GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – I’ve resisted for ten weeks, but after the 11th, there’s no getting around it. The 2022 Green Bay Packers are a football team that plays bad football.
The Tennessee Titans waltzed over the Packers 27-17 on a night that almost universally belonged to the home team at Lambeau Field. Light snow flurries, a wind chill at a cheek reddening 16 degrees, coming off an emotional rally against the Dallas Cowboys five days prior but the display in all three phases has all but buried any hopes for anything beyond the 17 games scheduled this year with a club that looks every bit a 4-7 squad.
They have an MVP quarterback making uncharacteristically poor throws. A running game that went from 207 yards one week, to a scant 56 the next. A defense that rose to the challenge of slowing a great back like Derrick Henry, only to bust coverages and get fooled by trick plays. Special teams that continue to deliver deflating plays that take points off the board.
It was all on display in the color rush, all white uniforms in front of 77,506 fans and a national Amazon Prime streaming audience. The performance left Head Coach Matt LaFleur ashen in his post-game press conference.
The Titans (7-3) struck on the game’s opening possession. The Joe Barry defensive plan was geared toward stopping Henry, which for the most part, they did, begrudgingly giving up 87 yards on 28 carries (3.1 average) but they seemed completely unprepared for a passing attack that came to town averaging less than 150 yards a game. Instead of an opening three and out, the Titans converted a third and 7 when Ryan Tannehill delivered a deep ball down the middle to Treylon Burks who got behind Keisean Nixon for a 43 yard gain. From the 14, fullback Dontrell Hilliard slipped between Rudy Ford and Isaiah McDuffie for a 14 yard touchdown catch and an early 7-0 lead.
A holding call on Patrick Taylor on the ensuing kickoff had the Packers start at their 12 where they went three and out. A Preston Smith-Quay Walker sack of Tannehill forced a punt which Randall Cobb, just off injured reserve fielded. Cobb would spark the offense with a 24 yard strike from Aaron Rodgers. He would save the drive by pouncing on an Aaron Jones fumble at the Titans 25. On third and 9 from the 14, Rodgers pulled off a patented quick snap with 12 defenders on the field but got flushed to his left. At the last minute, he lofted a high pass toward rookie Christian Watson who outleaped Kristian Fulton for an impressive touchdown.
But instead of getting the game even, a low snap by Jack Coco led to Mason Crosby getting the point after kick blocked by linebacker Dylan Cole on the final play of the opening quarter.
Tennessee then commenced an 18 play drive that consumed 10:06 seconds. They converted a third and 10, a 4th and one at midfield, two more third and short plays and reached the Packer 4 yard line. Going for it again with the bulldozing Henry getting the ball, Walker creased the edge and dropped him for a loss of 2. It was one of several outstanding plays by the Pack’s top draft choice who finished with 11 tackles, a half sack and a quarterback hit.
The offense failed to pick up a first down however and on third and 6, Rodgers was called for intentional grounding at the one yard line. Pat O’Donnell’s punt from the back of the end zone covered just 40 yards.
The Titans made short work of the short field with Henry barreling in from four yards out with :32 left in the half giving the visitors a 14-6 lead at the break.
Rodgers engineered a solid drive to start the third quarter but it fizzled in the red zone. Aaron Jones was dropped for a loss of 4 on second down at the 17 and a third down pass went awry leading to Crosby’s 39 yard field goal to cut the lead to 14-9.
Two more chunk plays were given up by the defense. Tight end Chig Okonkwo got free up the sideline for a 31 yard catch and then Henry got into the open field on a screen for 40 more yards. On second and goal from the three, the Packers braced for another hammering run but after getting the handoff and lunging up the middle, Henry pulled up and flipped a jump pass to tight end Austin Hooper who snuck behind everyone for the wide open touchdown and a 20-9 advantage.
Nixon’s 32 yard kickoff return and a deep crossing route to Cobb for 28 got the Packers rolling one last time. Allen Lazard made a terrific catch on a 23 yard sideline route and from the 8, Rodgers and Watson connected again. It was Christian’s 5th touchdown catch in the last two games and he became the first rookie receiver to get at least two scores in back to back games since Max McGee way back in 1954. Down by 5, the Packers went for two and Jones took a sweep around the right side with excellent blocking to pull the Packers to within 20-17 late in the third quarter.
Once again, the secondary blew a coverage, allowing Robert Woods to get free for a 32 yard gain. On the first snap of the 4th quarter, Tannehill delivered a strike to Hooper between Amos and Ford for a 16 yard touchdown and a 10 point lead.
From there, the offense failed miserably, despite getting opportunistic plays from the defense and special teams. After yet another three and out, Rasul Douglas made a heady play to intercept Tannehill, returning the pick to the 34. A holding call on Yosh Nijman foiled that possession as Rodgers was off target on a deep crossing route to Sammy Watkins. Kris Barnes sacked Tannehill on a third and one snap to force a punt that Nixon returned 24 yards to the Titan 44. This time, Rodgers sailed a third and three pass over the head of a wide open Lazard and when Allen was covered up the sideline on 4th down, Rodgers threw a desperate ball hoping for a flag.
The Packers got one more shot after Preston Smith came up with a third down sack, and running the hurry up offense, they moved from their 22 to the Tennessee 44 where on 4th and one, Jones got stuffed for no gain with 2:04 left. Using their timeouts on defense, Tennessee needed only one first down to seal the game and they got it in a big way as Tannehill caught everyone by surprise with one more bomb covering 51 yards to Burks who beat Alexander on the play.
Alexander said bluntly it was the worst game of the year for the secondary with several blown coverages and miscommunications. Tannehill finished 22 of 27 for 333 yards with two scores and a pick for a passer rating of 127.3. Even Henry, who went two for two, an early shovel pass out of the wild cat formation and his touchdown flip had a better rating 118.8 than did Rodgers (94.7). Rodgers admitted he missed some throws in finishing 24 of 39 for 227 yards and two scores. Watson and Cobb were the lone bright spots offensively. Christian finished with 4 catches for 48 yards and both scores, giving him 8 receptions for 155 yards and five touchdowns in less than a week. His encore effort came on the same day he was named the NFL’s offensive rookie of the week. Cobb caught a team high 6 balls for 73 yards after missing the last month with an ankle injury. Jones managed only 40 yards on 12 carries while A.J. Dillon could muster only 13 yards on 6 tries against a Titan defensive front that closed hard and gang tackled the ball carriers.
Tennessee wound up with 408 total yards, 127 more than their per game average coming in. They converted 7 of 13 third down plays and led in time of possession by nearly five minutes. They held the ball for 12:55 of the second quarter alone.
About the only enjoyment fans got on the night came at halftime when LeRoy Butler had his name unveiled on the stadium facade and his Pro Football Hall of Fame ring was presented to him at halftime.
The way the Packer defensive backs played, they could have used him.
The team has a long weekend off to reflect on the humbling position they are in before they head east to take on the squad with the NFL’s best record in the 8-1 Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on November 27. It will likely be another chilly night but it sure looks like this year’s Packer team is already in cold storage.
