Poor starts are becoming a trend for this team. They've only scored 16 points total in the first half of the last four games this season. It was apparently a shock to Head Coach Matt LaFleur that Aaron Jones wouldn't play in this Monday Night matchup as he had definitely planned for the veteran RB to be available. It almost feels like that's become an excuse lately for the Packers offense that Jones wasn't fully available. Outside of a few flashes here and there, the whole offense just looked flat. But hey, at least AJ Dillon had his best game of the season rushing for 76 yards and a TD on 20 carries, so this can't quite be placed on him not being as good as Jones. 

Unfortunately, I've begun to think of this team as Murphy's Law. Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Whenever the Packers offense seemed to piece together a drive to get some points, the defense would end up getting walked all over the following drive and give up points. Whenever the defense would get a big stop or a turnover, the offense would stink up the joint and go three and out. There is no complimentary football so far for the Packers at all and hopefully, this is something they can piece together after their bye week.  

When I look back at this game I see lots of opportunity missed. There were so many times the defense pieced together a good 1st and 2nd down, but then looked lost on 3rd down and gave it up. Jordan Love's stat sheet shows three interceptions but I only consider one to truly be his fault. His first of the game he completely overlooked the defender and he'd like to have that one back. But the tip-INT is a bit of tough luck and then the ending one I almost put on Christian Watson. Standing at 6'4, Watson should be able to grab a ball over a 5'9 cornerback, questionable jersey-tugging or not. Missed opportunities could perhaps be blamed on youth and inexperience, but nonetheless, it all needs to be corrected.

Let's get to the recap:

First Quarter:

The Packers received the ball to start the game and went to AJ Dillon three times for a first down showing that they were looking to establish the run early. On the following play, Josh Myers would be called for a very close ineligible man downfield. However, the flag would be picked up and the 6-yard pass to Luke Musgrave would stand. The Packers would get one more first down after this on the ground with Dillon, but a deep shot to Jayden Reed on third down would fall incomplete, forcing the Packers to convert a 4th & 3. Jordan Love would line up for a hard count but wouldn’t draw Vegas offsides as Daniel Whelan would instead punt it away after a delay of game call, giving the Raiders their first offensive possession of the game at their own 13-yard line with 10:21 left in the opening quarter.

The Raiders would open their first drive with a 20-yard pass from Jimmy Garoppolo to rookie tight end Michael Mayer. On the following play, Quay Walker would then get even for that big play and blow up a Brandon Jacobs run in the backfield for a loss of 2. The Raiders got another first down off Davante Adams's first target of the game. But, after that the Packers' defense would hold them at midfield, ending with a Kenny Clark sack off Garoppolo, forcing the Raiders to punt.

The Packers' next possession after the punt would start at their own 7-yard line with 6:30 remaining in the first quarter. The Packers came out running with two AJ Dillon runs to get the first down. Maxx Crosby would be called after that play for a personal foul after he pushed Packers' lineman, Zach Tom in the back. Granted Tom took a big flop, it’s still 15 yards in the Packers' favor. On the following play Jordan Love took off on a bootleg and elected to run taking it 26 yards into Raider territory and then another nice catch and run by Josiah Deguara took the ball into the red zone. Unfortunately, the drive would end there as all other plays only went backward or failed. Anders Carlson took the field for a 37-yard attempt and nailed it putting the Packers up 3-0 with 2:38 remaining in the opening quarter.

The Raiders kicked off their second drive with another big pass to Michael Mayer taking it 19 yards. A false start on Vegas and then a Tre Tucker 16-yard end around later, the Raiders were in Packers territory for the first time in the game. The Packers' defense would wake up again at that time as on third down Preston Smith would get after Jimmy Garoppolo for the second Packers sack of the game.

This was the end of the first quarter

Second Quarter:

The Raiders' punt to start the 2nd quarter would pin Jordan Love and the Packers' offense deep in their own territory, starting their third drive of the game at their own 9-yard line. On the first play of the drive Jordan Love would find tight end, Ben Sims for his first catch of the season as he ran it 12 yards downfield and out of bounds for a first down. This would be the only first down of that drive, as the Packers couldn’t get out of their own way the next three plays and were forced to punt. 

