The Green Bay Packers were embarrassed at their home opener by the Atlanta Falcons in a 35-14 defeat. The Packers were facing a team that hadn’t run an offensive play in the red zone in it’s first two games and made them look like world beaters. The Packers were outclassed in all facets of the game and had no answers for their leaky offensive line, or the Falcons running game. Matt LaFleur needs to make some major changes, or this season could quickly spiral out of control. Here are 10 things we learned from the Packers embarrassing loss to the Atlanta Falcons in Week 3.
Packers Suffer Embarrassing Loss the Falcons In Week 3, Number One: The Packers Could Not Stop Bijan Robinson
The Packers defense allowed 242 yards rushing in this game on 41 carries. That’s a 5.9-yard average per rush and that includes two kneel downs by quarterback Michael Penix at the end of the game.
The defense had no answers for Bijan Robinson who gained 194 yards on 29 carries and two touchdowns.
The team missed far too many tackles and took poor angles to the ball carrier throughout the game. Robinson just kept eluding prospective tacklers and the Packers couldn’t stop the run even when they knew it was coming.
The Packers lost this game in the trenches on both sides of the football.
Number Two: The Packers Had No Running Game
If the run defense was bad, the rushing offense was non-existent, almost literally. As a team, the Packers ran the ball nine times for 17 yards. MarShawn Lloyd and Kaleb Johnson carried four times each and Jordan Love carried once for zero yards.
The Packers offensive line could not open holes for the run, and the running backs couldn’t take advantage of them the few times the holes were opened. Lloyd seems to lack vision right now, which could be due to his lack of playing time over the last two seasons. Whatever the cause, it needs to be corrected.
The lack of a running game makes the offense one-dimensional and makes the offensive line’s attempts at pass protection even more difficult. The Packers are doing the opposite of playing complimentary football.
Packers Suffer Embarrassing Loss to the Falcons In Week 3, Number Three: The Offensive Line Got Worse
The Packers started Jager Burton in place of the injured Aaron Banks and Anthony Belton in place of Zach Bako-Bewele at right tackle. It didn’t help. The running game had no holes, and the coaching staff clearly had no confidence in the run blocking.
While Love was sacked only once, he was hit 12 times and pressured constantly throughout the game. Opponents will continue to blitz the Green Bay offensive line until they show they can handle it. They haven’t even come close yet.
When the Packers faced a 4th-and-1 inside the Atlanta 10, LaFleur called a rollout pass to the back of the end zone due to the lack of confidence in the run blocking. While this was a poor play choice, the execution was worse and Love was under pressure almost immediately off the snap of the ball.
The offense is handcuffed by the poor line play right now and Love is starting to feel pressure even when it isn’t there.
Number Four: Jordan Love Struggled
While Love didn’t have any help from his running game or his offensive line, he didn’t play well in this game. He missed some open receivers in part because of all the pressure he’s been under over the first three games. If the offensive line doesn’t play better, Love will be lucky to make it out of October in good health.
He finished the game 28-for-53 for 312 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. Still, he wasn’t accurate with his passes often because he didn’t have time to throw. This could be a long season for Love if the offense doesn’t find a way to play better.
Packers Suffer Embarrassing Loss to the Falcons In Week 3, Number Five: Penalties Continue to Hurt
The Packers did reduce the number of penalties to six for 45 yards, but they continued to commit careless penalties. We had another illegal formation penalty, Burton jumped offsides on a fourth-down play when the Packers were trying to draw the defense offsides and a costly illegal contact penalty on Brandon Cisse.
There was a controversial roughing the passer penalty on Brenton Cox that cost the Packers dearly. With the score still 7-0 Packers, the officials called Cox for making contact with the quarterback’s head. Similar contact or even more obvious penalties by opponents against Love have not been called, adding to the Packers frustrations. One play later, Bijan Robinson broke off a long run and the Falcons never looked back.
That penalty was a turning point, but hardly the difference in a game the Packers were dominated in all facets of the game especially along the line of scrimmage.
Number Six: The Packers Had a Field Goal Blocked
It almost got overlooked with all the other issues we saw in this game, but Trey Smack had a field goal blocked in the second quarter. At the time, the Packers trailed 10-7, so that kick could have tied the game.
Ultimately, the field goal didn’t impact the outcome much, but it’s something the team needs to clean up. The offensive line allowed too much penetration and the block was easy. These breakdowns on special teams have been too familiar to Packers fans over the last few years.
Packers Suffer an Embarrassing Loss the Falcons In Week 3, Number Seven: Some Firsts For Receivers
While the highlights in this game were few and far between, a pair of young wide receivers did achieve some firsts for their careers.
Matthew Golden caught his first regular-season NFL touchdown pass midway through the fourth quarter. He finished the game with 100 yards on five catches, making this his first career 100-yard receiving game as a pro.
Undrafted free agent rookie J. Michael Sturdivant also made his first career NFL catch. He finished the game with three receptions for 22 yards.
Number Eight: Edgerrin Cooper Left the Game Early
Edgerrin Cooper has been an impact player for the Packers in the first two games of this season. Unfortunately, he left this game early and was being evaluated for a concussion.
He still finished the game with six total tackles including one tackle for loss. He was replaced by Isaiah McDuffie when he left the game.
The Packers have to hope the extra few days of rest before their next game gives Cooper enough time to recover and play against Tampa Bay.
Packers Suffer an Embarrassing Loss to the Falcons In Week 3, Number Nine: The Defense Had No Three and Outs
The Falcons had nine drives that mattered in this game and the Packers defense did record any three-and-outs in any of them. The only drives without a first down were the last possession of the first half and the end of the game. In both instances, the Falcons were just running out the clock.
The end result was 498 total yards of offense for Atlanta. The time of possession was 37:05 for the Falcons and just 22:55 for the Packers.
Number 10: Desperation During the Mini-Bye
The Packers have a lot to clean up during the mini bye as they don’t play now until a week from Sunday. The offensive line and running game are a mess, the tackling needs to improve and the team needs an emotional boost.
This team needs a lot more than getting Micah Parsons and Josh Jacobs back. There are fundamental problems with this team. LaFleur has to realize that this season could get out of control in a hurry if things don’t improve soon. Remember, this was supposed to be the “easy” part of the Packers schedule this year.
Follow Gil Martin on Twitter @GilPackers
Click here for more great Packers coverage
Check out our YouTube channel here
