Packers drop their 4th straight, season on life support.

Packer Twitter:

Can I be irrationally optimistic for a second? Last night’s loss didn’t sting NEARLY as much as the three week prior. Maybe it was because I didn’t really expect them to win anyway, maybe it was because the Bills are a Super Bowl favorite and proved why, maybe it was because I was 17 Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups deep and seeing visions, I dunno. But I feel like I at least saw some fight in the second half of that game. The Packers under Matt LaFleur have never responded well to getting punched in the mouth, but it kind of felt like they did last night. They were undermanned and outgunned, and maybe the Bills didn’t really care for much of that half, but the Packers did a few positive things that they can potentially build on. It might not mean anything in the long run, but last night wasn’t all negative in my mind.

• Who is this Aaron Jones guy? He’s pretty good! Has he been on the team the whole time???
• Sarcasm aside, this team finally ran the damn ball. Jones had 20 carries for 143 yards, AJ Dillon had 10 for 54 and shook off what looked like it might be a serious knee injury in the second half. Overall: 31 carries for 208 yards, a 6.7 yard per carry average. And that was against a Bills defense that was either 1st or 2nd in every major run-defense stat category entering the night. If they would have committed to the run like that in ANY of the previous three weeks, they probably win two of those and are sitting at 5-3 coming out of last night, not 3-5.
• Romeo Doubs. Feels like he might have been one of the players Rodgers was referencing when he talked about mental mistakes in the middle of the week last week. He wasn’t on the field much early, but when Watson went down he was pressed into duty. Well he RESPONDED. That touchdown catch was one of the more athletic grabs I’ve ever seen. And he high-pointed another ball in the 4th quarter in tight coverage. THIS is the Doubs we heard so much about in training camp. Hopefully he comes out of last night with a boost in confidence.
• Related: Samori Toure only had one catch on the night, but it was a touchdown and a HELL of a route adjustment. He identified how the play was developing, broke to open space, and hauled in a touchdown catch that maybe made Bills fans SLIGHTLY anxious.
• The defense did finally force a few turnovers. How much of that was Josh Allen in ‘f-it’ mode up by three scores, and how much of that was solid defense, who knows. But they haven’t been forcing ANY turnovers all season, maybe that gets them on track.
• Alright enough positivity, beyond those two turnovers, the defense once again looked listless for much of the night. I realize the Bills have a powerhouse offense with an MVP-caliber quarterback, but the defense has to put up a LITTLE resistance when Gutey has invested so much draft capital and money on that side of the football:

• I believe the optimism about the defense heading into the season was justified. They were fringe top 10 last year, and put up one of the best defensive performances in the Packer playoff history against the 49ers. But there has been a major regression so far this season. Much like Mo Drayton and the special teams last year, I doubt an in-season coaching change is made, but Joe Barry just doesn’t look like the guy.
• ^Losing De’Vondre Campbell to a knee injury didn’t help, and Quay Walker getting ejected didn’t help either. Obviously Quay can’t get in that spot, as Matt LaFleur said last night, ‘it’s always the second guy that gets caught.’ That said, what a soft ejection. He didn’t dole out a Goldberg-style spear to a coach. That was a light shove to what appeared to be a player in street clothes. Soft.
• Officiating didn’t determine the game, but the ‘Packers get all the calls’ crowd on Twitter had a tough night. Basically every close call went the Bills way. That OPI on Tonyan was the most egregious.
• Watching the Bills offense operate with impunity in the first half had me reminiscing about what the Packer offense used to look like.
• I truly hope the Bills get a Lombardi Trophy. There are a lot of similarities between these two fan bases. I remember being stunned when the Packers lost Super Bowl XXXII. In many ways I still haven’t recovered. I can’t even begin to fathom watching them those THREE MORE SUPER BOWLS IN A ROW. Bills Mafia deserves it more than anyone.

So, a fourth straight loss and the room for error the rest of the season is razor thin. The bottom of the NFC remains mop water, a 9-8 record MIGHT get you in the playoffs, 10-7 probably does get you in. That would mean a 7-2 record the rest of the way. I want to say there’s a path to that, but first things first: The Packers need to a win a damn game. Beat Detroit and then beat Mike McCarthy and the Cowboys at home, get back to .500 before we have any tangible talks about ‘getting hot.’ I’m not sure this team has the same type of make up they had during the 2016 ‘Run the Table’ season, but if there is ANY of that there, it needs to start this weekend.

PS: Not sure what the trade deadline is going to look like tomorrow. My guess is the team does nothing. But outside of acquiring a player, two moves I would make today: Cut Sammy Watkins and bench Darnell Savage in favor of a Rasul Douglas move to safety. Watkins has been trying his best, but he looks like he just doesn’t have much left in the tank. If there was ever a time to step up, last night was it. Watson went down again with injury, Cobb out, Lazard out, they desperately needed a veteran wide out to bring some stability. He had 1 catch for 3 yards. I’ll gladly eat my words if he stays on and is productive the rest of the season, but at this point you’re better off getting the young guys as many snaps as possible regardless of the mistakes they make.

And Savage has basically been the worst safety in the league depending on the metric you’re subscribing to. He has fallen off of a cliff since 2020. He’s a liability in coverage and against the run. Douglas seems to have the physicality to be a safety and has not fared as well in the slot as he did on the outside last season. He’s more of a gambler/play maker, it just feels like he may fit better at safety.