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After the Green Bay Packers 13-7 loss in a, frankly, boring game against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 9, there isn't a whole lot to make of how good Green Bay really is as a team without reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers at the helm. It's not like we didn't see this coming.
The Packers were held scoreless until late in the fourth quarter, when Jordan Love threw for his first career touchdown pass, which went to Allen Lazard for a 20-yard score to give Green Bay some life late in the game. It was for naught, though, as the Chiefs were able to ice the game with a drive into Packers territory on the ensuing drive.
Despite the woes on offense, the Pack still could have easily won this game, but poor play on special teams on three specific plays caused a 9-point swing in the Chiefs' favor throughout this game. Two were missed field goals, one of which had a poor hold and hooked wide left, and one that was simply blocked (and still had a bad hold, regardless). The last was a muffed punt, that, to be fair, was the result of an off-balance Malik Taylor happening to be in the path of the pigskin's bounce, and gave the Chiefs prime position for a field goal.
What can Packers fans make of this stinker of a game? Is there reason for optimism down the line? Or did it expose a flaw in the Packers' offensive infrastructure and overall special teams play? Here are 3 key takeaways from the contest.
3. Jordan Love is NOT Green Bay's future answer as the franchise QB
Though Jordan Love made a few nice throws down the stretch, he did not look like a quarterback who has been preparing for the moment for all of the last season-and-a-half. Besides evading pressure and not being too careless with the football, there was nothing inspiring from his performance today. He threw behind receivers oftentimes, simply missed them at others, and had open guys all over the field that he missed. If he gets another shot next week, then hopefully he will prove all of us doubters wrong, but he does not look like the heir to Rodgers' throne.
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2. A.J. Dillon and Aaron Jones will absolutely punish defenses this winter
When the Packers were able to sustain drives long enough to run the ball, Dillon and Jones were great. The two combined for almost 100 yards on only 18 carries, averaging above 5 yards per carry as a duo, despite the Chiefs loading the box all night. Once Aaron Rodgers is back to methodically march down the field in the winter and in the playoffs, these two will put the football world on notice.
1. The Packers are arguably the league's best team when healthy
It was remarkable that Green Bay even had a chance to win this game, given all of their injuires. They were without All-Pros Aaron Rodgers, David Bakhtiari, Jaire Alexander, key starters Robert Tonyan, Za'Darius Smith, and Kingsley Keke, and lost Eric Stokes and Kenny Clark for large portions of the game due to injury. And still, they kept pace with the reigning AFC champions. If (and granted, that's a big if), this team is healthy in the playoffs, they are going to be scary, and have a real shot at getting Rodgers his second Super Bowl ring.