The Raiders took over at their own 38-yard line after the punt with 12:37 remaining in the first half. They got a first down quickly in two plays but then tried a little trickery when they attempted a handoff to Josh Jacobs and a backward pass back to Garoppolo. But the pass was foiled by Rasul Douglas, who recognized the play and closed on the QB causing the runner to hang on to the ball losing 4 yards. After this, the Packers' defense had a 3rd and 11 but couldn’t stop Las Vegas as a pass to Ameer Abdullah would take it for a first down. Another first down later the Packers defense was able to hold the Raiders to fourth down but they elected to go for it and converted off a DeAndre Carter run. This was now two big opportunities missed for the Packers' defense to leave the field that they failed to execute. Two plays later Jimmy Garoppolo would hit Jakobi Meyers for a nine-yard touchdown pass and put the Raiders up 7-3 with 4:09 remaining in the first half. A very long drive for the Raiders offense put the Packers' defense on the ropes. The defense had many opportunities to leave the field, but just couldn’t follow through.

On the very first play of the Packers' next drive, Jordan Love just did not see Raiders defender Robert Spillane and threw it practically right to him for the interception giving the Raiders the ball at the GB 7-yard line. A bad situation for the Packers just turned worse

On the Raiders' very short drive following, the Packers' defense rose to the occasion to force a Field Goal putting the score at 10-3 Raiders with 2:32 left in the first half. A huge pass-tip by Preston Smith on third down saved what could’ve been a walk-in screen pass touchdown. Smith must’ve been listening to the comments about trading him this past week as he had been having a very good game at that point.

Jordan Love would get a shot at redemption on the next drive following the Interception with 2:32 remaining in the half. But unfortunately, the Packers offense would instead go three and out, the best play being only a four-yard pass to Luke Musgrave before punting it away.

With 0:55 seconds left in the half, the Raiders took over from their own 24-yard line. Again the Packers' defense did a good job of forcing third down but then couldn’t follow up on third down and allowed the Raiders to convert. Another first down pass on a 16-yard catch for Jakobi Meyers and the Raiders were in Packers territory. A 7-yard Hunter Renfrow catch and a Garoppolo spike and the Raiders had 3rd and 3 from the GB 35 and this time did not convert. With 12 seconds left on the clock, the Raiders would line up for a 53-yard field goal. On the Field Goal Packers tackle Yosh Nijman would tip the ball, causing the ball to sail wide left and no good.

The Packers had one play on offense to go with 7 seconds on the clock and a 10-yard Jordan Love run would wind out the half. It seemed as if Love thought he at least had one second left on the clock to perhaps attempt a Hail Mary but the attempts to convince officials were futile and to Halftime we would go. 

Third Quarter:

The Raiders' first drive of the second half started well for the silver and black. But a big run stop in the backfield of Brandon Jacobs by Kingsley Enagbare sent things backward. Then Jimmy Garoppolo threw an interception to Rudy Ford, who cut in front of Jakobi Meyers and took it to the Vegas 37-yard line, putting the ball in the hands of the Packers offense in great field position with 12:57 remaining in the 3rd quarter.

The Packers offense nearly went three and out after the turnover, but on fourth down with two yards to go, AJ Dillon pounded the ball up the middle for the first down. It was all AJ Dillon on this drive from that point forward as they rode the running back 26 yards in four plays to the end-zone tying the game at 10 a piece with 8:27 remaining in the third quarter.

After the first kick return that wasn’t a touchback of the night the Raiders began their drive at their own 28-yard line. The defense came to play on this drive as a short Brandon Jacobs run, and two incomplete passes later the Raiders were forced to a three-and-out and had to punt.

The Packers took over at their own 18-yard line with 7:15 remaining in the third quarter. On the first play, Jordan Love hit Christian Watson on a blown coverage to take it 77 yards. The touchdown was saved by a horse collar tackle by Marcus Peters. Of course, the flag was thrown putting the Packers at half the distance to the goal line to continue the drive at the Raiders 6-yard line. Unfortunately, two runs by Dillon and an incompletion later, and the Packers were forced to kick a field goal putting the score at 13-10 with 5:16 remaining in the third. It was a bit frustrating to see two straight runs after the big pass as it could’ve been a good call to perhaps try the pass at least on first down. I know AJ Dillon had been the hot hand on the drive before but a pass on first down I feel might have caught the Raiders off-guard for the touchdown. Alas, hindsight is 20/20.

The Raiders then took over and ran immediately into Packers territory with two Josh Jacobs runs totaling 30 yards. A few plays later Rasul Douglas nearly had an interception on first down from the GB 37 but Vegas continued to drive downfield into the red zone with Davante Adams getting three catches for 39 yards down to the Packers' 2-yard line where the 3rd quarter would end with the Raiders knocking at the door first and goal. It was hard to watch the offense score on two straight drives and then the defense just gets run over after the offense takes the lead. But that seems to be the tale of the tape for this season lately with the Packers failing to play complimentary football.

