All qbs have bad days. Love has shown that he can play better than what he played on Monday. For as bad as he played the first 55 minutes, he put the offense in the end zone to take the lead at the end of the game. Something he failed to do earlier in the year.

Love played like crap.
The OL played like crap.
Barry was surprised by DeVito’s running ability (fair - he hadn’t shown it before) but was WAY too slow to adjust.
The best three playmakers on offense were injured, and MLF could not adjust.
Campbell is getting up there for an ILB and isn’t the player he was just 2 years ago.
Joe Barry’s defensive scheme is a vanilla, baseless, mess.

They lost because they were sloppy. They were injured. They were young. And the coaches spit the bit. Happens. As much as it sucks, we need to remember this entire season was about setting up a new window with a new QB. That is being done. Any actual achievement on the field (getting to the playoffs) is gravy.

Moving on to Tampa.

Thanks Al...I remember "First Impressions" and making comments each week there... Good Memories.

Yesterday at the office all my co-workers wanted to share THEIR opinions of what went wrong Monday Night with the Packers. While I appreciate their thoughts (Well, not really) it wasn't rocket science. I've seen this type of performance from the Offense, Defense, and ST before. Actually MANY times before.

The difference Monday Night and Tuesday morning after the game was I didn't blame the Players. At least for everything.

Nope at the end of the day Joe Barry is going to be Joe Barry. No, Joe Barry is ALWAYS going to revert back to that defense which made him famous with the 0-16 Detroit Lions or getting fired a few years later by the then Washington Redskins. Barry has spent YEARS devising a defense that stops no one. Did we really think it was going to work when the Packers needed it to the MOST consistently?

I'm not sure what happened to Rich Bisaccia but his ST are horrendous. There's a flag just about every ST play and if it's a good play for the Packers there's ALWAYS a flag or a missed FG or XP attempt.

Watching the Packers offense Monday I saw it was different right away. It looked EXACTLY like it did against the Raiders and Broncos. The results certainly were.

BUT, in September I KNEW this would happen. I knew this team COULD look like world beaters one week and the 0-16 Lions the next, and that is what happened. The coaching staff didn't help, especialy Barry and MLF with his prevent the win defense and countless end-a-rounds. But the Packers will have days like this. It happens with as much turnover at key positions the Packers have had.

It's not about being young. It's about learning how to be consistent. And the players are on the right track.

Al, I can sum it up in a few words, quarter back played like s***, offensive line stunk, special teams aren't special, and most of all the defense stinks at the most critical time of the game!!!

Jersey Al, good wrap-up for the week. MLF said they had a great week of practice before the Giants game. I don't know if they did or didn't, but the players weren't ready to play that game with intensity. I think many on this site expected this type of game as an emotional let-down after their previous three games. I think the two greatest coaching errors in this game (outside the teams lack of intensity) was the clock management on their last drive and the crazy oline rotation.
The Packers were given the perfect ending to a game they were lucky to be in position to win, and reverted their strategy to rely on the defense for the stop. BIG MISTAKE!
Anyway, on to the next game and let's see how they react to the loss. I suspect they will find their footing and win another close game.
JMHO

Gashed-
More weight" is "needed in the trench. Both sides.
The packers Defense will never contain a QB that runs.
Why? This Defense won't win without Quay Walker.
So to make up for that DL.
Another speedy "Quay Walker" please.
Remember what happened when Wayne Simmons Left?
And how Martinez couldn't get outside.
Screamed- Playmaker
So True- It's time to switch gears there.
Watson is so needed too.

Al, I was thinking the same thing. Obviously there were many things that went wrong in this game, but the clock management on the last offensive drive was so so bad.

Right before the two minute warning they hurry up and run a play to convert the first down. Had they let the clock run to the 2 minute warning, and then run that play, they would have forced NY to take a timeout or been able to run 40 seconds off the clock.

