The Green Bay Packers have lost tight end Tucker Kraft for the rest of the season due to a torn ACL, the latest blow in what has been a rather strange season for the Packers.
So, what will Green Bay do now that Kraft is gone for the year? Will it scour the trade market to find a replacement? Or will it stay the course with what it currently has?
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur opened up on the situation Monday, revealing that Luke Musgrave seems more than prepared to step into the starting role.
“Luke’s a guy that we’ve got a ton of confidence in,” LaFleur told reporters. “I think his career got started off facing a little adversity, being in and out of the lineup with some injuries, but what he does bring is he definitely brings a vertical presence, and we’re gonna have to put him in situations where he can utilize his strengths.”
Remember: Green Bay actually selected Musgrave before Kraft in the 2023 NFL Draft, picking Musgrave in the second round then circling back around to nab Kraft in Round 3.
Early on, it appeared that Musgrave was being prioritized, as he caught 34 passes for 352 yards and a touchdown in just 11 games during his rookie campaign. But injuries derailed the Oregon State product over his first couple of seasons, allowing Kraft to take center stage.
Kraft broke out by hauling in 50 receptions for 707 yards and seven touchdowns in 2024, averaging a hefty 14.1 yards per catch, a truly incredible mark for a tight end.
Through eight games this season, Kraft had logged 32 catches for 489 yards and six scores, establishing himself as Jordan Love’s go-to guy in the aerial attack.
What’s more, the 25-year-old had never missed a game up until now.
The Packers could potentially try to swing a trade for someone like David Njoku from Cleveland or Michael Mayer from Las Vegas, but it appears that they feel alright with Musgrave as their top tight end moving forward.
For more on the Green Bay Packers and general NFL news, head over to Newsweek Sports.
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers says the passage of time has given him a greater appreciation of the seasons he spent playing for Mike McCarthy.
McCarthy, now with the Dallas Cowboys, will return to Lambeau Field on Sunday to face the team he coached to a 125-77-2 record from 2006-18.
“It’s probably normal in any relationship you have,” Rodgers said Wednesday. “When you’re able to take time away and you have that separation, it’s natural to look back and have a greater sense of appreciation and gratitude and thankfulness for that time.”
McCarthy coached Green Bay during the 2010 season when the Packers won their lone Super Bowl title during Rodgers’ playing career, but the relationship between the quarterback and coach eventually soured. McCarthy was fired late in the 2018 season.
Four years later, McCarthy is returning to Lambeau Field as the coach of the surging Dallas Cowboys (6-2) while the Packers (3-6) are on their first five-game skid since 2008.
If any hard feelings remain between McCarthy and Rodgers, they certainly aren’t letting it show. They’ve spent this week exchanging compliments.
“When I think of him, I think of the one-on-one conversations we used to have, especially in the younger days,” McCarthy said. “And it always ended with a hug and, ‘I love ya.’ So that’s what I think about our relationship. I think he made me a much better coach. You’re talking about a man that’s one of the premier professional athletes of his generation.”
Rodgers recalled those meetings as well during his weekly news conference. He said the two of them started meeting every Thursday after practice around 2009 or 2010.
“Those were always fun,” Rodgers said. “Those could go 30 minutes or four hours. You’d start getting to story time. It just bonded us over the years, those conversations. I always appreciated that.”
McCarthy and Rodgers helped the Packers win a Super Bowl as the sixth and final seed in the NFC playoffs during that 2010 season. Rodgers won MVP awards while playing for McCarthy in 2011 and 2014.
The Packers made eight straight playoff berths from 2009-16 under McCarthy, but slumped to 7-9 in 2017 and were 4-7-1 when he got fired.
During those latter seasons, Rodgers’ displeasure was occasionally apparent, whether he was occasionally criticizing the offense or complaining that he wasn’t consulted before the 2018 firing of quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt.
McCarthy said many of the issues between them could have stemmed from the generation gap. And the different ways in which they communicated. McCarthy turns 59 on Thursday, while Rodgers’ 39th birthday is Dec. 2.
“I think personal relationships are private, and you have to remember I was born in the 60s,” McCarthy said. “I’m being better at expressing myself publicly.”
Rodgers isn’t exactly heading into this reunion with momentum.
The Packers desperately need a victory and Rodgers is still dealing with an injured right thumb that kept him from practicing on Wednesday, which has happened four of the past five weeks. Rodgers says he expects to practice Thursday.
Rodgers threw three interceptions to match a career high in Green Bay’s 15-9 loss at Detroit on Sunday.
