At home against the Detroit Lions in Week 9, the Green Bay Packers wanted to make an impression, but the Lions arrived at Lambeau Field and demonstrated their dominance in the NFC at that moment.
Even though this was Detroit’s first outdoor game of the season, the Packers are unquestionably a strong team, but the Lions were too strong for them on Sunday. Green Bay was expected to benefit from favorable weather conditions. It was expected that the Lions would arrive.
On Monday morning, the Packers will be the ones who wake up feeling let down. And because every loss has a backstory, who is to fault for this one? Let’s examine three players (as well as a coach) who are most likely to blame for Green Bay’s problems.
The Packers are to blame for their heartbreaking Week 9 loss to the Lions. Jordan Love
Jordan Love clearly deserves some mercy because he put in a lot of effort to be on the field for this game in the first place. Throughout this game against the Lions, we witnessed the consequences of Love’s groin ailment, which he has been suffering with.
However, you still expect Love to make better football-related decisions despite his injury. This season, he has been a touch too careless, and it cost him in this matchup with the Lions. During one of those strange plays, Love appeared to soft-fling the ball directly to Lions safety Kerby Joseph, who then returned it in the opposite way for six points.
Detroit’s defensive touchdown hurt Green Bay in a game when the Packers’ defense was able to play passably and keep the score close enough. Although it wasn’t a one-score game, Love’s turnover may have been the most significant factor in this matchup, as the Lions took control when the game changed from being a seven-point race to a 14-point contest.
2. Wicks, Dontayvion
For the Packers, it’s critical to keep in mind that several of these offensive skill players are still relatively young and that they occasionally have terrible games. However, you would expect more from Dontayvion Wicks because he has been such a potent playmaker for the Packers in his early career:
Three objectives
No catches
Two passes that were dropped
One of Wicks’s missed throws was a late-game touchdown pass that may have kept the Packers in the game at a critical juncture. On the subsequent fourth down effort, they were halted.
During that play, Wicks was a true magician. He made a 74-yard drive in the eleventh play vanish out of sight. It is imperative that you have those plays in major divisional games like this one.
3. LaFleur, Matt
LaFleur should take a lot of the blame for the outcome of this game, even if he is clearly not on the field carrying out the plays he is calling for the Packers. Here are three significant events:
punched despite being inside a respectable field goal range during a purposeful game delay (overly cautious)
decided not to attempt another fourth-and-three after falling behind 24-3 in the third quarter.
made a field goal that was 21 points short.
LaFleur was conservative in a game where he needed to be the aggressor, but we may be arguing over some of this. The Lions are much more talented now than the Packers, and it was they who were the ones who put the gas on in Green Bay. LaFleur had his opportunities, but he lost because he was too cautious.
4. Walker Quay
Quay Walker made a comeback to the starting lineup and was among the worst players on the field right away, even though Eric Wilson has been playing some pretty nice football for the Packers lately.
Walker’s bad angles, failure to get off blocks, and general lack of contribution to the game were all criticized by Packers supporters throughout this game. The former Georgia first-round choice has failed to live up to his NFL Draft standing. He allowed nearly every ball thrown into his coverage to be completed, and he ended the game with a failed tackle.
In this case, the Packers may have to turn back to Wilson and concede a loss to their previous first-round pick.
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