Packers prove unworthy of playoff appearance in loss to Lions
The Green Bay Packers pulled the wool over all of our eyes. They flipped the script the last four weeks and turned doubters into believers. Ultimately, they showed their true selves with an embarrassing and ugly loss to the Detroit Lions. There aren’t enough adjectives to describe it.
The Packers tripped over their feet for most of the season, often unable to get out of their own way.
They lost eight of their first 12 games and put themselves in an incredibly difficult position to make the postseason. During that time, they were outplayed in all three phases and made constant mistakes that put them behind the eight-ball.
The Green Bay Packers had all the chances in the world to earn a postseason birth, but proved unworthy in a loss to the Detroit Lions.
They put together a nice string of games late in the season, as they won four straight heading into their season finale against the Lions, a win and in scenario. However, they could not play anything close to mistake-free football and weren’t good enough to overcome their lack of execution.
Green Bay struggled in situational football all season long and the wart reared its ugly head once again.
The Packers entered the Lions’ game converting fewer than 40 percent of their third-down conversions, ranking 18th in the NFL. They went 4-for-12 against Detroit. They ranked 28th in fourth-down percentage and missed a critical conversion early in the game that gave the Lions free points. They ranked 24th in red zone touchdown percentage. The Packers could only muster one touchdown against one of the NFL’s worst defenses.
Aaron Jones fumbled yet again in a critical game, this time deep in Lion’s territory with the Packers threatening to take a two-score lead into halftime. Instead, it turned into three Detroit points following another boneheaded play from his teammate that gave the Lions 15 free yards and turned a 48-yard field goal attempt into a 33-yarder.
Aaron Rodgers holds Green Bay’s salary cap hostage, but didn’t play anywhere near good enough to justify his massive paychecks. That was a season-long trend for a team that lacked offensive weapons and creativity around him.
In some ways, it might be better that it ended before it started.
The San Francisco 49ers would’ve been the matchup in the playoffs They’ve been Green Bay’s kryptonite during Matt LaFleur’s tenure and have won 10 straight games. They likely would’ve dismantled this Packers’ unit that lost two games to Detroit this season.
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With the 2022 NFL season wrapped up, the most accurate conclusion is that the Packers weren’t worthy of a playoff spot. The truth hurts.