The Green Bay Packers got buried by an avalanche of mistakes and lost to the New York Giants during a chaotic primetime letdown on Monday night at MetLife Stadium. The disappointing defeat snapped the Packers’ three-game win streak and dropped Matt LaFleur’s team to 6-7, although Green Bay is still clinging to a playoff spot as the final wildcard team in the NFC.
Here's the good, the bad and the ugly coming out of Monday night’s 24-22 loss to the Giants:
The Good
Malik Heath’s go-ahead touchdown catch: The Packers’ final two offensive plays were quite the ride. On the first, Jordan Love bought time and fired to Heath, who made the catch in front of a defender in the end zone, got two feet down but had the ball batted out of his hands at the last second. A play later, Heath got his redemption, making an incredible over-the-shoulder catch near the front pylon for the go-ahead score. It was Heath’s first NFL touchdown. Love made a perfect throw in the situation and Heath’s contested catch was one of the Packers’ best of the season. It was also one stop defensive stop away from giving the Packers an improbable 22-21 win.
OH MY. PACKERS TAKE THE LEAD.
ðº: #GBvsNYG on ABC
ð±: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/0LeBKvPPxF pic.twitter.com/q4x5CBVSVC— NFL (@NFL) December 12, 2023
The Bad
All three phases. Jordan Love had two first-half turnovers and the Packers offense finished 2-for-5 scoring touchdowns in the red zone. The defense gave up over 200 yards rushing and didn’t have a sack or takeaway against a third-string rookie quarterback. And the special teams lost a fumble and missed a field goal. It’s probably a minor miracle that the Packers actually led 7-0 in the first quarter, 10-7 at half and 22-21 late in the fourth quarter because they made all the mistakes necessary in all three phases to lose the football game decisively. This was the Packers’ worst performance overall since pre-Halloween against the Vikings.
The Ugly
The final drive. The Packers needed one stop against Tommy DeVito — an undrafted free agent rookie making his fourth career start — to escape New York with an ugly win. But Joe Barry’s defense couldn’t provide it. DeVito calmly completed four consecutive passes for 53 yards, including the back-breaking 32-yarder to Wan’Dale Robinson against Keisean Nixon’s coverage that got the Giants down to the 22-yard line. It was as easy as a game-winning drive could be. The Giants completed four uncontested passes, ran three times, lined up for the field goal and knocked it through. For the fifth time this season, the Packers gave up a second-half lead and lost. And for the fourth time, the Packers took a second-half lead and immediately gave it up on the ensuing defensive possession.
