With a chance to right the season and begin a legitimate push to the playoffs, the Green Bay Packers played one of their worst games of the season and lost 27-17 to the Tennessee Titans at Lambeau Field on Thursday night.
The Titans gained over 400 yards and never trailed, and the Packers’ late comeback attempt came up woefully short at a cold and lifeless Lambeau Field.
Here’s the good, the bad and the ugly from Thursday night’s loss to the Titans:
The Good
Christian Watson keeps scoring. The rookie proved his Week 10 breakout performance was no fluke by catching two more touchdown passes, including one on a free play to spark the Packers alive in the first half and another to get the team back in the game early in the second half. It wasn’t enough, but Watson has proved his potential for star power over the last two weeks. Defenses just don’t have the speed to cover him consistently, especially when he has a free release and can run either vertically down the field or horizontally in the red zone. And Aaron Rodgers trusted him to make a play on the first score, and he made it. Watson’s stat line over the last two games? Eight catches, 155 yards, five scores. With the season slipping away, expect Watson to become the primary target for whoever is playing quarterback down the stretch.
The Bad
Offense goes 0/4 with a chance to get back in the game. After the Titans went up 27-17 in the second half, the Packers offense had four opportunities to cut into the lead and get back into the game but failed on all four. Wasted were an interception by Rasul Douglas and a 24-yard punt return by Keisean Nixon into Titans territory. The Packers went three-and-out after the interception and turned it over on downs following Nixon’s return. Over the final four drives, quarterback Aaron Rodgers completed 8-of-16 passes for 60 yards and took a sack against an injury-depleted Titans secondary. Aaron Jones was stuffed on 4th-and-1 inside Titans territory to essentially end the game. There were opportunities to steal this game. The Packers offense did nothing with them.
The Ugly
Defense gets trucked by Ryan Tannehill and Derrick Henry. The Titans came into Thursday night as one of the NFL’s worst offenses, at least statistically speaking, but the Packers turned them into a powerhouse. Tennessee gained 408 yards, scored four touchdowns and created a half-dozen explosive plays in the passing game. Altogether it was maybe the most disappointing performance of the season for the Packers defense. Ryan Tannehill completed 22 of 27 passes for 333 yards, Derrick Henry threw a touchdown pass and totaled 132 yards, rookie Treylon Burks went over 100 yards receiving and Austin Hooper caught two scores. The Packers managed three sacks and Rasul Douglas intercepted a pass to keep Matt LaFleur’s team in it in the second half, but the Titans mostly rolled. At one point, Tennessee scored touchdowns on three straight possessions. Both times the Packers scored in the second half, the defense immediately gave up a score. For the Titans, the 408 yards and 27 points were both season-highs. Joe Barry’s highly overrated defense keeps underperforming.