Then coming out of the two minute warning, the first play is a shot into the end zone that was incomplete.

It's as if they're down two scores and need to score immediately. We all saw that the defense was going to let the giants run all over them if they wanted to, and here's GBs offense in hurry up mode trying to give the giants the ball back with 2 minutes and three timeouts.

MLF is lucky so many things went wrong so this obvious mismanagement will be overlooked.

Al, all these observations are right on. I was at the game too - perfect conditions, any inaccuracy from Love was his alone.

I also think the game is really different if Love doesn't make two big mistakes. The intercepti0n was just a terrible throw.

What got me, b/c it happened right in front of me, was the designed run where Love fumbled. NO IDEA why he didn't follow his blocker. If he follows the WR blocker there, he's got the easy first down. Instead he turns upfield and into two Giants defenders and gets stripped. Really curious what he saw that made him do that. If the Packers get any points there, this is a very different game.

That said - sucks that our inexperienced QB (who is going to make mistakes) isn't going to get much help from the defense at all. The defense on the last FB drive was.... not even prevent.

Always good to read a first-hand impression of a game. Too bad the Packers played so poorly in the game you got to attend.

I was expecting a close game. Most people seemed to vastly underestimate the Giants coming into this game, even though they had won their last two and had a hot QB. Maybe it's encouraging, in a way, that the Packers had to make so many mistakes to lose, and they only lost by two points.

Good point about the no-huddle on the last drive. I didn't notice it at the time, but it sure came back to bite them at the end.

Thanks for confirming the lack of wind. I was wondering what Aikman was talking about. I had read the weather forecast before the game, and it looked like the wind would be a non-factor, which apparently it was. Aikman was apparently just guessing that the wind was a factor.

The biggest factor, to me, was the Packers' lack of pass rush. Maybe the Giants O-linemen got sick of reading about how terrible they are, and maybe the Packers pass rushers were overconfident. For whatever reason, there was very little pressure on DeVito, and when they did have pressure, they overran him and let him escape for big gains.

Man, this next draft and FA period will be interesting. OL, LB, S, DT, CB, K, RB all need to be addressed. We may even see a new DC, next season, if Gute sees what we see, and pressures MLF to make the change.

Injuries and inexperience lead to slopply game by the Packers. Throw in bad coaching, poor OL performance and lack of a pass rush and the team is going to lose games with those characteristics. Plus it't difficult for any team but especially a young team to overcome 3 turnovers.

Prior to the game I posted that the only way that the Packers could lose to the Giants was if they beat themselves which is exactly what they did. Even with that I did not expect the Packers to lose both sides of the LOS. I at least expected them to get pressure and sacks against the Giants OL. But it never happened. The defense did a decent job of keeping Barkley in check but failed to get to DeVito or to keep him from running for big yards.

Bissacia's STs were a nightmare including penalties, a muffed punt and a missed FG.

In the end the game proved to be a microcosm of the Packers season so far. Great plays, mistakes, injuries, questionable coaching and inconsistent overall play. Which version of the Packers will show up against the Bucs this week?

AL I remember your First Impressions column. Like Polluted Mindset it was always great read. Thanks, Since '61

Underrated keys to this game -

Aaron Jones not playing -
This one killed. They can get by without Jones if Watson is playing. But they can't go into the game without both Jones and Watson.

Jon Runyan - There was one sack where both the LT (I can't remember which one was playing) and Runyan gave up the sack on the same play. It pretty much sums up the OL this year. LT and RG are the weakpoints.

Going to the Well too often - I was hoping for something built off of that play. I feel like they could have missed an opportunity there.

Love sailing throws - It looked to me like the ball was coming out of his hand bad. A lot of them were wobbling. Some of the off throws its hard to know for sure if it was on Love or the WR's.

Due to living in the Eastern Time Zone and after watching the 1st half I decided to go to sleep. I was glad I did. They did not look good in the 1st half and from what I hear it did not get better in the 2nd.

