Green Bay Packers: 7 Quick Observations from Brutal OT Loss

After rewatching the Green Bay Packers’ tough loss to the Indianapolis Colts, here are seven quick observations from their performance.

Goodness. What a roller coaster that game was for the Green Bay Packers. After a fast start by the offense that resulted in 28 points at halftime and a 14 point lead, things came to a crashing halt in the second half. The Indianapolis offense did whatever they wanted, and the Packer offense went ice cold. Somehow the game ended up in overtime, only to naturally end in heartbreak.

Because I like torturing myself, I’ve already rewatched this game and came away with seven observations. So if you’d like to relive the game and feel a little pain on this Monday while also finding a few silver linings along with some key takeaways, well, then do I have the article just for you. Let’s dive in.

I guess turnovers are becoming a thing?

Even when the Green Bay Packers defense isn’t forcing turnovers, you could always count on the offensive side of the ball to not turn the ball over either. However, in the last two games, that has not been the case. Against Jacksonville, Green Bay would lose the turnover battle 2 to 1, and then in Indianapolis, the Packers turned the ball over four (!) times.

There was another Aaron Rodgers interception, fumbles by Marquez Valdes-Scantling, as well as Rodgers and Corey Linsley on a botched snap, and then Darrius Shepherd fumbled on a kickoff return. To the defense’s credit, four turnovers only resulted in six points, but it was the difference in this game.

Now, I kid with that headline; I don’t see this being an issue that the Packers are going to have the deal with or worry about moving forward. But it cost them Sunday’s game, and they nearly lost to Jacksonville a week ago.

Don’t forget to blame the offense too

Understandably so, the defense is going to be ridiculed heavily for this game. But the offense didn’t do them any favors in the second half. In addition to the three turnovers that took place in the first half and in overtime, the offense did nothing in the third quarter and just about nothing in the fourth quarter until that final drive.

On three offensive possessions before the game-tying field goal by Mason Crosby, the Green Bay Packers had back-to-back three and outs and then turned the ball over on downs in their own territory. Could the defense have been better? Absolutely, but the offense provided little help in the second half.

The MVS Experience

Not to be repetitive, but after the San Francisco game, one of my observations was that this is who Marquez Valdes-Scantling is. The reason I said that was because before his two touchdown catches, he had a brutal drop on a crossing route. His career has been filled with inconsistency, and we saw that again in Indianapolis.

Pinned near the goal line and down by three, Valdes-Scantling made the biggest catch of his young career on a beautifully thrown ball by Rodgers. He then followed that up with a fumble in Packer territory during overtime. The highs with MVS are incredibly high, no one on this team can do what he does as a deep threat, but the lows are incredibly low.

And if after today’s game you think that Valdes-Scantling won’t see significant playing time anymore, I’d hold off on that. After the game, Matt LaFleur was asked about Valdes-Scantling, and he told reporters that he has “more confidence in him now than ever.” Because he is capable of making that big play as he did in the fourth quarter, MVS will continue to see more opportunities.

Green Bay Packers special teams unit strikes again

Over the last month or so, this unit has been trending downwards. There was the blocked punt in Houston, the punt return in Jacksonville, and to put it simply, JK Scott just hasn’t been very good. Entering Sunday’s game, he was third from last in net punt yardage. Unfortunately, things got worse in Indianapolis.

Scott continued to struggle, and in a dome of all places. While Shepherd fumbled a kickoff and misplayed another that nearly ended with Green Bay starting at their own five. Luckily, the ball did just barely catch the goal line and was ruled a touchback. Oh, and there were other mistakes, these are just the two I’m going to spend any time mentioning.

With each passing week, this unit’s blunders are becoming more and more worrisome and costly.

Same old Mike Pettine

I’ll keep this one short and sweet because I’m not really sure what else needs to be said here; it’s just incredibly frustrating seeing the same issues each week and there not being any significant changes to the play-calling being made. Under Mike Pettine, this defense continues to play a lot of dime defense and soft zone coverages. This leads to issues stopping the run and easy completions underneath. Until I see otherwise, at this point, this just is what it is.

The Colts did what the Colts do

If you read any of my articles leading up to this game, one area, in particular, that really concerned me was the Packers’ style of defense against the Colts’ offense. Pettine wants to prevent the big play and would rather force teams to put together 10 plus play drives to score. Well, that’s exactly what the Colts love to do.

Unfortunately, as I referenced above, Green Bay didn’t play any more aggressively in an effort to make those relatively easy throws more challenging. Instead, Phillip Rivers took what was there and picked the Packers apart. After trailing 21-7, here is how Indianapolis’ next four drives went: 12 plays and a touchdown, 14 plays and a field goal, 10 plays and a touchdown, eight plays and a field goal.

When you allow a team to execute their game plan, they are going to be successful. And that’s what the Packers did.

This isn’t an ‘end of the world’ type of loss

Was this loss brutal? For sure. Disappointing? You know it. Should we file it under the “heart-breaking” category? I’ve already done it. However, given all the mistakes that happened in this game, against a playoff team and a top-5 defense, the Green Bay Packers still almost won. Andy Herman of Packer Report compiled some of the things that went wrong on Sunday:

Now, I’m not here to say that the Packers shouldn’t have won this game; they absolutely should have. But afterward, during the post game interviews, the players and LaFleur were unusually upbeat and positive given the outcome. And I believe that’s because they still had a chance to win this game despite a mountain of mistakes against a very good Colts team.

Of course, looking ahead at their final six games, there is work to be done, and no one on the team should be “happy” leaving Indianapolis. But this also isn’t a world-ending loss either. If this wasn’t such an uncharacteristically sloppy performance, the Packers would have won.