The Good, Bad And Ugly From The Green Bay Packers’ Loss To The New York Jets

Matt LaFleur had been a perfect 10-0 coming off a regular season loss.

That streak is over.

The Packers were 24-2 at Lambeau Field under LaFleur.

They’re now 24-3.

LaFleur’s Green Bay Packers are a mess. And Sunday was further proof.

The Packers dropped their second straight game, falling to the New York Jets, 27-10, at Lambeau Field. Green Bay is now 3-3 and trails first place Minnesota (5-1) by two games in the NFC North.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly from the Jets’ win over the Packers, beginning with the ugly.

THE UGLY

OFFENSE: Six games into the season, Green Bay has scored just 107 points — a paltry 17.8 points per contest. And over the last six quarters, the Packers have just 10 offensive points.

Things were as ugly as ugly gets on Sunday.

Green Bay averaged just 4.0 yards a play. The Packers had only 278 total yards.

Green Bay managed only 60 rushing yards. And Aaron Rodgers was sacked four times and had a remarkably uneven game, averaging just 6.0 yards per attempt and finishing with an 88.1 rating.

“I expect that typical stretch coming up at some point where we get really hot,” Rodgers said last week. “Hopefully it starts this week. But I think that’s right around the corner.”

Not quite.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Green Bay’s special teams, which has been largely abysmal since 2005, had shown signs of progress this season under new coordinator Rich Bisaccia. That changed Sunday.

The Jets Michael Clemens blocked a Pat O’Donnell punt in the third quarter, Will Parks recovered and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown that gave New York a 17-3 lead.

In the second quarter, the Jets Quinnen Williams blocked Mason Crosby’s 47-yard field goal.

New York’s Braxton Berrios also averaged 29.0 yards per kick return and 11.3 on punt returns.

Green Bay’s Eric Wilson did block a Braden Mann punt. Overall, though, Bisaccia’s units were whipped by the Jets’ special teams.

“I’d like to think that if we can find a certain consistent balance into what we’re trying to do, then I think you have a chance to improve and get better every day in the fundamentals and technique we’re asking you to do,” Bisaccia said last week. “I think our job is to put them in position just to do what they really do well, and then individually can be successful which means collectively we all have a chance to be successful.”

The Packers were anything but successful Sunday.

DEFENSE: Green Bay believed it had one of the NFL’s elite defenses when the season began.

That hasn’t been the case — and the Packers’ defense was completely overwhelmed in the second half Sunday.

Green Bay needed its defense to step up in what was a 3-3 game at halftime. Instead, the Jets dominated after intermission, scored 17 points on their final three offensive possessions and pulled away.

First, Braxton Berrios had a 20-yard touchdown run on a reverse. Then, Breece Hall ripped off a 34-yard touchdown run. And lastly, the Jets marched 57 yards and kicked a field goal that stretched their lead to 27-10 and ended things.

The Jets ran the ball for 179 yards and averaged 5.4 yards per carry. And the hot seat under defensive coordinator Joe Barry is now scorching.

“We already know it’s going to come,” Packers cornerback Rasul Douglas said this week. “We just can’t press it. I think everybody knows how good we can be and everybody sees the names, so it’s like, ‘We expect so much of these guys.’ Right now, it’s not happening but it’s still early. It’s still early.”

Perhaps. But Green Bay continues to look for answers it can’t find.

THE BAD

OFFENSIVE LINE: Green Bay’s group was atrocious throughout the day and was consistently whipped by the Jets’ defensive front.

Rodgers was sacked four times and was hit nine more times. Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams dominated inside with two sacks and three quarterback hits.

Struggling right guard Royce Newman was benched in the second quarter and replaced with Jake Hanson. Hanson quickly suffered a biceps injury, though, and Newman re-entered the game.

Right tackle Elgton Jenkins was flagged three times during a rocky performance. And the entire line was overwhelmed throughout.

THE AARON JONES MYSTERY: Jones, Green Bay’s most dynamic offensive playmaker, had just three carries in the first half and only one reception.

He finished with nine carries for 19 yards and three catches for 25 yards.

Jones entered the day averaging a whopping 6.4 yards per game, but now has just 70 carries this season (11.7 per game).

“It’s hard to sit up here and justify that to everybody, to our team,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said last week of Jones’ limited workload.

Jones entered the year as one of only three players in NFL history to post 4,000-plus rushing yards (4,163) and 40-plus rushing TDs (41) with an average of 5.0-plus yards per carry (5.06) in their first five seasons. The other two? Oh, just Hall of Famers Jim Brown (1957-61) and Jim Taylor (1958-62).

Among running backs with at least 750 career carries, Jones ranks fifth all-time in yards per carry at 5.16. This year, Jones is averaging a ridiculous 6.39 yards per attempt.

And from 2019-21, only two running backs have posted 1,000-plus yards from scrimmage and 10-plus scrimmage touchdowns each year: Jones and Tennessee’s Derrick Henry.

But Jones continues to be the most under-utilized player in the league. That didn’t change on Sunday, and it’s one of the biggest mysteries in Green Bay right now.

RANDALL COBB: Green Bay’s veteran wide receiver suffered an ankle injury in the third quarter, then left on a cart. While exiting Lambeau Field, Cobb teared up and put a towel over his head.

What that means for his future remains to be seen.

Cobb entered the day tied for second on the team with 17 catches and tied for second in targets (25).

In Green Bay’s loss to the New York Giants last week, Cobb caught seven passes for 99 yards.

“I feel great,” Cobb said last week. “I’ve been telling you all that for the past couple of weeks. I feel great.”

Unfortunately for Cobb and the Packers, he wasn’t feeling so good on Sunday.

THE GOOD

ROBERT TONYAN: Green Bay’s tight end has been quiet through five games with just 17 catches for 129 yards (7.6 average) and one touchdown. But Tonyan had his best game of 2022 against the Jets.

Tonyan had six catches for 61 yards in the first half and finished with a team-high 10 catches for 90 yards.

Less than a year after suffering a torn ACL, Tonyan is starting to resemble his old self.

THIS AND THAT: Green Bay’s Eric Wilson blocked a punt in the second quarter. … Green Bay rookie fifth round draft pick Kingsley Enagbare notched his first career sack. Enagbare, an outside linebacker, dumped Wilson for a 4-yard loss in the second quarter. … Rashan Gary had a sack and has now posted sacks in five of six games this year.