Even if they make it to the playoffs I do not see them winning one game but if they did they would not win the second. They still need to grow to be competative. But they are trending in the right direction.

I hate being a negative Nellie but two things stand out that pollutes my mind.
First is Jordan Loves inaccuracy and poor mechanics. I get off platform throws when getting pressure but not on every throw. Missing wide open receivers time and again, even completions often require circus catches and no opportunity for YAC. I find myself counseling the TV, 'settle down, take a breath, relax'! Tough decision for Gute going forward unless we start seeing him improve mechanics.
Second is the defensive strategy. When are we going to play smart and aggressive and consistent defense? That last drive by Giants was SO easy. Ridiculous. Is Tommy DeVito a budding superstar? Wow. Just...wow.

The sad fact is that these observations are ones that apply to so many games under LaFleur and his team, this year and in previous ones.

Barry is Barry. They won’t elevate Ford to help clog. They avoided playing similar players as much as possible in the past when they were active. As to the OL, Runyon wasn’t great, but Myers was awful. 5 pressures and a sack, but constantly going backwards, preventing Love stepping up.

I wanted them to elevate Melton for that game. In part just to go deep and stretch vertically, but in part to provide a guy who can run those sweep plays with Reed as a decoy or simply instead of a key receiver. Both are fast, the same size, but Reed is a key piece of this O.

As with Barry, our OL is another longstanding problem that we do nothing to try to fix. It’s just a gift that keeps giving to defenders and taking from runners. That defenders note a few successful blocks here and there with glee just illustrates the magnitude of the inadequacies.

This is what LaFleur teams have always been. They look good if the matchup on O and D is right, but don’t adapt between games to opponents or within them and don’t fix problems just try to play around them.

Love looked cold. Rodgers had that issue at times, Favre more so. But we had no run game behind that OL, and pockets collapsing every time, especially Myers, but no conventional quick passing routes to get rhythm. Your point about Love and LaFleur reverting is salient. I believed that the calling was linked, exacerbated by the OL. I believe the calling earlier in the season was making it extra hard for Love too. The ridiculous length of pass and slow developing plays, for example.

The other frustration was the non use of Taylor. 4 runs at over 7 yards and vanishes. Im not sure if that could have been sustained, but I’m sure as hell going to find out till it is t if I’m calling. Had we done that then Reed might still be healthy and the game changed. Again, a familiar LaFleur trait, whoever is the RB.

Thus coaching staff is a highway to nowhere. It held us back with Rodgers and it is with Love and it will do whoever is playing QB over a season. It’s time to move on.

Did you know the Packers were the first team to ever fly to a NFL game.? Guess where they went to New York. Guess they should have stayed home Monday! Lost that game as well, 7-3!

It would be reassuring to know that this team plays solid, fundamental football - strong in the trenches, run the ball well, sure tackling, etc. Then we can just boil it down to being unhealthy or out manned. These Packers, while young, are anything but strong on fundamentals. We don't block well, we don't stop the run well, we don't play strong situational defense and a list of other things that should be repeatedly "cleaned up". Either you don't have enough talent or the coaches aren't organizing the talent. We have talent, it is just young and we have talent gaps. We consistently display a poor use of this talent.

Matt LaFleur's offense is good on chalk boards but amounts to a bunch of moving parts that is beyond these players. His line can't block the plays, he doesn't have the RBs to play this offense and his QB is being asked to play like a 4 year starter. Matt needs to simplify this offense so that these guys can start consistently doing something well. Start on the O-line please.

Matt repeatedly used the word "decisive" when referring to missed opportunities in the Giants game. Decisive implies knowing what to do. This team plays like it is trying to remember what the scheme detail applies in the current situation playing out. Simplify this shit Matt.

Oh, and get Joe Barry a nice parting gift at the pro shop.

