Jordan Love’s victory lap was short-lived.
The first week seems like a long time ago. On that day, Love looked great and the Packers beat the Chicago Bears. It turns out that bears were much worse than we knew at the time. Maybe it was love too.
The Packers were blown out in Week 4 by the Detroit Lions, and although the performance was as terrible on the offensive line’s play as it was on Love, Green Bay wanted to limit anything Love did on Monday night. The Packers came up with a surprisingly conservative game plan, content to make it a low-scoring, close game from the start.
While the Packers didn’t give Love many opportunities, he didn’t do much with them. The Packers’ offense was terrible, with Love throwing three interceptions, including a bad one in the final minute, and Green Bay fell to 2-3 with a frustrating 17-13 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.
The lack of offense certainly didn’t go unnoticed by Packers cornerback Jair Alexander, who told reporters after the game, “Yeah, I think at this point it’s pretty clear that the defense shouldn’t give up any touchdowns, you know? I think That’s the part of criticizing our defense because, you know, the offense is still so young and they’re still finding their mojo.”
“Yes, I think at this point it’s pretty clear that the defense shouldn’t give up any touchdowns,” Packers CB Jaire Alexander said. “The offense is still very young and they are still finding their magic. Defense, we have to be the ones to score and keep them from scoring.” pic.twitter.com/DrItb9B0c5
– Carmen Vitale (@CarmieV) October 10, 2023
The Packers won’t win by much if they can’t trust their passing game to do more. Love did little to give them any more confidence in him on Monday night.
The Raiders and Packers are without much of a hit offensively
The Packers and Raiders both had their problems offensively, and their quarterbacks gave away points to the other team with terrible turnovers.
In the second quarter, Love never seemed to see linebacker Robert Spillane and threw the ball directly to him. That set up a touchdown by Jacoby Myers, the first touchdown of the game. The Reds led 7-3.
He gave Jimmy Garoppolo some back. He threw one directly at Packers safety Rudy Ford, who caught it. The Packers drove down for a touchdown by AJ Dillon after that.
The Packers were doing their best to hide Love on Monday night, but broken coverage led to a huge play by Christian Watson. Watson gained 77 yards but came up short of the end zone. The Packers then ran two plays up the middle, Love threw on third down incomplete and settled for a field goal. That gave the Packers a 13-10 lead but it should have been more.
The Packers’ offense allowed the Raiders to stay in the game, both through their game plan and their performance, and in the end Las Vegas took advantage.
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Packers-Raiders heading into the fourth quarter
The Raiders took a 17-13 lead after Josh Jacobs’ touchdown run four seconds into the fourth quarter. At that point, Love had completed nine attempts on 15 attempts, his 77 of 136 yards coming on one pass to Watson against botched coverage. The Packers came into the game wanting to limit the amount of love they would do by trying to win a grind. That plan was made even more ominous because star running back Aaron Jones was out with an injury. Green Bay wanted to try to win the game as AJ Dillon got 20 or more carries.
The Packers needed Love to do something in the fourth quarter. The Packers moved the ball after Jacobs’ go-ahead touchdown, but Love was sacked on first down and then threw a pass into coverage that was batted and picked off by Spillane for his second interception.
The Packers’ defense did its job and forced a quick three-and-out after Love’s second interception. The Packers brought it back with a three-and-out.
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The Raiders gave Green Bay another chance with a conservative invitational. Vegas didn’t make it on fourth-and-1, opting to attempt a field goal. The kick went straight and the Packers had some life right after the two-minute warning. They even had good field position after the missed kick.
The Packers had a chance but the offense didn’t do much up to that point. Green Bay got two first downs in Raiders territory. Two drops, one by Romeo Dobbs and the other by Luke Musgrave, stalled the drive. Love had to play a game but then he threw the game away. He threw to Watson in the end zone, and Raiders cornerback Amik Robertson scooped it up. There appeared to be a moment when Watson was open, but Love was late in throwing the ball and Robertson recovered easily to open the play.
The biggest story of the NFL offseason was the Packers trading Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets. Finally, Love, a former first-round pick, had a chance to shine. The Packers talked about him and he had some good moments in the preseason and in the opener. It hasn’t been good since then. The Packers seem to be losing faith in him.
The big question the Packers had to answer this season was whether Love could replace Rodgers as a long-term option. It’s early in the season, but Monday night wasn’t a positive answer to that question.
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