It started rather inauspiciously for the Green Bay Packers against the Browns. Then, late in the game, Jordan Love made a poor play. And here are the Packers most to blame for the dreadful collapse versus the Browns.
Andre Szmyt booted a 55-yard field goal as time expired to give the Browns an improbable 13-10 victory over the Packers.
The Packers fell to 2-1, but let’s get a couple of things straight before serving up the blame tray. First, the Browns have a very good defense. On a given day, the Browns can beat good teams — including the Packers.
Second, it’s tough to win on the road in the NFL. If a team doesn’t come in with the right mindset, a loss can happen. So the first blame goes to …
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur didn’t have his team ready
Who knows what LaFleur said to his players before the game? But the bottom line is, the Packers entered the game feeling themselves. It was far too early to crown the Packers as the NFC's Super Bowl representative.
Right now, they stand in a six-way tie for the fourth-best record in the NFC. Yeah, nothing special, according to their record. And they should have approached the Browns’ game, their first on the road, as a chance to prove something. Instead, they played subpar football and let the inferior Browns hang around.
LaFleur said the loss stung, according to ESPN.
“That was extremely disappointing, obviously,” LaFleur said. “To have an opportunity to win the game and have them flip the script late is tough to deal with. We played well enough defensively to win the game, but we didn’t do a good enough job on offense and special teams.”
There also has to be an open door for the conversation: How long will it take some time for the Packers’ offense to adjust to the injury loss of receiver Jayden Reed? Rookie Matthew Golden led the team with four catches for 52 yards. Josh Jacobs was next with five catches for 44 yards. Then Tucker Craft added three catches for 29 yards.
See what’s missing? The Packers need a wide receiver to step up and allow this offense to operate at a higher gear. That’s on LaFleur to figure out.
QB Jordan Love fell short
The numbers were unspectacular, but not terrible. Love hit on 18 of 25 passes for 183 yards with a touchdown and an interception. The biggest problem wasn’t just the pick, but the timing of the pick.
It was third and three, a relatively easy distance for a first-down conversion. But here’s the problem. If the conversion fails, a punt is a good thing. An argument can be made that a punt in that situation gives the Packers the win. The Browns would have needed to drive, say 60 or 70 yards, for the tying score. That’s something they hadn’t done the whole game.
Love’s interception wasn’t a fluky tip or a bad break. It was simply a terrible throw. And it eventually cost his team the game.
“It’s a tough loss, for sure,” Love said. “Adversity is going to strike us at some point this season — and it struck today.”
Edge rusher Micah Parsons deserves blame
Parsons didn’t get a sack against a statue-like Joe Flacco. That seems hard to imagine, and perhaps shows Parsons didn’t bring his A game to the field. To be fair, Parsons had several pressures and two quarterback hits.
Furthermore, Parsons added to his less-than-ideal afternoon by jumping offside. The thing is, Parsons should never need to get a jump start. His talent should take care of things. Parsons acknowledged the bad plays, according to a post on X by Ryan Wood.
“Two offsides is unacceptable for myself, for this team. Just things we shouldn't be doing, I shouldn't be doing, it's unacceptable. I fully apologize for my actions.”
But Parsons said the Packers haven’t disrupted their season, according to packers.com via NFL.com.
It happens to the best teams. Even the best Super Bowl champs make mistakes, and they pay for it early.
“You go back to the history of the champions and who they've played and games they should've won. It's just part of the [NFL]. It's just that competitive. It's that hard to win. It's hard as hell to win football games. So, when you win football games, it's a celebration. But when you lose, it sucks.”