I get this is a QB centric league. Yes, Love played poorly. Absolutely true. Of course, he did get them down the field and in the end zone to take the lead.

All that being said where was our defense? Over 200 yards on the ground! Multiple times we lost contain and Devito ran for big yardage. Yeah he can run but he’s not Michael Vick. Where was Rashan Gary? Preston Smith? Multiple comments on Jordan Love but c’mon. The defense was a major problem. 4 straight seemingly uncontested catches to FG range. Yet reading the comments and media this was a “Jordan Love struggled” game. That may be true but …

Sorry you had to go to a stinker Al.

I commented last week that they would win if they won in the trenches (Wink, Wink).

I know I'm not smart enough to be an NFL coach (even my own job, LOL), but that's the only way you're going to win in the NFL.

You know even the coaches see they're getting their asses kicked when they start to resort to cute trick plays and luck, instead of execution in your face football.

What's next a double reverse fake field goal halfback pass option on 4th and 1? I'll draw it up and submit it for Have a Fan Call the Plays Day. Can't get any worse.

I have to, or want to, believe that there is an option scheme to those Reed sweeps. An option Love never took but that might pay off in the future. One can hope.

Watching that game in person had to have been exponentially worse than watching on TV. I agree the absence of Jones, The Barry Swiss Cheese D, MLF needs to expand his bag of tricks, and the LOS battles determined the game as it does most always. Curious to see how the offseason plays out.

Nice piece per usual, Al. What did your gut say when the Giants got the ball back with a chance to win? I didn't think we'd stop them, but didn't expect it to be so easy.

Love CW's comments about the coaching staff. Maybe the Marketing and Fan Engagement staff at 1265 could work "Road to Nowhere" into descriptions of the LaFleur Era? I can picture slo-mo video of Matt leading the team out of the tunnel with a backing Talking Heads soundtrack.

The reason they lost was simple. As Vic Ketchman used to say, "The Packers ate the pizza." They believed the press clippings and thought they were good enough to go out there and slop out a win without giving 100%. Time to grow up, men!

Al, you are so correct:

1) Why did the Pack "no huddle" rush the last drive and leave so much time for the Giants to exploit the Joe Barry "play to lose D".

2) The Packers will never consistently stop an opponent's run game with the current size of our interior defensive line. And, I would add Barry's questionable defensive scheme to stop the run.

Quay Walker and Christian Watson were missed.

I often return to the truth that Green Bay coaches are not under the same pressure as other NFL coaches to perform as their jobs are safe.
Fans just have to be more organized and insistent in such a scenario-there is an ongoing fan passivity.

Very poor coaching by MLF and Barry, poor QB play, accuracy and footwork, why all the cute stuff on offense? Huge game ahead for the Packers...cant look like that again at Lambeau and allow Baker and the Tampa men to leave with a "W"....but play like Monday night and they will..

My take is different. I don-t think anything went wrong. What you all saw is who this team is: slow of foot, untalented, lacking play makers on both sides the ball. There is absolutely nothing special about this team.

I'm not buying the youth movement. Justin Jefferson after four games was the leading receiver in the league as a rookie. We've all seen rookies light up the score board with stats. There are none on this team.

After pre season I guessed this was a six, possibly seven win team. Certainly not a playoff contender. The Lions, Bears and Vikings got to draft too and all got better via free agency and the draft. They will do the same next year.

This team has major needs on the o line, defensive backs, kickers who can make field goals - ours missed one and the other two barely got through or the loss would have been greater. You only get so many picks.

The team the other night is the green bay packers. If they dont win another game this year I would not be surprised at all.