Perhaps the matchup with McCarthy’s team will help him bounce back, even though they apparently have patched up any differences they might have had at one time. Rodgers said they’d always stayed in touch, but have communicated a little more in the past year or so.
“I think as time goes by, the gratitude for that time as you look back on the journey of your career goes up a little bit,” Rodgers said. “I appreciate the little things a little bit more because really this game and life is about the journey. I’ll always be tied with him because of the connection that we had and the years we spent together.
“Obviously my longest-tenured coach, my longest-tenured play-caller. I’m thankful for those years and thankful maybe a little bit more now as the years go by.”
NOTES: The Packers have claimed DB Johnathan Abram off waivers from the Las Vegas Raiders. Abram was the 27th overall pick in the 2019 draft. … The Packers placed OLB Rashan Gary on injured reserve and signed wide receiver Jeff Cotton to the practice squad. Packers coach Matt LaFleur already had indicated Monday that Gary would miss the rest of the season. … The list of Packers who didn’t practice Wednesday included OT David Bakhtiari (knee), LB Krys Barnes (concussion), LB De’Vondre Campbell (knee), WR Romeo Doubs (ankle), CB Shemar Jean-Charles (ankle), OG/OT Elgton Jenkins (knee), CB Eric Stokes (ankle/knee) and WR Sammy Watkins (knee) as well as Rodgers.
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AP Pro Football Writer Schuyler Dixon contributed to this report.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP—NFL
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw three interceptions in a 15-9 loss to Detroit on … [+] Sunday.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
Aaron Rodgers had played his worst game of the season. And in a year where the Green Bay Packers’ quarterback has been remarkably mediocre, that’s saying something.
With two minutes left, though, and the Packers in a 15-9 hole against host Detroit, Rodgers had the perfect opportunity to right his afternoon of wrongs.
Thanks to a tremendous stop from its defense, Green Bay took over at its own 43 with 2 minutes remaining and all three timeouts.
Throughout history, this is where the great ones shine.
Peyton Manning led 43 fourth quarter comeback wins, the most in NFL history. Tom Brady ranks second with 42.
Rodgers?
He sits down in 34th place with 19 such drives, looking up at players such as Jay Cutler (23) and Kerry Collins (21).
Captain Clutch he is not.
So it should come as no surprise that when Rodgers had a chance to come up big, he wilted. Rodgers drove the Packers to the Detroit 17-yard line, then threw four straight incompletions against the NFL’s worst defense.
The Lions escaped with a 15-9 win, snapped their five-game losing streak and improved to 2-6 overall. That marked the first time Detroit held an opponent to single digits since Dec. 9, 2018.
Rodgers finished his miserable day with three interceptions and a dreadful 53.5 passer rating as Green Bay’s losing streak hit five games. That marks the Packers’ first five-game skid since 2008, when Rodgers was a first-time starter.
Those 2008 Packers finished 6-10. These Packers fell to 3-6 and seemingly have little chance of reaching the postseason for a fourth straight year.
“I played (expletive), but I never gave up,” Rodgers said. “I feel like we never gave up. We moved the ball well in the first half, and I threw a couple picks in the end zone, took points off the board. That obviously came back to hurt us down the stretch.”
Here’s the good, bad and ugly from Detroit’s win over the Packers, beginning with the ugly.
THE UGLY
ARON RODGERS: Green Bay’s future Hall of Fame quarterback looked nothing like a player destined for a trip to Canton.
Rodgers threw three interceptions for the first time since Dec. 17, 2017. And Lions’ safety Kerby Joseph intercepted Rodgers twice, becoming just the fourth player to get multiple picks against Rodgers in a single game.
“Just too many mistakes,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “Turnovers. I thought the guys played hard. It wasn’t for a lack of effort. Obviously I think everybody’s very, very, very disappointed right now.”
Green Bay drove 88 yards on its opening drive, moving from its own 7-yard line to the Lions’ 5. On first and goal, Rodgers had Allen Lazard open on an inside slant.
But Rodgers threw a low pass off Detroit defensive lineman Derrick Barnes. The ball flew high into the air and Joseph skied to snare the interception.
“Obviously the bounces haven’t gone our way the last couple weeks,” Rodgers said.
On the Lions’ next possession, Rodgers threw an interception in the endzone on a trick play intended for left tackle David Bakhtiari. And midway through the third quarter, Joseph undercut a route for Robert Tonyan and intercepted Rodgers again.
