lowest of lows on the rollercoaster that is the 2023 season.
Our report card for this week reflects the team playing poorly in all three phases.
Pass Offense
Jordan Love was riding high after a three-game winning streak saw him throw eight touchdown passes to zero interceptions.
Love was unable to escape the turnover bug on Monday night as he threw a terrible interception and lost a fumble in the red zone, as well.
Love, to his credit, did bounce back late in the game.
A quarterback is often judged on what he does with the ball in his hands in crunch time. Love got the ball back trailing by five with just under 4 minutes to play after a fortuitous gift from Saquon Barkley.
Love would lead the Packers on a scoring drive, throwing two beautiful passes to Malik Heath. One was caught. One wasn't. Fortunately for Love and Co., either could have resulted in a touchdown.
Love's final stat line was 25-of-39 for 218 yards one touchdown and one interception. His ball placement early in the game was spotty at best, but he did settle down later in the game.
The pass offense, however, looked too much like the one that stumbled through the month of October.
Malik Heath celebrates a go-ahead touchdown
Vincent Carchietta - USA Today
Too many mistakes, and too many points were ultimately left on the field as a result.
They came into the game short-handed, and that situation could get worse as Dontayvion Wicks (ankle) and Jayden Reed (concussion protocol) left the game with injuries.
The Packers are going to need some injury luck, or they'll be even more challenged next week against Tampa Bay.
Grade: C-
Rush Offense
AJ Dillon had some nice moments, running for 53 yards on 15 carries. Patrick Taylor had a few solid carries, as well, but it was clear from the beginning how Matt LaFleur felt about his run game.
Jayden Reed had more carries than Taylor, as the Packers had to add some finesse to a run game that cannot line up and attack opposing defenses.
Overall, that plan was successful. The Packers ran for 123 yards.
They just lack the explosive element to their run game. Dillon's longest run of the night was 8 yards. Taylor's longest run was 14.
The longest rush of the game came on a reverse to Reed in which he picked up nice blocks from Josh Myers and Josiah Deguara for a gain of 20.
The Packers might get a boost with Aaron Jones potentially set for a return on Sunday against Tampa Bay. They'll need him, because the offense needs more juice from this phase of the game.
Grade: C
Pass Defense
Joe Barry is not a popular guy on the internet. If you spend more than 10 seconds scrolling Twitter, you'll figure that out pretty quickly.
Despite that, the Packers' defense had worked its way into the top-10 of scoring defense and likely were feeling good about themselves after holding Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs to 19 points last Sunday.
The pass rush, which had been heating up of late, had to be licking their chops with the Giants’ offensive line set to be their next opponent. The Giants had given up 69 sacks for the season. The Packers had six sacks in their last two games.
This felt like a mismatch that should decide the game.
Instead, the Packers' pass rush went out with a whimper. They were credited with zero sacks. They allowed DeVito to escape the pocket on too many occasions with undisciplined rushes.
Ultimately, they had a chance to salvage the night when Jordan Love found Malik Heath for a touchdown to give the team a 22-21 lead with 1:33 to play.
The pass rush could do what this defense is allegedly built to do. It could pin its ears back and attack a rookie third-string quarterback that should have been overwhelmed by the defense's alleged strength.
Instead, Tommy DeVito walked down the field with relative ease to set up a game-winning field goal as time expired.
For all the success the defense has had on the scoreboard, it’s been beaten far too often by inferior quarterbacks.
Earlier this season against the Jets, the Giants finished the game with negative net passing yards. That's almost impossible to do in the modern NFL, in which passing the ball is easier than ever.
The Packers' defense is not the Jets’ defense, but with the investment made on that side of the ball, this is the type of game that the defense should dominate.
Instead, the opposing offense played the game on their terms, which is something the Packers have allowed to happen far too many times under Barry's direction.
Grade: F
Rush Defense
The blueprint for this game should have been simple. Make Tommy DeVito beat you with his arm.
For the fourth time this season, the Packers' rush defense gave up more than 200 yards.
DeVito ran all over them in scramble drills and designed runs.
Saquon Barkley was relatively contained for most of the night but popped two big runs late in the game before his fumble gave the Packers life.
Regardless of how the Giants got there, the reality is that giving up 200 rushing yards more than once in a season is unacceptable.
The Packers have done it four times this season.
Poor run defense is the norm in Green Bay under Brian Gutekunst and Matt LaFleur.
They've changed the coordinators, they've changed the personnel, it has not mattered.
Grade: F
Special Teams
The special teams had been better in the way of penalties during the team's three-game winning streak.
That string of solid play came to an end on Monday night.
The Packers’ special teams were penalized on their first punt return of the night, when Anthony Johnson was flagged for an illegal-blindside block. They'd get hit with another personal foul when Rudy Ford was flagged for kick catch interference.
Green Bay’s penalty count on special teams is up to a league-worst 20.
The blunders weren’t limited to penalties.
Their All-Pro kick returner, Keisean Nixon, fumbled on the first punt of the second half after the defense forced a three-and-out. The Giants cashed in that crucial mistake with a touchdown to take a 14-10 lead in the third quarter.
Early in the fourth quarter, with the Packers trailing 21-13, Anders Carlson missed a 45-yard field goal.
The only positive to come out of the night was the punt team recovering an errant kick that hit Bobby McClain on the arm to put the Packers in field goal range.
The Packers came into the game near the bottom of the league in special teams DVOA. Rich Bisaccia's crew makes too many mistakes, and not nearly enough big plays to justify them.
Grade: D
Coaching
Matt LaFleur has been doing some of his best work over the Packers' three-game winning streak.
Monday was not one of his best nights.
He made an emotional challenge on a catch by Wan'Dale Robinson that cost the Packers a timeout in the first half.
After the Packers scored a go-ahead touchdown during the final moments, LaFleur made what was perhaps his biggest mistake of the night.
The Packers had gone to the well several times with sweeps to Jayden Reed.
The Packers did so again on the two-point play that would have given them a three-point lead to ensure a chance at overtime should the Giants get in position to kick a field goal.
Instead, Reed was stuffed short of the goal line, and the Packers were beaten on a walk-off field goal.
“Obviously, bad call,” LaFleur said.
Joe Barry and Rich Bisaccia do not escape criticism here, either.
Barry's bend-but-don't-break scheme allowed Tommy DeVito to march his team down the field with relative ease on the game's final possession.
Bisaccia's crew cost the team at least 10 points with Keisean Nixon's fumble and Anders Carlson’s missed field goal.
Add that to the slew of penalties that can be expected from Green Bay's special teams and you have the comedy of errors that was the Packers' appearance on Monday Night Football.
Grade: D
