The s took an early 7-0 lead and regarded primed to place the blues of the primary two weeks behind them, however Matt LaFleur's workforce blinked and out of the blue the Atlanta Falcons had run up 27 straight factors and have been cruising to a blowout win over the Packers within the house opener on "Thursday Night time Soccer" to open Week 3.
An embattled offensive line melted down once more. A as soon as sturdy run protection crumbled beneath the burden of an elite participant. And identical to that, the Packers are 1-2 after dropping by 21 factors to a workforce that got here in 0-2 with 16 whole factors scored throughout the first two weeks.
Troubled instances are right here in Inexperienced Bay.
Highlighting the nice, the unhealthy and the ugly popping out of Thursday night time's house opener loss:
The Good
WRs Matthew Golden and Christian Watson: Certain, there have been a couple of drops and some missed contested catches. However general, the Packers receiver pair was dynamic once more, catching 12 passes for 196 yards and each of Jordan Love's landing passes. Golden produced his first profession 100-yard receiving sport and first profession common season landing whereas additionally drawing one other lengthy move interference penalty, and Watson tied a profession excessive with seven catches, together with his fourth landing catch of the season. Are you able to think about if the Packers might constantly block for the passing sport? The constructive impression of Golden and Watson as a duo is being overshadowed by an offensive line that’s frequently letting the quarterback get hit. Shiny toys at receiver don't matter a lot if the road of scrimmage is such a obtrusive difficulty.
The Unhealthy
The quarterback, or the rookie cornerback: Strain is clearly affecting Jordan Love. He's getting hit each different dropback, so it'd be exhausting in charge him for not trusting within the course of round him within the dropback passing sport. Even when issues are clear within the pocket, the Packers haven't been constant sufficient discovering completions. Love averaged 5.9 yards per try, threw a choose late and had no less than two different turnover-worthy performs in opposition to the Falcons. On protection, rookie starter Brandon Cisse loved a pleasant begin (Michael Penix was 0-for-2 focusing on him within the first quarter) however then fell aside, permitting 5 catches for 111 yards because the focused participant in protection, together with a 68-yarder to Drake London (who completed with 194 receiving yards) within the second half. He additionally missed no less than one sort out within the run sport and received penalized for unlawful contact downfield. There's been a variety of good from Cisse by way of three video games, however the 21-year-old is clearly nonetheless studying on the job as a fringe nook within the NFL.
The Ugly
The offensive line or the run protection. Take your choose. The Packers offensive line gave up stress on 23 of Jordan Love's dropbacks and paved the best way for 17 dashing yards, whereas Jonathan Gannon's protection allowed 242 dashing yards. Love was hit 12 instances formally, however the rely might be increased. He’s changing into a shell of himself behind an offensive line he clearly doesn't belief. In the meantime, the Packers run protection — which principally stonewalled the s and Jets to start out the season — received gashed by Bijan Robinson and the Falcons. Robinson completed with 194 dashing yards. Would possibly as nicely throw the run sport into the "ugly" class, too. MarShawn Lloyd rushed 4 instances for 11 yards whereas Kaleb Johnson rushed 4 instances for 4 yards. And what occurred to Tucker Kraft? He dropped no less than two passes and completed with solely 26 receiving yards on eight targets. Oh, and don't overlook the blocked area objective, the place the Packers let an unblocked participant into the backfield for a straightforward block regardless of the Falcons solely having 10 gamers on the sector. Three factors down the drain. Loads of U-G-L-Y to go round popping out of Thursday night time.
This text initially appeared on Packers Wire: 3