Fourth Quarter:

First play of the 4th quarter Josh Jacobs followed his fullback up the middle for the two-yard touchdown. The score now is 17-13 Raiders with 14:56 remaining in the game.

The Packers came out to respond and put together three first downs through the air heading into Raider territory. However, this is as good as it would get as Maxx Crosby would sack Jordan Love on first down, and on second down, a pass intended for Christian Watson would be tipped right into the hands of Raiders defender Robert Spillane for Spillane’s second interception of the night. The Raiders would take over at their own 42-yard line with 9:11 remaining.

Lucky for the Packers, the defense came out to play and held the Raiders' offense to a three-and-out capped off by a Rashan Gary sack, his fourth of the season forcing the Raiders to punt. 

The Packers' offense returned to the field to shake off the previous INT starting at their own 17-yard line with 7:03 remaining. Unfortunately, a holding penalty would negate a Jordan Love run, and then two incompletions later would force a Packers punt. 

With 5:35 left the Raiders took over at their own 33-yard line. They proceeded to run the clock down to the two-minute warning where they hit 4th down and elected to go for a Field Goal. In the Packers' favor, the attempt by Daniel Carlson was missed giving the Packers the ball back down four with 1:55 remaining at their own 42-yard line.

With the game on the line, the Packers drove down to the Raiders' 35-yard line by way of two passes each to Luke Musgrave and Patrick Taylor. This is where things stalled though as the following two plays were incompletions, and on 3rd and 10, a Jordan Love pass to the end-zone intended for Christian Watson was intercepted by the Raiders' Amik Robertson to seal the game. There was a bit of jersey tugging before the ball got in the area by Robertson on Watson, but no call was made and that would be the end of it for the Packers in the desert. Questionable missed calls or not, the Packers should've executed better to not be put in that situation to begin with. 

Two kneel-downs later by Jimmy Garoppolo would give the Packers their 3rd loss of the season.

Offensive Player of the Game:

I think the only shining beacon of this game on Offense was AJ Dillon. The Raiders were not a very good run defense and AJ Dillon was able to have a bit of a "get back on track" game in Aaron Jones' absence. Dillon rushed for 76 yards on 20 carries and a touchdown. He had a few flashes looking like the Quadzilla of old moving the pile and getting an extra 2-3 yards on occasion after being hit. It wasn't very flashy, but it was the smash-mouth results we expect from Dillon. 

Defensive Player of the Game:

I'm giving this one to Preston Smith. Smith has been kind of quiet so far this season and he showed up, especially in the first half of this game. He had three tackles and one sack. One of those tackles was for a loss, he also registered a QB hit. Perhaps one of his biggest plays came just before halftime with the Raiders in scoring position on 3rd down when he tipped a screen pass attempt that surely could've been a touchdown. I joked in my recap that he possibly read the trade rumors this week and decided to show up. Well, maybe we should make up trade rumors all the time.

What Went Right:

I honestly don't know what to put in this area. This team is a mess. That being said maybe the one thing that went right is AJ Dillon finding his legs again. It seemed like he was running the ball how he knows how. He was playing his game. Hopefully, if Dillon continues to find his legs when Aaron Jones returns, they'll be able to help get this offense back on track. 

What Went Wrong:

What can truly be analyzed in this column? Can I just say everything? I'm at the point though where I'm ready to call out play-calling. That goes for both sides of the ball. On defense, don't get me started. How does Preston Smith end up lined up with Davante Adams? I feel like we see this in almost every single game. There's a slower linebacker lined up against one of the opposition's top receivers. Enough with the excuses that that's just how things shake up. It needs to be ensured that the proper personnel is on the field for the given situation and if that is seen then a safety or a corner peels off their tight end or running back assignment to switch. 

On offense, I feel like there are too many shot plays thrown in when the passing game needs rhythm. You can't run the ball twice with these young receivers and then expect a 30-yard strike to just come easy. It won't, you need to get these receivers and this young QB in a rhythm to get something going and build confidence. That doesn't happen overnight with shot plays.

Next week the Packers will be on their Bye. We saw a few players who have missed some games return tonight at full strength, but this team is still battling the injury bug. We saw a few more injuries tonight. So, the Bye week couldn't have come at a better time. Hopefully, some of those injuries will have the time they need to heal and the Packers can return from their Bye with a fairly healthy roster. With the extremely dismal-looking Broncos on the horizon, the Packers will need to come out of the Bye ready to go. With how Denver has looked this season, I doubt anyone wants to be embarrassed by them. Post-bye could be a big "get right" game for the Packers. So, rest up team and we'll see you again on Sunday, October 22nd. Until then, Go Pack Go.