Packers Week 3 Winners and Losers vs. the Browns

Folks, that was a football game, I think. The Green Bay Packers took a trip to Cleveland to face off against the Browns for their first road game of the season. After the last two games, fans have developed some hubris, to put it lightly, but why wouldn’t they? The team looked great against two of last year’s juggernauts, and now we’re talking about the 0-2 Cleveland Browns! So anyways, the Packers are now 2-1 after falling to the Browns, 13-10, and I don’t really want to talk about it. But I must. Let’s take a look at this week’s winners and losers.

Loser: Offensive Line

Where do I even start? Don’t ask the offensive line, they don’t know either. Jordan Morgan had a particularly rough game today, with multiple false starts that pushed the Packers back when they really needed to make a play. One false start came on 3rd and 4, and the team was forced to settle for a FG. Another came on 3rd and 1, and the team ended that drive with a punt. Rasheed Walker also saw his fair share of penalties, including a brutal false start on the drive that ended with the Packers’ blocked FG attempt.

The entire line was also getting picked apart in pass protection, and the pocket fell apart on what seemed like every other play. Jordan Love was left vulnerable the entire game, took 5 sacks as a result, and I’m left thanking the football gods that he came out of this game in one piece. Absolutely atrocious play by the entire line today. They’re missing Zach Tom and Aaron Banks, very badly.

Loser: Jordan Love

Jordan Love didn’t actually look too bad today, considering what he had to deal with from his offensive line. He maybe held onto the ball a bit too long, took an unnecessary sack when he could’ve just thrown it away. Normal things you can nitpick most QBs for. And then…

This is one of the worst decisions and throws I’ve ever seen Love make as a pro. I don’t know what he was thinking here—it was like he meant to throw it to this exact Browns player. This interception kickstarted the Browns comeback after an entire game of almost zero offensive output, and after the next 3 minutes of play, the Packers would fall to 2-1. Love finished the day 18 of 25 for 183 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, and a rating of 89.2.

Winner: Rashan Gary

For the fifth straight game, Rashan Gary recorded a sack, finishing with 2 on the day. Both sacks came on 3rd downs, and led to Cleveland punts. Gary was bringing some heavy pressure that forced Cleveland QB Joe Flacco to get rid of the ball quickly, and it helped limit their offense to 3 points for most of the game. “Most of” is doing some heavy lifting here, I realize.

Winner: Matthew Golden and Dontayvion Wicks

While he has yet to find the end zone in his rookie season, WR Matthew Golden had his first game as an integral part of the team’s offense. He led all Packers in receiving yards today, catching all 4 of his targets for 52 yards. We saw some more flashes of Golden as a deep threat, including on a beautiful 34-yard completion early in the 4th quarter. It’s only a matter of time before Golden has his breakout game, and what better team to do that against, than literally any other team who doesn’t have Myles Garrett on their roster? Soon, Matthew. Soon.

His stat line won’t show it, but WR Dontayvion Wicks also had a quietly good game, finishing the day with 2 catches on 4 targets for 21 yards. The hands issue, which caused us so much pain last season, seems to have been fixed, and it better stay that way!

When fellow WR Jayden Reed went down last week with a broken collarbone, I expected both Golden and Wicks to see a lot more targets. Obviously, things on offense looked pretty god-awful against Cleveland’s tough defensive unit, but I think all things considered, Golden and Wicks stocks went up today.

Winner: Whatever demon possessed every Packer and ref on the Browns 4th drive of the second half

When I take notes during games, I italicize really bad things, and I bold really good things. My notes during this drive are entirely italicized. Let’s begin! The defense gave up a big run by Browns RB Quinshon Judkins for a gain of 14, during which S Javon Bullard looked silly, quite frankly. Judkins then broke away for another big run, this time 38 yards. It felt like every single Packer suddenly forgot how to tackle during this drive. At one point, Judkins was being bear hugged on both sides, and managed to get away for probably 10 more yards (my brain could be making this up as a trauma response). Inexcusable from a defense which has been so, so good outside of this specific drive.

We then get to 3rd and 9, and a holding call is made on Javon Bullard, gifting the Browns a fresh set of downs. This call was, how you say, bad! A few plays later, Keisean Nixon is flagged for pass interference in the end zone. I’m usually pretty critical of Packers defenders who draw PI flags, but this call felt wrong. Once again, the Browns were gifted another first down. After a huge 15 yard penalty on the Browns for a chop block, it was suddenly 3rd and goal from the 20. While attempting to make a tackle, Javon Bullard was unfortunately the victim of friendly fire, and was knocked unconscious after colliding with Quay Walker in what ended up being a really scary moment. Luckily, he was able to walk off the field under his own power. Unbelievably, this mess of a drive ended with the Browns only scoring three points. The defense bent, and bent, and bent some more, but they did not break.

Loser: Brandon McManus

K Brandon McManus is no stranger to kicking game-winning FGs for the Packers. The kicking unit was on the field for a 43-yard attempt, and I was thinking, “Whew, close one against the Browns but a win is a w—oh. Oh no.” What should’ve been an easy shot today ended up being kicked far too low, and was blocked by Shelby Harris, setting the Browns up for their very own game winner. McManus finished the day 1/1 on XPs, and 1/2 on FGs.

Winner: John FitzPatrick

We’re ending this on a good note, because you can’t stop me. TE John FitzPatrick is in his fourth year as a pro, and today, he finally found the end zone for his very first NFL touchdown, and the team’s only TD of the day. A really cool moment for a guy with 3 career targets heading into today’s game.

The Packers’ next game is one that a lot of people have marked on their calendars: a trip to Dallas to face off against the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football. The Packers have never lost at AT&T Stadium, so many (me) are calling this a home game. This is also a reunion for Micah Parsons and the team who traded him less than a month ago, and it could (should) end up being a nice bounce back game for the Packers. Fingers and toes crossed, everybody.