The negative buzz words spilled from Matt LaFleur’s mouth at the podium following the Green Bay Packers’ 34-20 loss to the Detroit Lions at Lambeau Field: “Whooped,” “manhandled,” “ass kicked,” “whipped.”
The Packers got steamrolled out of the gate, getting outgained 194-1 yards in the first quarter and 284-23 in the first half. Green Bay generated three total first downs (two by penalty) and four allowed sacks, as they trailed 27-3 with boos raining down from the home fans at halftime.
The Packers pushed back in the second half to cut the lead to 27-17 early in the fourth quarter, but the first-half flop was too much to overcome.
“Give Detroit a lot of credit. They came in and whooped us pretty good,” LaFleur said after the loss. “I was pleased with our team’s effort in the second half. I challenged them at halftime to just continue to go out and compete and I felt we did that. We had an opportunity; we were down 10 and we had a bad penalty to make it a three-possession game. But, every area, there’s a lot of improvement out there for us. I think any time you go out there and you can’t effectively run the football and conversely can’t stop the run, that’s a recipe for losing football and that’s what happened tonight. Give Detroit credit. We knew they were a tough opponent, but they manhandled us really in every phase.”
Mad Matt took issue with questions about how the club has gotten off to such poor starts, getting down three scores each of the last two weeks.
“I mean, you saw it. We got our ass kicked. If I knew, it wouldn’t have happened,” he said, clearly perturbed. “It wasn’t good enough. They whipped us. They manhandled us. Again, if I knew the answer to that, it wouldn’t have happened.”
After a first-drive interception by Rudy Ford, the spiral came quickly for Green Bay. The offense went three-and-FG following the pick, the first of five drives to start the contest without a first down. On their first five possessions, the Packers generated -1 net yards. The defense allowed Detroit to score on four consecutive drives to blow the lead open.
Jordan Love threw two interceptions — one early, one late — and didn’t find any semblance of success until Green Bay was down three scores.
“It’s hard to throw on your back. We have to protect him better,” LaFleur said of his QB, who was sacked five times and pressured a bunch more despite the Lions not blitzing.
LaFleur called the offensive ineptitude early “humbling,” but was encouraged by the effort from his club in the second half. The Packers were able to inch their way back into the game with two scoring drives in the second half, but a Quay Walker penalty midway through the fourth quarter helped the Lions extend their lead to three scores and essentially put the game away.
The Green Bay D played better in spurts but gave up 401 total yards, including 211 rushing — the second time this season it has given up 211 rushing yards (Atlanta, Week 2).
“We’re going to have to do something different because it’s insane to do the same things over and over again and expect a different result,” LaFleur said of his run defense.
With the home loss, the Packers slipped to 2-2 on the season, surrendering the NFC North lead to Detroit.
Entering the season, with Aaron Rodgers gone and Love taking over, there were expected to be some struggles in Green Bay. However, the faithful probably never thought those low points would include getting blown out on their home turf to a division rival in prime time.
