The Green Bay Packers rode high four days ago.
Sure enough, they had a quick makeover with Tennessee Giants to town on Thursday night. But can’t blame them for hoping to turn the season around after their previous win dalas cowboyand the next match was played with the 31st passing foul of the tournament.
It was also a perfect Lambeau night, with sleet and a temperature of 26º. Football weather, of course
Sure, Green Bay can stop Tennessee and take advantage of some lessons learned against Team America to score enough points for a second straight win.
Fast-forward a bit, and the Packers surrendered a total of 408 yards and 320 net passes like Titans went to 27-17 won at Lambeau Field.
“I don’t even know what to say,” Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said dejectedly after the game. “This is not like it was a few days ago.”
Tennessee quarterback Ryan Tannehill completed 22 of 27 pass attempts and converted seven of 13 attempts to go down on a third as he extended the drive. Like, real expansion drive.
Especially in the first half, the Titans didn’t hold the ball well Aaron Rodgers‘ hands as much as possible, with 10 minutes of driving in the second half yielding no points but helping them win possession by a huge 19:25 to 10:34 after halftime break. .
And though the Packers could hold the ball longer in the second half, they were nearly powerless against Tennessee’s second-tier defence. It prevents them from deploying a strategy that worked so well against Dallas last week, when they seemed to find offensive identity through the ground game. Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon combined to achieve 203 javelin on Sunday. Thursday night? They only have a total of 53.
Rodgers threw the ball 39 times, completing 24 of them. There are drops. There are ill-timed throws. There are bad roads. And it’s that story that has given them headaches for most of the 2022 season: no one is on the same page when it comes to the game going by.
“I’ll have to go back and see it, but it’s definitely a little different tonight,” LaFleur said.
Rodgers added: “I think Ryan played really well for them. “They stopped the track. They hit us at the end of the field. We knew this team was going to throw a lot of flags. Combine that with me missing a few throws and we didn’t take advantage of a few chances. .. we could never get over that hump and win the ball back with a chance to take the lead.”
The Packers had two-thirds in the red zone – actually better than their season average of 51.7%, which ranks 23rd in the league. They converted only 25% of the fourth drop, ranked 30th this season, and they drew 0-2 on Thursday night.
It’s also not the only trend that continues. According to ESPN, Rodgers is in 3-46th place of his career having fallen by double digits in the fourth quarter. One of those wins came on Sunday against Dallas. Thursday falls into another column.
The only bright spot is that rookie Christian Watson seems to have finally turned a corner, even if his offense didn’t happen. Watson again scored multiple touchdowns during the night, finishing in the bottom area twice after making three just a few days ago. He currently leads all rookies in touchdowns this year.
It’s time to face reality, Packers fans. No 2016 mojo came to save this team and put them in post-season. Year Thirty Eight The Packers’ playoff chance is only 12% entering Week 11. If they win, that number increases to 20%. Instead, it dropped to just 5% with the loss lifting their record to 4-7.
“We’re not in a good position right now, that’s for sure,” LaFleur said. “As I’ve told everyone, there’s no limit to error, period.”
In a perfect encapsulation of the entire night, Rodgers was asked where he was going from here.
Rodgers replied, “Home.”
Carmen Vitali covers NFC North for FOX Sports. Carmen has made previous stops with The Draft Network and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. She’s spent six seasons with the Bucs, including 2020, the title of Super Bowl Champion (and boat parade participant) to her résumé. You can follow Carmen on Twitter at @CarmieV.
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