Rodgers had gone four straight games without an interception against Detroit, and this marked the first time the Lions picked off Rodgers since Dec. 29, 2019. Rodgers now has seven interceptions this year, his most in a season since 2016.
Through it all, Rodgers yelled and screamed and showed his noticeable displeasure. In the end, though, his horrendous decision making was the No. 1 reason the Packers’ losing streak continued.
“There’s still a lot of games left,” Rodgers said. “We’ll be counted out, probably, by many, and we’ll see how we respond.”
RODGERS TO BAKHTIARI??!! REALLY??: Green Bay had perhaps its strangest — and worst — offensive call in years on the first play of the second quarter.
Green Bay faced a fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line, and left tackle David Bakhtiari reported eligible.
The Packers lined up with wideout Sammy Watkins on the left and Allen Lazard flanked right. Running back Aaron Jones then released into the right flat.
Instead of going in one of those directions, though, Rodgers rolled right and threw back to the left for Bakhtiari — a man with zero career receptions.
Rodgers badly underthrew the pass and rookie defensive end Aiden Hutchinson intercepted.
“There was only two options on the play, but I probably should have given him a chance,” Rodgers said. “I’ll definitely have to live with that throw for the rest of my life with our friendship.”
That was Rodgers’ second interception of the game, and marked the first time in his career he threw two interceptions in the red zone.
It seemed almost surreal that the Packers’ once high-powered offense would resort to trick plays for their left tackle at the goal line. But this is the reality of Green Bay’s offense in 2022.
“We’ve got to do something different obviously because we’re not throwing and catching to the level that is conducive to winning football,” LaFleur said.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE: The Packers’ next three games are home with Dallas (6-2) and Tennessee (5-2) and at Philadelphia (8-0).
When this stretch is over, this lost season in Green Bay could have completely derailed.
“I definitely think we can turn it around,” Green Bay running back Aaron Jones said. “We have everything we need in this locker room. I feel like all these guys are capable. We just got to really nail the details and finish when it comes down to it. And execute in situations that are in our favor.”
Packers tight end Marcedes Lewis agreed.
“It’s a playoff mentality from here,” Lewis said. “Can’t afford to keep dropping games, so just going to keep chipping away at it. It’s all you can do.”
THE BAD
INJURY CENTRAL: The Packers entered the game with just one preferred starter out — inside linebacker De’Vondre Campbell. But that changed dramatically during the game.
Green Bay lost wideout Romeo Doubs (ankle), left tackle David Bakhtiari (knee), cornerback Eric Stokes (ankle/knee), wideout Christian Watson (concussion), outside linebacker Rashan Gary (knee), running back Aaron Jones (ankle) and guard Jon Runyan (knee).
Bakhtiari and Runyan returned later in the contest, while the others did not.
“Yeah, it just seems like that’s been the theme of the year in a sense,” Lazard said of the injuries. “But it’s the game of football. It’s the thing we signed up for. You’ve just got to bounce back from adversity.”
SAMMY WHO?: Green Bay’s only free agent addition at the wide receiver position was veteran Sammy Watkins. On Sunday, Watkins had just one catch for nine yards, and over the past two weeks, he has just two catches for 12 yards.
Green Bay was hoping Watkins would help make up for the loss of Davante Adams. Instead, he has just nine catches through nine games.
DARNELL SAVAGE: The Packers closed within 8-6 late in the third quarter, and for the first time all day, had some momentum.
But the Lions answered with a 13-play, 70-yard touchdown drive to surge ahead, 15-6. Detroit capped the march when Goff hit rookie tight end James Mitchell for a 3-yard TD on third down.
Mitchell worked free in a zone that Savage was supposed to be manning. Instead, Savage drifted too far to his right, leaving a wide open window for Goff to hit Mitchell.
THIS AND THAT: The Packers had eight penalties for 81 yards. … The Packers lost the turnover battle, 3-1.
THE GOOD
DEFENSE: Detroit entered the game averaging 35.8 points per game at home this season. Green Bay held the Lions to 42% of that total as its defense held up its end of the bargain.Detroit managed just two scores in its nine drives. The Packers held Lions quarterback Jared Goff to 137 passing yards and a 78.5 passer rating. And Green Bay limited the Lions to 3.8 yards per rush.It should have been plenty for Green Bay to win the game. “I thought our defense battled and did a really good job,” LaFleur said. “To not take advantage of that performance is certainly disappointing.”
