In both Week 9 at the Los Angeles Chargers and Week 12 at the San Fransisco 49ers, the Green Bay Packers flaws were completely exposed. The offense sputtered from start to finish, unable to make any halftime adjustments. Both west coast games revealed that the Packers are abysmal on third down, and also the defense continues to give up big plays.
Green Bay Packers Offense Has Flaws Exposed on Visits to West Coast
In the Pack’s meeting with the LA Chargers in California, the home team had the momentum in their favor from the beginning. The Chargers defense held the Packers offense to 161 receiving yards and 45 rushing yards. Yet, the Packers couldn’t stop Los Angeles from reaching 294 receiving yards and 159 rushing yards. The Packers were 2-10 on third down. This dud was supposed to be a wake-up call for the Pack, yet they fell into a similar trap on Sunday Night Football
Fast forward two weeks to the Packers’ second trip to Cali. Green Bay opens the game with a first down that results in a 15-yard penalty because of Davante Adams‘ “unsportsmanlike conduct“. Every following possession, they struggled to put together any sort of drive. San Fransisco held the Pack to 119 receiving yards and 117 rushing yards. Meanwhile, Green Bay allowed the 49ers to rack up 253 receiving yards and 112 rushing yards. The Packers were 1-15 on third down.
As Aaron Nagler of Cheesehead TV points out in the below tweet, Adams tries to alert Aaron Rodgers of the coming slot pressure before he runs his route. The wide receiver is wide open, and Rodgers doesn’t notice the opportunity and take advantage as he has previously.
This is so frustrating. Rodgers used to carve teams up when they sent slot pressure. Adams sees it, tries to alert the QB, looks back for the hot throw…instead, death. pic.twitter.com/9rtdqwpG2q
— Aaron Nagler (@AaronNagler) November 26, 2019
This clip is concerning and makes one question what could be going on with the quarterback. Is the issue that he isn’t seeing the open man? Is the offensive line not giving him enough time? In the above clip from Sunday night’s game, it seems the QB has at least three seconds before contact, and Adams is clearly open. If this team is to compete in January and be any sort of threat to their NFC opponents, the offense must improve.
Throughout the first 12 weeks of the 2019 season, Green Bay has converted on third down 33.59% of the time. That’s 3.17% less than the entire 2018 season. The Packers offense currently rank 26th in the league for third down conversion percentage.
The Defense Is Still Giving Up Big Plays
As successful as Mike Pettine‘s defense has been, there is still plenty of room to grow. Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith combine for 20.5 sacks this season, which is worth celebrating. However, the defense still has some kinks to work out. They let George Kittle explode for a 61-yard touchdown reception. They failed to stop Deebo Samuel from his 42-yard touchdown reception. The Packers’ defense also couldn’t keep Raheem Mostert from making a 22-yard catch. These three plays, from the week 12 game alone, stand out as game-changers. Za’Darius and Preston can’t run the defense on their own. They need help from their peers, especially veterans like Blake Martinez. So far this season, Martinez only has 2 sacks, 67 solo tackle, and 41 combined tackles.
If Green Bay intends to stick around for much of the postseason, the offense needs to figure out how to get out of its own way. Rodgers needs to lead the Pack to faster starts. Stalling well into the third quarter when the game becomes out-of-reach isn’t the answer. Similarly, the defense must get consistent pressure on the quarterback. The secondary has to stop 20-plus-yard plays from happening.
In postgame and locker room interviews following the brutal 8-37 loss to the 49ers, the consensus from the entire team was that they were “outplayed and outcoached.” Seeing how Matt LaFleur makes adjustments in the coming weeks should be interesting.