When the Giant got the ball back at the end of the game my first hope was … maybe he’ll miss a 52 yarder. I knew they would get close enough to attempt one.
I think the Keisean Nixon special teams play is overlooked. And I mean all season. He makes stupid decisions constantly. His ridiculous play on that punt changed the entire complex of the game, maybe the season.
Even with his int against KC, he probably shouldn’t be out there on defense at all.
But more than that, unlike the Rodgers led Packers, this team can’t carry MLF & JB. LaFleur is in his fifth season. How many times do we have to be out coached? Daboll has about 30 games as a HC, and has put it to MLF twice already.. with the lesser team both times. Hell he even got last years NYG into the playoffs with Daniel Jones , went to Minnesota a beat the Vikings.
We need to find an aggressive, no excuses coach like Daboll.
We had a chance last year to hire Martindale as DC, and this past offseason we passed on. Vic Fangio. Proven winners.
The story on the field may change slightly from week to week, which decides games in a closely matched league. The players move around as free agents anyway.. so…. Coaching is the bottom line.
From Curly Lambeau to 2023 the Packers and all teams are a reflection of their coaching.
Are the finesse? Smart? Aggressive? Panicked? Lackadaisical? Under confident? Over confident? Prepared? Mistake prone?
How many games exactly until you know? Is 70-75 games enough? I think so.

We're on one helluva run...4 straight!!! This team appears to be casting for a sequel to Seinfeld's "The Opposite" episode. Cue up the Stones "No Expectations," we were supposed to get crushed by LAC, DET, KC, and spank NY. I wrote about taming expectations last week and truer words couldn't have been spoken. The latest display of incompetence, however, was the last pfffffft of helium in the balloon for me. Regardless of player performance, I look forward to pink slips, be it at the end of this season or next. Starts at the top--hoping we can get a solid org foundation in place to build upon and compete with confidence in all 3 phases. As has been the case of recent years, overachievement will be rewarded with the SF buzzsaw lying in wait.

My polluted mind additions: This game was the second time in a row that Patrick Taaylor should have run out of bounds and did not. Might have cost them a TD instead of a field goal. Bad choices.

The one drive where the field goal was missed, Love took a sack that put them further out. Two tendencies there. One, Lafluer should have called a short pass to get closer to the first down. Might have been close enough to go for it on 4th down. And second, Love is better when throwing in rhythm. He held on to the ball and got sacked. Throwing it away might have yielded a good field goal. And then the Giants would have had to score a TD on the last drive.

Barry is so bad. He has no feel for what defense he should be calling. A good running QB gashes the Packers because the pass rush can't contain the lanes. That is coaching. Barkley had been contained all night till the drive where he fumbled. The Packers had up till then been playing alot of 5 man fronts. That drive was 4 man front. Watch the tape. Then the last drive, they played off too much and the Giants were getting too easy yards. So what happened? Barry tightened up and Aikman said so before the long catch and run. The Giants knew that play was going to work. A double move, quick receiver and Nixon could adjust fast enough. Teams just know what to do against a Barry defense. Giants scored 17 points in the second half. That is saying snough.

Sick to my stomach. Not because the Packers played bad. The players did enough to win. Just a bad DC

How many games has the defense lost at the end of the game after the O gave them the lead? By my count 5 (and counting).

As Al wrote: "Joe Barry's prevent (the win) defense"...is accurate. The Packers had the lead against the Falcons, Raiders, Broncos, Steelers, and the Giants. All five scored on Barry's "prevent the win" defense and these points were the final, and winning scores for all 5 contests.

Some here like to point to Barry's defense being 11th in points against. It is not the point totals...it is when his prevent the win defense gives the points up!

Can you imagine the accolades for Love and MLF...and Barry at CHTV if their record was 11-2?

By the way, for those who judge defensive performance based on points against...look at the Ugly Purple. They are 5th in the NFL with far less talent on their D than the Packers possess. They just defeated the Raiders 3-0. Brian Flores could have been in Green Bay.

If all NFL HC's were polled as to who they would want as their DC...Flores or Barry, I believe the tally would be 31-1 for Flores.

Points against are important...and so are yards against, sacks, INT, fumbles recovered and most of all, TEAM WINS.