ALLEN LAZARD: Green Bay’s wide receiver group was decimated by injury. But Lazard did all he could to give the Packers a semblance of a passing game.Lazard caught four passes for 87 yards and a touchdown. He had a season-long 47-yard reception and averaged 21.8 yards per catch.BIG STOPS: The Lions marched down the field on their opening drive and faced a fourth-and-1 from the 7. Detroit had run the ball at will, but went to an empty backfield.
Lions quarterback Jared Goff dropped to throw and was quickly under pressure from outside linebacker Rashan Gary. Goff had wideout Tom Kennedy open in the middle of the endzone, but Gary hit the quarterback as he threw and the pass came up short.
Then in the fourth quarter, the Lions had a fourth-and-3 from the Green Bay’s 43 while clinging to a 15-9 lead. Goff tried throwing for Amon-Ra St. Brown, but the Packers’ coverage was terrific and the Lions were denied.
That gave Green Bay one last chance on offense, but that unit couldn’t do anything with the opportunity.
JAIRE ALEXANDER: Very little went right for the Packers most of the day, but Alexander’s third quarter interception gave them a brief spark.
Alexander jumped a route for St. Brown near midfield and returned the ball 29 yards to the Lions’ 23. Unfortunately for the Packers, though, Rodgers threw an interception two plays later.
THIS AND THAT: Green Bay’s Keisean Nixon had a 33-yard kickoff return. … Krys Barnes, playing for the injured De’Vondre Campbell, had eight tackles. … Rodgers ran for a team-high 40 yards. He entered the game 20 rushing yards in the first eight games. … Green Bay had more total yards (389-254), yards per play (5.6-4.5) and had the ball 9 ½ minutes more than Detroit — yet still lost.
Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen scrambles during the first half of the Bills’ 27-17 win over the … [+] Green Bay Packers on Sunday night.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
Aaron Rodgers, now in his 18th NFL season, was just a season-year pro.
Current rookies Quay Walker and Romeo Doubs were just six years old. And head coach Matt LaFleur was a quarterbacks coach at Northern Michigan.
The year was 2006 — and it’s the last time the Green Bay Packers were 3-5. Until Sunday night.
The reeling Packers went to Buffalo — arguably the NFL’s best team — and were drilled by the mighty Bills.
Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen threw for a pair of touchdowns, Green Bay’s defense struggled again and the Bills posted a 27-17 win.
Buffalo improved to 6-1 and has the best record in the AFC. The Packers (3-5) lost their fourth straight game for the first time since 2016 and fell 3 ½ games behind Minnesota (6-1) in the NFC North.
Here’s the good, bad and ugly from Buffalo’s win over the Packers.
THE GOOD
RUN GAME: The Packers did everything they could to establish the run, possess the ball and keep it away from Allen. And Green Bay did that extremely well.
The Packers ran for a season-high 208 yards and averaged 6.7 yards per carry. And if the defense had played better, this offensive approach might have been good enough to spring a massive upset.
Aaron Jones ran for a season-high 143 yards on 20 carries and also caught four passes. Jones had a long run of 32 yards and averaged an impressive 7.2 yards per carry.
A.J. Dillon also ran for 54 yards on 10 carries (5.4), and both backs did much of their damage after contact.
Green Bay had 83 rushing yards in the first half, which helped it control the ball for nearly 17 minutes. The Packers then ran for 125 yards in the second half despite the fact their passing game was inept until the final minutes.
If Green Bay follows this blueprint in future weeks, perhaps it can still salvage this disappointing season.
ROMEO DOUBS: No one needed a confidence booster more than Doubs, the rookie wideout who didn’t have a catch last week on his four targets.
Doubs should have gotten just that with a 19-yard, circus catch for a touchdown midway through the second quarter that pulled the Packers within 14-7.
Doubs spun cornerback Taron Johnson around, then Doubs had to spin back himself to make the nifty catch. Doubs did a brilliant job to get down both feet, kept control of the ball and made one of the Packers’ most impressive catches of the season.
Doubs also had a 26-yard catch in the fourth quarter and finished the night with four catches for 67 yards.
THIS AND THAT: Cornerbacks Rasul Douglas and Jaire Alexander both had fourth quarter interceptions. Allen had thrown just four interceptions in the first six weeks of the season. … Rookie Samori Toure had his first career touchdown, hauling in a 37-yarder from Rodgers in the fourth quarter.
THE BAD
CHRISTIAN WATSON: Green Bay’s second round draft choice has had a frustrating year.
Watson missed much of training camp after undergoing knee surgery. He’s also missed three games with a hamstring injury — including the last two contests.
Watson returned Sunday, but lasted just eight plays.
