What young Packers can take away from upset loss to Giants

Carmen Vitali

NFC North Reporter

Well, at least there don’t appear to be any significant injuries due to the MetLife Stadium turf following Monday night’s game.

The Green Bay Packers‘ three-game win streak, as well as coach Matt LaFleur’s unbeaten record in December, came to an end in their 24-22 loss to the New York Giants. The Packers are finding out what “You’re only as good as your last envelope” means.

“The Sopranos” reference has stood the test of time and into the age of social media, where Packers fans have been melting down all day Tuesday. Fans of division opponents are piling on, too. It was easy to swing back after thinking Green Bay had turned a corner. Take all that away, though, and what can you glean from a game in which undrafted rookie quarterback Tommy DeVito outdueled Jordan Love and led a game-winning drive against Green Bay’s defense for a walk-off field goal?

The short answer is: not much. At the end of the day, Green Bay just isn’t there yet.

The Packers still have the youngest roster in the league. Sure, they seemed to be figuring things out in these past few weeks. LaFleur clearly trusts his offense more, trusts the offensive line more and ultimately, trusts his quarterback more.

But progress isn’t always linear.

It’s not as if the Packers were ever out of the game, either. Love had two turnovers, including his first interception in three games. But he also composed himself enough to lead a go-ahead drive late in the fourth quarter that gave Green Bay its first lead since the opening drive. The Packers missed the two-point conversion, which apparently made it all too easy for DeVito to go 57 yards on eight plays in 1:33 to get the Giants into field-goal range and win the game.

Except it shouldn’t have been so easy. It’s not the first time Love has been able to will his team to a late lead only for the defense to falter. There are injuries on that side of the ball. Cornerback Jaire Alexander hasn’t played since Nov. 5. Linebacker Quay Walker was out against the Giants, too. But allowing a 32-yard catch-and-run by Wan’Dale Robinson on the final drive should have been avoidable. The Packers rank 31st in run defense this season, allowing an average of 141.8 rushing yards per game, which is an absolutely astronomical number. It plays into the reason why they also rank 25th on third down.

Overall, Green Bay’s defense ranks 28th in DVOA so far this season.

Not getting a sack on a guy who had taken 15 in the prior two games is baffling, too — especially when you consider the Packers’ defensive front includes Kenny Clark, Rashan Gary, Preston Smith and their 2023 first-round pick, Lukas Van Ness. Love is still only 14 starts into his Packers career, so he should be able to rely on a defense that features veterans and a lot of talent.

“You can look and nitpick each phase of the game,” said LaFleur. “Special teams wasn’t good enough. Offense wasn’t good enough. Defense wasn’t good enough. So all three collectively, when you’re bad in all three phases, that’s what happens. You lose the game.”

Should we be worried about Jordan Love and the Packers?

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Kicker Anders Carlson missed a 45-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. Receivers had multiple drops on offense. Love, in addition to his two turnovers, badly missed some throws and made some questionable decisions. It wasn’t the Packers’ best effort.

“I think our team learned a valuable lesson in terms [of], you don’t play your best, it doesn’t matter who you’re playing, where you’re playing ’em, when you’re playing — you’re not going to win the game,” LaFleur said.

But in a weird way, that should be encouraging. The offense is still getting better. One loss (albeit a bad one) isn’t enough to reverse that progress. Carlson has been extremely reliable in his rookie year and should continue to improve. One of these days, the defense should get healthy and play up to its talent level. These are all attainable goals for Green Bay and should that happen, the Packers are capable of beating anyone.

Just look at last week in Lambeau.

Carmen Vitali covers the NFC North for FOX Sports. Carmen had previous stops with The Draft Network and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. She spent six seasons with the Bucs, including 2020, which added the title of Super Bowl Champion (and boat-parade participant) to her résumé. You can follow Carmen on Twitter at @CarmieV.