Snaps, Stud and Duds From Packers’ Embarrassing Loss to Falcons

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Well, so much for Jager Burton being the salvation.

The Green Bay Packers started their third left guard in as many weeks on Thursday night against the Atlanta Falcons. This time, it was rookie Jager Burton, who gave up a pressure and was flagged for a false start during the opening series. Presumably, he will be a better player after playing all 66 snaps during a 35-14 loss.

Here’s our weekly look at the snap counts, plus one stud and a few duds from an embarrassing performance.

Packers Snaps on Offense

The Packers played 66 snaps on offense.

Quarterback: Jordan Love played every snap – for some reason. Fortunately for him after a night worth of abuse, he’ll get an additional three days to rest and recover.

Of his 55 dropbacks, he was pressured on 25, according to Pro Football Focus. The official game stats counted 12 quarterback hits; PFF landed on 16. Love’s 52.8 percent completion rate against Atlanta was right in line with his NFL-worst 52.4 percent for the season. That’s bad football.

Running back: The Packers used a third-round pick on MarShawn Lloyd and waited for him through two years of injuries. With Josh Jacobs out indefinitely, Lloyd got his time to shine. Well, against the Falcons, Chris Brooks played 27 snaps (plus 15 on special teams), Kaleb Johnson played 24 and Lloyd played only 15.

Lloyd carried four times for 11 yards with a long of 6 and Johnson carried four times for 6 yards with a long of 5. That’s bad football.

Receivers: Matthew Golden led the way with 54 snaps and Christian Watson played 53. Without Jayden Reed, Skyy Moore was the prime beneficiary with 34 snaps. Bo Melton and J. Michael Sturdivant played 21 apiece.

The stats for the two standouts look nice. Watson caught seven passes for 96 yards and one touchdown. He’s scored at least once in every game and is tied for the NFL lead with four. Golden caught five passes for 100 yards and one touchdown.

Melton played another 21 on special teams.

Tight ends: Tucker Kraft played 50 snaps; it would have been more had it been worth him being on the field late in the game. It wasn’t. Jonnu Smith played 22 and Mark Redman was needed for only eight because the Packers decided not to run the ball.

The Packers gave Kraft a huge contract extension due to his dominance on the field. They’re still waiting. In his third game back from a torn ACL, he caught 4-of-8 targets for 26 yards. He had only 19 yards after the catch and dropped two passes.

Josh Whyle played 11 snaps on offense in the opener but zero against the Jets and one against the Falcons.

Offensive line: Three weeks, three offensive lines for the Packers. Left tackle Jordan Morgan, left guard Jager Burton, center Sean Rhyan and new right tackle Anthony Belton played all 66 snaps. Right guard Jacob Monkplayed the first 59 before he was injured during the final series. Donovan Jennings replaced him for the final seven snaps.

PFF charged them with a combined 28 pressures: Burton with 10, Monk with six, Morgan and Belton for five and Rhyan with two. At least there was only one penalty (Burton’s fourth-down false start; the Packers weren’t going to run a play, so it was a stupid but irrelevant penalty).

John Williams, a seventh-round pick who missed last season with a back injury, made his NFL debut with three snaps on special teams. Travis Glover didn’t play.

Packers Snaps on Defense

The Packers played 71 snaps on defense.

Defensive tackles: Karl Brooks led the way again with 43 defensive snaps. After two quality performances to start the season, it was not his best night with two missed tackles. Devonte Wyatt had four tackles in 34 snaps, Javon Hargrave returned from a concussion and had three tackles in 33 snaps, rookie Chris McClellan played 29 (one assisted tackle) and Jonathan Ford played 28 (one assisted tackle) to round out another balanced effort from a snap perspective.

Last week, that group made almost zero statistical contribution but was a huge part in lights-out run defense. On Thursday, they were pushed around against the run and did nothing against the pass (Wyatt, Hargrave and Brooks had one pressure apiece; Hargrave deflected a pass).

Edges: Coming off a big game against the Jets, Lukas Van Ness paced the unit with 49 snaps. It’s interesting to see rookie Dani Dennis-Sutton playing more snaps (39) than starter Barryn Sorrell (29). Brenton Cox played 25.

The Packers finished with zero sacks and one quarterback hit, which was the intentional-grounding penalty drawn by Van Ness. It was feeble production. Van Ness and Dennis-Sutton had one pressure apiece and Cox had the only tackle for loss.

Linebackers: Zaire Franklin went the distance. Edgerrin Cooper was limited to 54 after being checked for a concussion, so Isaiah McDuffie played 18. Ty’Ron Hopper played one. Franklin tied for the team lead with 10 tackles, and Franklin, Cooper and McDuffie had one tackle for loss apiece.

McDufffie, Hopper and Nick Niemann played a team-high 22 snaps apiece on special teams.

Cornerbacks: Keisean Nixon and rookie Brandon Cisse played all but one snap. Benjamin St-Juste played 11 snaps on special teams and Carrington Valentine didn’t play at all.

Last week, the Jets went after Nixon. This week, the Falcons went after Cisse. PFF charged him with 5-of-7 for 111 yards, with the deep completion to Drake London that set up the Falcons’ dagger touchdown providing a bulk of the damage. Nixon was charged with only one catch (but for 40 yards).

Safeties: Xavier McKinney and Evan Williams played all 71 snaps against the Falcons and all 210 through three games. Javon Bullard played 46 in the slot.

Williams tied for the team lead with 10 tackles, which is never a good sign for a defense. He had an early pressure. McKinney had an interception on the opening drive. Bullard had seven tackles, including one for a loss, and was charged with one missed tackle.

Stud: Matthew Golden

Matthew Golden was targeted 12 times. He caught only five, but those went for 100 yards and one touchdown. His deep catch on the first touchdown drive was masterful, with his late adjustment making it possible. Golden got behind his man in the second quarter, as well, but Jordan Love missed an easy throw.

In three games, he has 15 catches for 253 yards. That’s a pace off 1,434 yards. And that doesn’t even take into account the almost 100 yards he’s provided on interference penalties the last two games.

Duds: Offensive Line

This is the easy one but the Packers are a dysfunctional mess on the offensive line. As mentioned above, the line gave up 28 pressures. Twenty-eight! It is absolutely impossible to put together a credible passing game when the blockers can’t keep their man out of the quarterback’s lap or create consistent openings in the run game.

There are no solutions in sight. It’s not as if there’s a hot-shot young prospect to bring into the lineup. The improvement comes from within. That starts with offensive line coach Luke Butkus but certainly includes coach Matt LaFleur calling plays that set them up for success.

Unless there’s some serious growth from within – and that is a possibility with Jordan Morgan, Anthony Belton and Jager Burton – this season is doomed.

The Packers gave Matt LaFleur a contract extension.

It's time to show he's worth it. ⬇️https://t.co/hFNAE0xRiQ
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 25, 2026

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