On a third-and-15, Rodgers hit Watson on a middle screen for 12 yards. But Watson suffered a concussion on Tremaine Edmunds’ tackle and didn’t return.
“I think in any offense, you want a fast player on the field, at least at one of your receiver positions, to open things up,” Packers wide receivers coach Jason Vrable said of Watson last week. “People naturally respect his speed. He’s strong, he’s big. You guys can all see that stuff.
“Obviously, when you’re watching the tape and you’re the defense, you have to respect that speed because he’s going to run by people. He’s done a great job rehabbing and getting back and feeling great, so I’m excited to see where he’s at going into this game.”
Watson was good to go before the contest. But like too many times this season, Watson was in rough shape when the game ended.
LOSING LINEBACKERS: Green Bay rookie linebacker Quay Walker was hit with an unsportsmanlike penalty and thrown out of the game after pushing Buffalo practice squad tight end Zach Davidson tight end on the Bills’ sideline.
It was a senseless, selfish decision as it appeared Davidson was trying to keep Walker from falling.
Just minutes later, Packers inside linebacker De’Vondre Campbell exited with a right knee injury leaving Green Bay remarkably thin at the position.
Without Walker and Campbell, the Packers played Isaiah McDuffie and Eric Wilson at inside linebacker in the second half.
FOURTH DOWN FAILURE: Trailing, 27-10, early in the fourth quarter, the Packers drove to Buffalo’s 26 and faced a fourth-and-1.
Green Bay had run the ball at will all night, and sent Jones up the middle. Buffalo defensive end Von Miller blew up the right side of the Packers’ offensive line, though, which cleared the way for cornerback Taron Johnson to race in untouched and dump Jones for a 1-yard loss.
UNDER PRESSURE: Buffalo had terrific pressure all night, particularly up the middle.
Tackles Ed Oliver and Tim Settle had enormous impacts all night. And while Rodgers was only sacked twice, he was under duress on many of his dropbacks.
Green Bay played without left guard Elgton Jenkins (foot), who was a late scratch. And rookie Zach Tom, who replaced Jenkins, was overpowered at times.
THIS AND THAT: … Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw his fourth interception of 2022. Rodgers had just four interceptions in all of 2021 and 2019, and only two INTs in 2018. … Sammy Watkins, who spent the first three seasons of his career in Buffalo, had a disappointing homecoming. Watkins caught just one pass for three yards. … Keisan Nixon had a 49-yard kickoff return to start the second half that was erased by a holding call on Innis Gaines. … Green Bay fell to 0-7 all-time at Buffalo.
THE UGLY
DEFENSE: Green Bay’s defense has seven first round draft picks, including six starters. In a season where the offense is transitioning, the Packers planned to lean on their defense in 2022.
Well, that plan hasn’t worked out.
Green Bay desperately needed its defense to shine early if it hoped to hang around with the mighty Bills. Instead, the opposite happened.
Buffalo had three straight touchdown drives in the first half on its way to taking a 24-7 halftime lead.
Allen hit tight end Dawson Knox for a 1-yard TD, found Stefon Diggs for a 26-yard score, and Isaiah McKenzie had a 7-yard touchdown run.
Buffalo finished the half with 234 total yards and averaged 9.0 yards per play. The Bills also ran for 107 first half yards and averaged 8.2 yards per carry.
Green Bay’s defense was better in the second half. By then, though, it was too little, too late.
“How good are we going to be on defense?” Packers outside linebacker Preston Smith said last week. “We want to be great and this is going to be a game to prove how good we can be and how great of a defense we can be and show our potential and what we’re made of. We’re up to the challenge.”
Green Bay Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari won’t play against Washington Sunday due to ongoing … [+] issues with his left knee.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The mystery of David Bakhtiari’s surgically repaired left knee continues.
And today will mark the 20th Sunday the Green Bay Packers will be without their former Pro Bowl left tackle since the start of the 2021 season.
Bakhtiari, who’s had three knee surgeries since tearing his ACL on Dec. 30, 2020, was declared inactive for Green Bay’s game today at Washington.
Bakhtiari played just 27 snaps in 2021, with those coming in the regular season finale against Detroit. When the Packers faced San Francisco in the NFC divisional playoffs two weeks later, Bakhtiari still wasn’t ready to go.
Bakhtiari was inactive the first two games of this season, then split time at left tackle with Yosh Nijman in Week 3. That day, Bakhtiari played 56% of Green Bay’s offensive snaps.
