Packers Instant Takeaway: Jordan Love Replaces Injured Aaron Rodgers: Do You Really Need It?
The Green Bay Packers offense scored 30 points for the second time this season and did so against a very good defense. Unfortunately, the Packers’ defense could not come close to containing or stopping the Eagles’ running game.
Now 4-8, if the Packers had any hope of advancing to the playoffs, it may be gone.
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As I do after every Packers game, here are my snapshot takeaways from their performance.
- I think we’re all wondering if the Packers will transition to Jordan Love at some point this season once they are out of playoff contention. Aaron Rodgers has been battling a thumb injury, but his latest injury may not give Green Bay much of a chance. (Packers Instant Takeaway: Jordan Love Replaces Injured Aaron Rodger)
- It was a small sample size, but Love seemed confident, he was letting it break down, went through his stride, extended the plays and had some impressive pitches. An encouraging performance.
- Admittedly, the Eagles’ offense made a lot of defenses look bad, but my god, the Packers were totally unprepared. Did you know that the Eagles are a team that runs a lot? Green Bay had no answers for Miles Sanders and Jalen Hurts. Sanders had rampant running lanes between the tackles, while the edge runners continued to set up bad edges, which Hurts took advantage of. Quay Walker was occasionally used as a spy, but it was not enough or he was not effective at it.
- On top of that, it’s not like Green Bay has slowed down the passing game either. The Packers cornerbacks, especially Rasool Douglas and the safeties, also had a poor performance. (Packers Instant Takeaway: Jordan Love Replaces Injured Aaron Rodgers)
Green Bay lost the most tackles. Like, too many missed tackles.
The third downs were terrible on both sides of the ball. The offense could not convert any, while the defense did well to create several long and third-string situations, but it did not matter as they could not drive down the field.
Joe Barry wasn’t a good player, but he wasn’t a player either.
- Darnell Savage left early with a foot injury, but before that, he was not among the starters. In the Packers’ nickel formation, Rudy Ford and Adrian Amos were deep, with Casein Nixon in the slot.
- The Packers only have Savage and Tariq Carpenter under contract in 2023, but you can target Ford after he had a forced fumble on another play. He was hired as a special teams player but has also been a solid defender.
For the first six minutes of the game, the Packers’ offense, defense, and special teams looked to be complete losers. Thank you Green Bay for making this game competitive and for continuing to fight. It could have been very easy to give.
- Justin Hollins, who was claimed off waivers on Wednesday, got off to a strong start with a career stoppage, a sack and pressure. He’s already been more dominant than Jonathan Garvin and LaDarius Hamilton.
- As I wrote before the game, the Packers’ best chance for offensive success was going to start with the running game, and we saw it. The Eagles run defense has been susceptible recently without Jordan Davis, and the Packers were able to create some wide running lanes for Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon. At first, though, it helped establish some success in the passing game.(Packers Instant Takeaway: Jordan Love Replaces Injured Aaron Rodgers)
- There were more two-back sets than we’ve seen recently, and Green Bay was more dominant with those sets than it was earlier in the season. Jones and Dillon were also used heavily in the passing game.
AJ Dillon easily had his best game of the season. It looked more explosive than anything we’ve seen all year.
- Here’s a statistic for you from Rob Dembowski, the only 60 points the Packers defense has allowed this season in the final two minutes before halftime. Most in the NFL.
- The Eagles came into the game as the best in the NFL at creating turnovers, and we saw it when they sacked Aaron Rodgers twice.
- There are still some falls here, but Christian Watson continues to make great strides as a playwright before our eyes. His pace changes the game.
- It looks like the Packers have found a comeback man in Kessen Nixon, who brings some serious juice to the position.
