The Good, Bad And Ugly From The Green Bay Packers’ Loss To The Buffalo Bills

Aaron Rodgers, now in his 18^th 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.”

No they weren’t.