Bakhtiari’s snap count rose to 96% in a Week 4 win over New England, dipped to 40% in Week 5 when the Packers traveled to London, and jumped back to 95% in a Week 6 loss to the New York Jets.
“Dave’s done a great job,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said Friday. “Certainly, you could feel his presence out there in terms of not only the play — I think his play has gotten better and better each and every week, as well.
“But it’s nice, it’s comforting, I think, for Aaron (Rodgers), for the rest of the guys in the huddle. Dave’s played a lot of ball. Hopefully, we can keep building him up and building him up, where you don’t worry about it.”
Bakhtiari was limited in practice all week. Then on Saturday, his status on the injury report was changed to questionable with his knee injury.
Green Bay allowed four sacks and nine quarterback hits in a loss to the Jets last week. The Packers were planning for an offensive line makeover this week, and even without Bakhtiari, appear ready to stick with that plan.
Rookie fourth round draft pick Zach Tom appears likely to replace Bakhtiari at left tackle. Nijman will move to right tackle, Elgton Jenkins will slide inside to left guard and Jon Runyan will move from left guard to right guard.
That means center Josh Myers is the only offensive lineman starting at the same spot he did last week. Making Green Bay’s challenge even tougher is Washington ranks fourth in the NFL in sacks.
“They just wreck havoc on an offensive line and the teams they’ve played and certainly a really talented group,” LaFleur said about the Commanders’ defensive line. “I think they’re well coached, they give great effort. So it’s going to be a great test for us.”
Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers were routed by the New York Jets Sunday, 27-10.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Matt LaFleur had been a perfect 10-0 coming off a regular season loss.
That streak is over.
The Packers were 24-2 at Lambeau Field under LaFleur.
They’re now 24-3.
LaFleur’s Green Bay Packers are a mess. And Sunday was further proof.
The Packers dropped their second straight game, falling to the New York Jets, 27-10, at Lambeau Field. Green Bay is now 3-3 and trails first place Minnesota (5-1) by two games in the NFC North.
Here’s the good, bad and ugly from the Jets’ win over the Packers, beginning with the ugly.
THE UGLY
OFFENSE: Six games into the season, Green Bay has scored just 107 points — a paltry 17.8 points per contest. And over the last six quarters, the Packers have just 10 offensive points.
Things were as ugly as ugly gets on Sunday.
Green Bay averaged just 4.0 yards a play. The Packers had only 278 total yards.
Green Bay managed only 60 rushing yards. And Aaron Rodgers was sacked four times and had a remarkably uneven game, averaging just 6.0 yards per attempt and finishing with an 88.1 rating.
“I expect that typical stretch coming up at some point where we get really hot,” Rodgers said last week. “Hopefully it starts this week. But I think that’s right around the corner.”
Not quite.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Green Bay’s special teams, which has been largely abysmal since 2005, had shown signs of progress this season under new coordinator Rich Bisaccia. That changed Sunday.
The Jets Michael Clemens blocked a Pat O’Donnell punt in the third quarter, Will Parks recovered and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown that gave New York a 17-3 lead.
In the second quarter, the Jets Quinnen Williams blocked Mason Crosby’s 47-yard field goal.
New York’s Braxton Berrios also averaged 29.0 yards per kick return and 11.3 on punt returns.
Green Bay’s Eric Wilson did block a Braden Mann punt. Overall, though, Bisaccia’s units were whipped by the Jets’ special teams.
“I’d like to think that if we can find a certain consistent balance into what we’re trying to do, then I think you have a chance to improve and get better every day in the fundamentals and technique we’re asking you to do,” Bisaccia said last week. “I think our job is to put them in position just to do what they really do well, and then individually can be successful which means collectively we all have a chance to be successful.”
The Packers were anything but successful Sunday.
DEFENSE: Green Bay believed it had one of the NFL’s elite defenses when the season began.
That hasn’t been the case — and the Packers’ defense was completely overwhelmed in the second half Sunday.
Green Bay needed its defense to step up in what was a 3-3 game at halftime. Instead, the Jets dominated after intermission, scored 17 points on their final three offensive possessions and pulled away.
First, Braxton Berrios had a 20-yard touchdown run on a reverse. Then, Breece Hall ripped off a 34-yard touchdown run. And lastly, the Jets marched 57 yards and kicked a field goal that stretched their lead to 27-10 and ended things.
The Jets ran the ball for 179 yards and averaged 5.4 yards per carry. And the hot seat under defensive coordinator Joe Barry is now scorching.
