Photo by Evan Siegle - packers.com
Jordan Love vs. Lions Oct. 1, 2023
Jordan Love under pressure from the Lions, Oct. 1, 2023
The Packers loss to the Lions on Thursday Night Football isn’t that surprising, has come through the rebuilding period that the Packers currently occupy. Jordan Love was unable to work effectively behind an offensive line ravaged by injuries, missing Elgton Jenkins, David Bakhtiari, and having lost Jon Runyan early in the game with an ankle injury. Love was pressured on nearly every drop back, and the offensive game plan should have shifted to shorter passes, and perhaps a few additional RPOs to slow down the rush. Instead, Love continued to play his preferred style of attacking downfield and he suffered for it.
What is surprising are the continued struggles on defense and special teams, given the sizable investments, and experience that exist there. While Brian Gutekunst bears some of the blame for the play of the defense, it remains a mystery what exactly defensive coordinator Joe Barry brings to the team. Barry has been a defensive coordinator in the NFL for seven seasons now, and has never once had a defense rank in the top half of the league. Defenses are far more volatile than offenses, and an average coordinator should have an average defense by random chance at least once. It is quite clear at this point that Barry is one of the worst in-game coordinators in the league.
The defense was missing star corner Jaire Alexander (back), however the pass defense was hardly the issue as Jared Goff (19/28, 210 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) was hardly dominant. It was once against the run defense that could not hold up against a strong Lions’ offensive line, and two talented running backs in David Montgomery (32 rushes, 121 yards, 3 TDs) and Jahmyr Gibbs (8 rushes, 40 yards).
Stay on top of the news of the day
Subscribe to our free, daily e-newsletter to get Milwaukee's latest local news, restaurants, music, arts and entertainment and events delivered right to your inbox every weekday, plus a bonus Week in Review email on Saturdays.
Power the Ball In
Montgomery scored from three, two, and one yard out, and each time the Packers line up with light boxes, inviting the Lions to power the ball in. The Lions had absolutely no problem in doing so as Montgomery scored with ease every time. While Green Bay’s personnel is not well equipped to stop the run, there is absolutely no reason to be in what is essentially nickel coverage on the one yard line against a power running team like Detroit. It is among the most basic principles of football.
No one is surprised that Joe Barry’s defense continues to flail given his track record, but I think everyone is surprised with the Packers’ continued struggles on special teams. While Keisean Nixon did have a 34-yard punt return in garbage time, he was atrocious on kickoff returns, and the Packers would have been in infinitely better shape had he simply take a touchback every time. Nixon managed to reach the 26-yard-line twice, however the coverage team committed holding penalties in both instances, bringing the ball back into the shadows of the end zone. Detroit punt returner Khalif Raymond also had some successes as kickoff and punt coverage remain a work in progress.
Special Teams Coordinator Rich Bisaccia has been granted the use of several handpicked specialists including Nixon, Rudy Ford, and Dallin Leavitt, but very little has changed. Green Bay’s returners routinely make poor decisions, and there are far too many penalties in coverage. At least kicker Anders Carlson and punter Daniel Whelan have been quite good.
Green Bay will have the post Thursday mini-bye to get healthy before facing the Raiders next Monday Night, which may solve their offensive issues. The Raiders are an absolute mess at the moment, having failed to score over 18 points in any game this season. Against the Chargers on Sunday, the Raider offensive line allowed former Bear Khalil Mack to record six sacks of Jimmy Garoppolo, nearly tying the NFL record. Former Packer star Davante Adams also suffered an injury in that game, and his status for next week is unknown.
The Raiders’ defense has struggled almost as much as the offense. As a team, they have only one interception on the season, and outside of linebacker Maxx Crosby, they
So far the Packers have taken care of business against the NFL’s lesser teams, and the Raiders would certainly count as one of them.
