Packers' young players shine while cornerstones falter in loss to Steelers
For at least the second time this season, the kids played their tails off. It was the stalwarts (or at least the purported ones) that failed them in Pittsburgh.
Good morning!
Two trips deep into Pittsburgh Steelers territory in the final five minutes resulted in zero points and two turnovers as the Green Bay Packers fell to 3-6 on the season.
Today's edition of The Leap focuses on the Packers’ young players playing better than their purported cornerstones, the failings of said cornerstones, and how this loss impacts the outlook for the rest of the season. Tank time?
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The Packers totaled nearly 400 yards of offense against a top-10 defense but once again blew chances to score when they needed to. Are you more impressed or concerned?
Peter Bukowski: I’m far more impressed than concerned, though that’s not to say there aren’t valid criticisms. We’ll get to them momentarily. Jason wrote last week in the aftermath of last week’s win over the Los Angeles Rams about the promising rookie class, and they impressed again against the Steelers.
Jayden Reed looks like the best wide receiver on the team right now. Luke Musgrave is the deep threat they’ve never had at the tight-end position. Dontayvion Wicks wakes up open.
Let’s throw Jordan Love in that mix as well as a first-time starting quarterback. He came out firing against a Steelers secondary that can be attacked. The pass protection held up despite left tackle Rasheed Walker returning to the lineup. Right tackle Zach Tom held his own against All-Pro pass rusher T.J. Watt and Love had one of his finest performances as a pro, pushing the ball down the field with accuracy.
This marks consecutive weeks Love successfully pushed the ball down the field and just one of the chunk plays went to Christian Watson, which is encouraging for Reed and Musgrave who have now proven they’re field-stretchers but discouraging for Watson who profiled to become one of the pre-eminent deep threats in the league.
For whom is this loss more disappointing?
PB: There are a slew of supposed cornerstones to name here. The aforementioned Watson remains stuck in neutral and appears to have regressed in his second year. His routes aren’t sharp and his pacing doesn’t create separation. Worse still, he might as well be 5-foot-6 at the catch point. On Sunday, Patrick Peterson beat Watson to the interception in the end zone Watson couldn’t even make a legitimate play on the football.
Let’s reverse-shoutout (is that just a callout then?) Rich Bisaccia as well. The special teams still absolutely stink on ice. They came into the week ranked 28th in DVOA and, despite some Keisean Nixon magic, cost the Packers more than one point with the blocked point after touchdown.
But no, the top candidate here is Aaron Jones. After his terrific week against the Rams, he dropped two passes, one a beauty of a call from Matt LaFleur on a throw-back screen (as opposed to a throwback screen) where Jones had a convoy of blockers.
And then, of course, on the red-zone screen he did catch, all the Packers had to do was block one guy in the open field and one of your veteran offensive linemen can’t get the job done. On a day when Walker and Tom thrived, one of the most veteran offensive linemen struggled.
It’s Sean Rhyan for Jon Runyan Jr.
One important note on Joe Barry: He’s only unscathed here because I’m not disappointed in him anymore. We expect 200 yards on the ground and two true defensive linemen inside the 10. Forget going from the sideline to the booth, Barry might as well be calling the game from his bathtub at home.
Green Bay played legitimately well last week and plays like Carrington Valentine look like true NFL players. This run defense “led” by the amazing disappearing Devonte Wyatt who only seems to play on passing downs despite someone in No. 95 being out there defending runs, remains an embarrassment.
How does the outcome of this game impact the way the Packers should handle the rest of the season?
PB: There are no moral victories in the NFL. However, if the Packers play like this the rest of the season, they’re going to beat enough crap teams that the draft dreams will die. They may not die soon though given the upcoming schedule, but late in the year when Green Bay gets the Chicago Bears, Carolina Panthers, New York Giants, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, those are all games they probably win if this is the version of the offense we see.
Consider that not only are all those teams bad, but the Bears, Panthers, and Giants are all already ahead of the Packers in the draft pecking order. Take the culture of winning to the side for a moment. Just logically, they won’t be in the mix for one of these top quarterbacks, so there’s no need to worry about it.
I’m not saying don’t pull up some Joe Alt scouting reports or peruse Rome Odunze highlights. Do that. It’s fun! And it would be good for the Packers to take these encouraging losses where they show signs of progress but ultimately lose for draft picks … against good teams.
There’s no such thing as an encouraging loss to the Panthers or the Giants this season. You have to beat those teams. And Green Bay has the talent to accomplish it.
They outplayed Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh. But if these near-misses continue to happen at the end of games where they have chances to win and the ball keeps winding up in the hands of the other team -- Not on Love today, that was a prayer -- then there will be reasons to want to lose enough to get in the top three and reset. In the NFL, “encouraging” and “progress” can turn into “stalling out” in a hurry.
Green Bay isn’t there yet.