“We already know it’s going to come,” Packers cornerback Rasul Douglas said this week. “We just can’t press it. I think everybody knows how good we can be and everybody sees the names, so it’s like, ‘We expect so much of these guys.’ Right now, it’s not happening but it’s still early. It’s still early.”
Perhaps. But Green Bay continues to look for answers it can’t find.
THE BAD
OFFENSIVE LINE: Green Bay’s group was atrocious throughout the day and was consistently whipped by the Jets’ defensive front.
Rodgers was sacked four times and was hit nine more times. Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams dominated inside with two sacks and three quarterback hits.
Struggling right guard Royce Newman was benched in the second quarter and replaced with Jake Hanson. Hanson quickly suffered a biceps injury, though, and Newman re-entered the game.
Right tackle Elgton Jenkins was flagged three times during a rocky performance. And the entire line was overwhelmed throughout.
THE AARON JONES MYSTERY: Jones, Green Bay’s most dynamic offensive playmaker, had just three carries in the first half and only one reception.
He finished with nine carries for 19 yards and three catches for 25 yards.
Jones entered the day averaging a whopping 6.4 yards per game, but now has just 70 carries this season (11.7 per game).
“It’s hard to sit up here and justify that to everybody, to our team,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said last week of Jones’ limited workload.
Jones entered the year as one of only three players in NFL history to post 4,000-plus rushing yards (4,163) and 40-plus rushing TDs (41) with an average of 5.0-plus yards per carry (5.06) in their first five seasons. The other two? Oh, just Hall of Famers Jim Brown (1957-61) and Jim Taylor (1958-62).
Among running backs with at least 750 career carries, Jones ranks fifth all-time in yards per carry at 5.16. This year, Jones is averaging a ridiculous 6.39 yards per attempt.
And from 2019-21, only two running backs have posted 1,000-plus yards from scrimmage and 10-plus scrimmage touchdowns each year: Jones and Tennessee’s Derrick Henry.
But Jones continues to be the most under-utilized player in the league. That didn’t change on Sunday, and it’s one of the biggest mysteries in Green Bay right now.
RANDALL COBB: Green Bay’s veteran wide receiver suffered an ankle injury in the third quarter, then left on a cart. While exiting Lambeau Field, Cobb teared up and put a towel over his head.
What that means for his future remains to be seen.
Cobb entered the day tied for second on the team with 17 catches and tied for second in targets (25).
In Green Bay’s loss to the New York Giants last week, Cobb caught seven passes for 99 yards.
“I feel great,” Cobb said last week. “I’ve been telling you all that for the past couple of weeks. I feel great.”
Unfortunately for Cobb and the Packers, he wasn’t feeling so good on Sunday.
THE GOOD
ROBERT TONYAN: Green Bay’s tight end has been quiet through five games with just 17 catches for 129 yards (7.6 average) and one touchdown. But Tonyan had his best game of 2022 against the Jets.
Tonyan had six catches for 61 yards in the first half and finished with a team-high 10 catches for 90 yards.
Less than a year after suffering a torn ACL, Tonyan is starting to resemble his old self.
THIS AND THAT: Green Bay’s Eric Wilson blocked a punt in the second quarter. … Green Bay rookie fifth round draft pick Kingsley Enagbare notched his first career sack. Enagbare, an outside linebacker, dumped Wilson for a 4-yard loss in the second quarter. … Rashan Gary had a sack and has now posted sacks in five of six games this year.
New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley (26) leads the NFL with 463 rushing yards through four … [+] games.
Associated Press
Dalvin Cook and David Montgomery have both done it twice.
Josh Jacobs, Christian McCaffrey, Raheem Mostert, Ronald Jones, James Robinson and Nick Chubb have done it, as well.
All of these running backs have eclipsed 100 yards rushing since Matt LaFleur took over as the Green Bay Packers’ head coach in 2019. And over the last three-plus seasons, stopping the run has been a major issue for LaFleur’s teams.
Green Bay could face its toughest test of the LaFleur-era, though, Sunday when it tries slowing down Saquon Barkley and the New York Giants in a game being played in London at 8:30 a.m. (CST).
Barkley is the NFL’s leading rusher, averaging 115.8 yards per game. Barkley is on pace for 1,968 rushing yards, which would be the ninth-highest total in NFL history.
The Giants have a mediocre offensive line and a wide receiver group that’s been devastated by injury. Thanks in large part to Barkley, though, New York has the NFL’s No. 1 rushing attack (192.5) and is off to a surprising 3-1 start.
