The Good, Bad And Ugly From The Green Bay Packers’ Loss To The Las Vegas Raiders

The Green Bay Packers are in a strange portion of their schedule, where they play just one game in 23 days.

Unfortunately for the Packers, that game will leave a sour taste in their collective mouth.

Green Bay traveled to ‘Sin City’ Monday night and gave largely a sinful offensive performance.

The Packers had their usual first half struggles on offense, managed just 285 total yards and dropped a 17-13 decision to host Las Vegas. The game was decided when Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love threw his third interception of the night with just 33 seconds remaining.

“Well that was obviously a very disappointing loss,” Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur said. “Give credit to the Raiders. They did enough to win. I think any time, when you have three turnovers it’s tough to overcome that and we’ve got to do a better job.”

Green Bay lost its second straight game and fell to 2-3 heading into its bye week. The Raiders snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 2-3.

“We wanted to go home, into the bye, with a win,” cornerback Rasul Douglas said. “Now, Matt (LaFleur) about to talk our damn head off tomorrow.

“As soon as we wake up, because you get back in the morning, he about to talk our head off because we lost. We came here to win and we just fell short of that. Do what you gotta do to win and we ain’t do it.”

Here’s the good, bad and ugly from Green Bay’s loss to the Raiders.

THE GOOD

PRESSURE COOKER: Green Bay sacked Las Vegas quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo four times.

Kenny Clark blasted up the middle and dropped Garoppolo for a 9-yard loss to kill the Raiders’ opening drive. Las Vegas drove to the Packers’ 40-yard line on its second possession, but outside linebacker Preston Smith sacked Garoppolo for a 7-yard loss that took the Raiders out of field goal range.

Outside linebackers Kingsley Enagbare and Rashan Gary later added sacks, as well.

The Packers now have 15 sacks through five games (3.0) after posting 34 sacks in 17 games last season (2.0).

“We believe in our pass rush and the guys that we got in front,” Clark said. “We get anybody in third-and-long or second-and-long situations where we know they’ve got to pass, I have confidence we’re going to get pressure or get the sack and get our offense back the ball. We did a good job today whenever they did get in those third down situations getting off the field.”

RUN DEFENSE: The Packers entered the game ranked a miserable 30^th in rushing defense, allowing a whopping 155.3 yards per game and 4.5 yards per carry. Green Bay limited the Raiders to just 96 rushing yards, though, on 29 carries (3.3).

“It’s a lot of stuff to build from and we’re going to keep on working,” Clark said. “Only thing we can do is just get back to work and keep trying to move forward.”

MAKING A STAND: The Raiders led, 7-3, late in the first half when linebacker Robert Spillane intercepted Love and returned it 23 yards to the Packers’ 7. Las Vegas had a chance to take control of the game, but Green Bay’s defense held and the Raiders settled for a field goal.

Josh Jacobs lost a yard on first down when Kenny Clark and Preston Smith dumped him behind the line of scrimmage. A screen pass to Jacobs on second down gained nothing after nickel back Keisean Nixon made a terrific tackle. Then on third down, Smith knocked down a pass intended for DeAndre Carter.

FORD TOUGH: Safety Rudy Ford had his second interception in as many games.

On the Raiders’ opening possession of the second half, Ford jumped a shallow crossing route intended for Jakobi Meyers and intercepted Jimmy Garoppolo’s pass. Ford returned the pick nine yards to the Las Vegas 37, and eight plays later, A.J. Dillon powered in for a 5-yard touchdown that tied the game 10-10.

“Rudy stepped up,” Packers nickel back Keisean Nixon said. “He’s playing good football. That’s what we expect out of him and he brings us physicality and what he does as a player and showing the league what he can do.”

THIS AND THAT: Christian Watson had a 77-yard reception midway through the third quarter that set up a field goal that gave Green Bay a 13-10 lead. … Rookie kicker Anders Carlson is now 17-of-17 on all kicks after making two field goals and an extra point. Carlson is a perfect 7-of-7 on field goals and 10-of-10 on extra points … Swing tackle Yosh Nijman got a pinkie on Daniel Carlson’s 53-yard field goal attempt just before halftime causing it to miss wide left. … Tight end Ben Sims had his first career catch in which he made a nifty move and turned it into a 12-yard gain.

THE BAD

THROWING IT ALL AWAY: Love threw three interceptions — including two to linebacker Robert Spillane — and all were extremely costly.

“I’ve got to take care of the ball,” Love said. “And, you know, not taking care of the ball hurts our team. So I’ve got to be better in that area.”

Spillane’s first pick led to a Daniel Carlson field goal that gave the Raiders a 10-3 second quarter lead.

