For a game that was played with a heat index over a hundred degrees (in October! How crazy is that?), the Packers cooled off the idea that their season could spiral into complete chaos, following their embarrassment on national TV at the hands of the Atlanta Falcons. At this stage of the season, it's clear that Green Bay is going to have to keep winning this way: ugly.
Oh, what's that? You're tired of seeing ugly wins? You think you've seen ugly wins? Messy performances? Sloppy play? You ain't seen nothing yet, baby. It's only week four, and we've got no first round pick to tank for. Buckle up, cause we've got fourteen more weeks to get through. This is what separates the casual, fair weather fans from the diehards.
Game Balls
The... Offensive Line?
TO BE ENTIRELY CLEAR, it was not a great performance from the offensive line. But it was a better performance, and for that, they get a gold star.
Jordan Love was not sacked or knocked down once in this entire game, and there was only one QB hit allowed (by Marshawn Lloyd, more on him later). Six pressures and five hurries are also season bests, for whatever that is worth. But for an offensive line that was quickly spiraling into historically bad territory, just being somewhat bad is a place to start.
Kevin Zeitler will almost certainly be playing next week, and although Travis Glover had a somewhat solid outing at RG, his presence should be a major plus for the unit as a whole. This week was also pretty clearly Jordan Morgan's best game of the season out at left tackle, and that's a major piece of the puzzle.
Quick Passing Game
A huge part of the offensive line's performance was the gameplan going into this one, and it's clear that the team wanted to lean hard into the quick passing game. Jordan Love had his lowest average depth of target of the year in yesterday's game, with only 7.4 yards. His time to throw was also a full half second faster than the NFL average so far this season. The result was a dink and dunk offense that, while only scoring 17 points, was enough to get the job done.
Edgerrin Cooper
Before his devastating injury, Cooper was putting together an incredible game. An interception, a sack, and six tackles was well on its way to contributing to an All-Pro resume. On the season, he had 30 tackles, 3 sacks, 6 run stuffs, and 14 stops. Elite numbers, and he was on the verge of breaking out into superstar-dom. He and Evan Williams, along with Javon Bullard and Lukas Van Ness, were an incredibly exciting young core to form a defense around. Now, the Packers will once again send one of their young stars to the IR, and hope for an effective recovery in 2027.
Lame Calls
The Running Backs
On paper, this was the best day the running backs had on the ground, by far. 25 carries for 86 yards isn't anything to write home about, but it represented an improvement. But this is a perfect example of why you can't trust the box score, ever.
Two of those runs were "explosives", or coming out over 15 yards. Chris Brooks had one for 27 yards, and Kaleb Johnson had another for 31 yards. Both those plays were on drives the Packers would eventually score touchdowns on, and that's great. That's why every team in the league is chasing explosive plays, because your chances of scoring points on those drives where you get them jumps up dramatically. But on a down to down basis, if you take those two plays out, it's a completely different story. The totals drop to 23 carries for 28 yards. A 1.12 yard per carry average. That's completely unsustainable, and it's a major reason why you see the offense struggling to get into any sort of rhythm in this game. Never mind the goal line fumble in the fourth by Kaleb Johnson, which could have had disastrous consequences for the game.
The Fundamentals
Here's a fun fact! Your Green Bay Packers are the worst in the league in the following statistics: Penalties, fumbles, and drops. They have the worst run game in the league, and still have the worst pass block rate in the NFL.
Wait, no. I typed that wrong. It's not a fun fact at all.
For a team that was supposed to be a super bowl contender this year, this devastating lack of discipline is straight up inexcusable. I remain confused what exactly Matt LaFleur meant when he said this summer that the Packers would be stripping out large portions of the playbook, in favor of simpler, well executed concepts. Where is all that now? Where is the accountability, the recourse for these simple mistakes? They continued in this game, and they aren't going away anytime soon.
Three and Out
-- Edgerrin Cooper's injury is by far the most devastating, but he wasn't the lone sufferer this week. Brandon Cisse and Chris Brooks also left the game with injuries of their own, while Devonte Wyatt and Isiah McDuffie missed a stretch of plays themselves. We'll keep an eye on the injury report for the rest of the week, but it's hopeful at this point that only one injury was serious.
-- . Since November 2nd of last year, Green Bay has suffered season ending injuries to nine different players, eight of them starters. For any team to suffer a horrible stretch like that and remain competitive is a big ask, but it's what Green Bay will need to do in order to hold out hope in Title Town.
-- It's Bears week, people. Chicago rolls into town next Sunday, and with or without Caleb Williams, might be the most dangerous opponent the Packers have seen since the Vikings in week one. Ben Johnson has his team feeling confident and riding a 3-1 record. Both franchises are still feeling the effects of the wildcard game a season ago, and have had this game circled since May. For better or for worse, this game might not be for the faint of heart.
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO OUR CHEESEHEAD NATION WEEKLY NEWSLETTER HERE.
__________________________
Co-Owner of the thirteen time world champion Green Bay Packers. Sometimes I write about them. Follow me on Twitter at https://x.com/kjones_in_co and on Substack for film breakdowns!