NFL

Packers let the standard slip as increasingly familiar failings doom Green Bay to Giants loss

By Sports Desk October 09, 2022

There won't be any panic among the Green Bay Packers following their stunning 27-22 loss to the New York Giants.

However, after letting slip a 10-point lead at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, there is undoubtedly plenty of frustration.

Green Bay's progress towards what looked set to be a routine victory in their first game in the United Kingdom could hardly have been more serene. The second half was an entirely different tale.

The Packers had zero issues moving the ball through the first two quarters, and did so without having to ask their back-to-back MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers to do much at all.

Indeed, the Packers were able to lean heavily on the run game and the short passing attack in racking up 228 yards at an average of six yards per play in the first half.

But the warning signs were there late in the second quarter, with Giants finding the endzone to give themselves hope, a 40-yard rush on a direct snap from Saquon Barkley helping set up their opening touchdown with 75 seconds to go in the first half as a double reverse play worked to perfection and allowed tight end Daniel Bellinger to find paydirt.

Packers kicker Mason Crosby ensured a two-possession lead with a field goal to bring the opening half to a close, but the Giants had already gained the necessary belief they could spring a turnaround few would have thought possible.

That optimism was soon furthered in the second half, which the Giants opened with a field goal drive before stopping a promising Packers drive with a third-down sack of Rodgers.

From there, a pattern set in, as the Giants tied things up with a 15-play drive capped by a Gary Brightwell touchdown run that was swiftly followed by a Packers three-and-out.

Having moved the ball at will, progressing it down the field suddenly looked an impossible challenge for the Packers, who found no joy on longer developing passing plays that dominated their approach in the final two quarters.

Joy was soon unconfined for the Giants, though, as Barkley – having missed the previous drive through a shoulder injury – surged for 41 yards on a catch and run from Daniel Jones and then burst into the endzone from two yards out to complete the comeback.

Rodgers drove the Packers to the six-yard line in response, but saw a fourth-down pass intended for Allen Lazard batted down before he was sacked on a Hail Mary attempt after an intentional safety taken by New York, leaving the Giants jubilant and Rodgers and head coach Matt LaFleur to answer questions about a worrying trend.

While the Packers headed to London with three wins, only their Week 2 victory over the Chicago Bears was convincing and, in their Week 4 defeat of the New England Patriots, Green Bay allowed third-string quarterback Bailey Zappe, aided by a run game that averaged 5.1 yards per rush, to take them to overtime.

This week, the Packers were left bemoaning once again failing to perform for four quarters, with a run defense they hoped to have addressed adequately in the offseason proving all too fallible once more, especially on the Giants' game-tying drive on which Jones confounded Green Bay with his ability to make plays with his legs.

"Certainly there's been a lot of struggles – that is this league," LaFleur said of his impression of the Packers' season to this point.

"We just got to be more consistent because there's some moments where we look pretty good. We have yet to put together a complete game as a team.

"It's like every game has been one good half. That's not good enough in this league. You got to play every play like it's your last. If you don't, you get your a** whipped."

Asked about the reasons for the issues with run defense, which have plagued the Packers in significant moments during his tenure, LaFleur replied: "I can't name one thing for you right now.  

"I just know that I thought there were some times where we had 'em in some longer yardage situations. They were able to convert on some long third downs. You can't do that. You can't do that in this league.  

"Coming in, we had the top third down defense in the league. Just didn't execute in the second half."

Though struggling to shackle opposing running backs is not a new problem for the defense, Rodgers and the Packer offense are finding it tough to overcome a difficulty they perhaps did not anticipate at the end of last season, with the future Hall of Fame signal-caller still evidently lacking chemistry with his young receiving corps following Davante Adams' offseason trade to the Las Vegas Raiders.

Rodgers connected with old friend Randall Cobb seven times for 99 yards and found trusted target Lazard on four occasions, including for the Packers' opening score.

No other receiver had more than three catches, however, and rookie wideouts Romeo Doubs and Christian Watson, who suffered a hamstring injury, were essentially non-factors, Rodgers showcasing only a sporadic rapport with the former.

For his part, Rodgers refused to accept a paucity of familiarity as any kind of excuse for the Packers' inconsistency on the offensive side.

"That's a tough question," Rodgers said when asked how close the Packers are to putting a complete game together.

"The cliche answer would be really close. The actual answer is unknown, honestly. There's a standard that we've played at for a long time. Just because the faces change doesn't mean the standard changes. That's a hard concept I think to grasp at times.

"We hold ourselves to a really high standard. I hold myself to a high standard. We're just not quite there yet.

"So I trust Matt and the staff and the conversations we'll have this week that we'll clean some things up. This team, we're five weeks in, and there's a lot of football left. Can't squander any more games like this though because the season is going to be pretty tough."

Rodgers' assessment is a hard one to disagree with. The Packers have a winning record, they will be expected to bounce back at Lambeau Field against the New York Jets in Week 6 and the likelihood is that they will be contesting the postseason again in 2022, yet the standard Rodgers speaks of has been allowed to slip too often in the first five weeks and, come the pressure cooker of the playoffs, a failure to uphold it could leave Green Bay with an all too familiar feeling of January disappointment.

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