The second came with 9 minutes left after the Packers drove into Las Vegas territory. On second-and-17 from the Raiders 47, Love tried hitting Christian Watson on an inside slant. Las Vegas cornerback Marcus Peters deflected the pass, though, and it bounced into the waiting arms of Spillane.

Then with the Packers trailing, 17-13, in the final minute, Love threw to the endzone for Christian Watson. Las Vegas’ Amik Robertson outmuscled Watson for the ball, though, ending the Packers’ hopes for a come-from-behind win.

“That play, once I kind of stepped up in the pocket, I just kind of saw Christian and I feel like he had the DB beat by a little bit,” Love said. “Thought we had a play to win it right there in the end zone. Kind of just underthrew it. Didn’t get enough on it, didn’t get it out there enough and the DB made a good play.”

The Raiders had forced just one turnover in their first four games, but had a field day against Love and the Packers.

MAD MAXX: The Packers tried everything possible to slow down Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby — and failed miserably.

Green Bay used tight ends and running backs to chip Crosby. The Packers double teamed Crosby. None of it mattered.

Las Vegas moved Crosby all around the line and he wreaked havoc from everywhere. Crosby finished with a sack, four tackles for loss and five total tackles.

Even when Crosby wasn’t making a play, he was disrupting it.

“Obviously, he’s incredibly talented, but I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a guy that works as hard as he does and can sustain that for 70 plays,” LaFleur said of Crosby before the game. “He rarely comes out of the game and he’s going to give you everything he has on every play.

“He is relentless. If you think you have him blocked for a second and you let up, he ends up finding a way to swim you or maneuver around you and hit the quarterback. He is constantly hitting the quarterback whether the quarterback’s got the ball in his hands or not or he’s just releasing it. This guy is a special player. He’s one of the best players in this league.”

OPENING DRIVES: In Week 1 against Chicago, the Packers marched for a touchdown on their first drive of the game. Since then, Green Bay’s opening drives have been forgettable.

In the last four games, the Packers have just three points, three first downs, and are averaging 2.84 yards per play on their opening drives. Monday night was slightly better as Green Bay picked up two first downs and 28 yards, but eventually punted.

The Packers script their first 15 plays with hopes it leads to big things early. For the past month, it hasn’t come close to delivering.

“We’ve just got to find a way to get going faster, get a rhythm going,” Love said. “And I’ve got to find a way just to be better, get some completions going and move the ball.”

AARON JONES: Green Bay was without Jones, its No. 1 running back again.

Jones has now missed three of the last four games with a hamstring injury he suffered in Week 1 at Chicago. Jones played 20 snaps in Week 4 against Detroit, but wasn’t able to go against the Raiders.

Green Bay’s running game was so-so, as it picked up 110 rushing yards on 25 attempts (4.4). But the Packers clearly miss the explosiveness Jones brings.

“The hamstring, it can linger, so don’t want any of that,” Jones said last week. “That’s why they’ve been so cautious. Anytime you get a hamstring, it’s not what you want, but been doing my best to try to get back out there.”

MORE INJURIES: Inside linebacker Quay Walker left in the second quarter with a knee injury and Darnell Savage exited in the third quarter with a calf injury. Neither player returned.

THIS AND THAT: Green Bay safety Rudy Ford gave far too much room to wideout Jakobi Meyers on his 9-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter. On a second-and-6 from the Packers’ 9, Meyers got a clean release, made the catch at the 2 and carried Ford into the endzone. … The Packers drove to the Raiders’ 20 in the first quarter. On first down, though, Green Bay ran a jet sweep to Christian Watson that lost five yards. The drive eventually stalled and the Packers settled for a field goal. … Left tackle Rasheed Walker whiffed on a block of defensive end Maxx Crosby, who then tackled A.J. Dillon for a 1-yard loss. … The Packers are off to their worst start since the 2012 campaign.

THE UGLY

FIRST HALF WOES: The Packers’ first half ineptitude in recent games borders on remarkable.

Green Bay went scoreless in the first half in Week 3 against New Orleans. The Packers then had just three points at halftime of their last two games — Detroit in Week 4 and Las Vegas in Week 5.

That’s an astonishingly feeble six points in the last three first halves — an average of 2.0 points per game. The Packers have been outscored, 54-6, in those three first halves.

According to Elias Sports, this marked the first time since Dec., 1990 that Green Bay scored three or fewer points in the first half in three straight games of one season.

Against a subpar Raiders’ defense, the Packers had just 102 first half yards and averaged only 4.4 yards per play. Green Bay’s offensive struggles played a large role in its 10-3 halftime deficit.

“We’ve got to find something to get us going, to jumpstart us,” LaFleur said. “We’ve got to look at everything because it seemed like when we dialed up some passes they had some timely calls defensively.”