“Phenomenal player. Phenomenal talent,” Green Bay defensive coordinator Joe Barry said. “He’s explosive. He’s big. They do a great job of throwing the ball to him as well. They find ways to get him the ball, not just turning around and handing him the ball. He’s the best in our business right now, statistically.
“He’s just an all-around complete back. It’s got to be a collective group effort this week because you can’t tackle that guy with one person. It’s got to be population to the ball. Unbelievable player. Unbelievable talent.”
Now, combine Barkley’s exploits with the fact Green Bay is in the bottom-third of the league stopping the run.
The Packers currently rank 22nd against the run, allowing 126.8 yards per game. They’re also 22nd in yards allowed per carry at 5.0.
Stopping the run has been a consistent problem under LaFleur, whether Mike Pettine (2019-20) or Joe Barry (2021-22) has been the defensive coordinator.
Green Bay ranked 23rd in the NFL against the run in 2019 (120.1) and 27th in yards per carry (4.9). The Packers finished 13th in rushing defense in 2020 (112.8) and 11th last year (109.1), but still ranked just 18th in yards per carry in 2020 (4.5) and 28th in 2021 (4.6).
This year, things have been even worse.
Cook ran for 90 yards in Week 1, averaged 4.5 yards per carry and led Minnesota to a 23-7 win over Green Bay. Chicago’s Montgomery ran for 122 yards and averaged 8.1 yards carry in a Week 2 loss.
And last week, despite the fact New England was down to a third string quarterback, the Patriots ran for 167 yards and averaged 5.0 yards per carry.
“Man, we’ve got to just focus up, honestly,” Packers nose tackle Kenny Clark said. “There’s too much inconsistencies when you talk about the run game with us. We’ll have two good quarters, and then the third quarter we’ll have a little lull and let guys get going and let their momentum get going. We’ve got to find a different way to just find that consistency.”
Rookie inside linebacker Quay Walker agreed.
“I just think it’s always coming down to us killing blocks, getting off of blocks and just knowing how to fit the runs up, just being physical,” Walker said. “It just takes getting off the blocks and just making the play. You can’t stay attached to blocks. You’ve got to know who you’re using in the run fit and those types of things. That always correlates to stopping the run.”
During LaFleur’s time in Green Bay, the Packers have seen plenty of elite backs. But Barkley may be playing better than any of them right now.
Barkley, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, was the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year that season when he had more than 2,000 yards from scrimmage and 15 total touchdowns. Barkley ran for 1,307 yards, averaged 5.0 yards per rush, caught a whopping 91 passes and didn’t fumble.
Barkley’s numbers slipped a bit in 2019 (1,441 total yards, eight TDs) when he battled a high ankle sprain. Then Barkley’s career hit a crossroads when he suffered a torn ACL in Week 2 of 2020.
Barkley spent the rest of that season on injured reserve. Then when Barkley returned in 2021, he lacked his previous burst and elusiveness and averaged just 3.7 yards per carry, ran for 593 yards and had four total touchdowns.
This season, though, Barkley looks like his old self.
He’s averaging 5.5 yards per carry. He ran for 164 yards in Week 1 and 146 yards in Week 4. And he’s tied for the Giants’ lead in receptions with 15.
“Great running back,” Clark said. “You can tell that he’s healthy now. He’s a powerful back. He can run behind the tackles and get those yards inside.
“When he gets out in space, he’s very elusive. He can run with the best of them and he’s got that breakout speed. I’ve got a lot of respect for his game. He’s a great back. He got drafted when he got drafted for a reason.”
Added linebacker Preston Smith, who’s faced Barkley three times in his career: “He’s a pretty stout guy. Has some big legs, he’s hard to take down and he’s a guy that’s going to fight for extra yards and continue to move the pile if you let him. He’s going to try to make a big play, no matter what — spin off tackles and try to keep moving forward.”
Barkley will be one of the few weapons the Giants have on offense.
New York wide receivers Kenny Golladay (knee) and Kadarius Toney (hamstring) are out. Quarterback Daniel Jones will be trying to play through an ankle injury.
So the Giants’ offense figures to be Barkley, Barkley and more Barkley.
Will the Packers — and their suspect run defense — be up to the challenge?
“I know we can be better and we will be better,” Barry said. “We have to be better, quite frankly, because we’re going up against the No. 1 rush offense in the National Football League.
“We know how explosive Saquon Barkley can be. It’s going to be a great challenge for our defense, just to consistently go out there and perform at a high level. We’re going to have to be on point.”
Which is something the Packers haven’t been in 2022.
