The good: The Green Bay Packers are 3-1 after four games.
The bad: The Packers nearly got beat by a team quarterbacked by a third-string rookie.
The ugly: A long trip to London awaits.
The Packers escaped an upset bid from the New England Patriots on Sunday at Lambeau Field, using a Mason Crosby field goal as overtime expired to win 27-24.
Here’s the good, the bad and the ugly from the Packers’ Week 4 win:
The Good
Rashan Gary’s first half: It’s tough to remember a more dominant first half from a Packers edge rusher. He ended five different Patriots drives with pressure, a sack or a turnover play.
Run game: The Packers rushed 35 times for 199 yards, including 110 from Aaron Jones, 73 from A.J Dillon and a 15-yard touchdown from rookie Christian Watson.
Romeo Doubs’ resilience: Bad plays don’t stick with the rookie. He fumbled away the ball in the first half, but he eventually tied the game with a spinning back-shoulder touchdown catch in the fourth quarter. After dropping the go-ahead touchdown, he caught back-to-back passes on RPOs to help set up the game-winning field goal in overtime.
Allen Lazard: Among his six catches: a 32-yarder to spark the Packers’ first touchdown drive of the second half, and a 22-yarder to jumpstart the overtime drive. He finished with six catches and his first 100-yard game of the 2022 season (116 yards).
The Bad
RT Elgton Jenkins: In his third start at right tackle since returning from an ACL tear, Jenkins struggled blocking Patriots edge rusher Matthew Judon, who finished with a third-down sack and several pressures, including another on third down that ended the opening drive in overtime. Is Jenkins still shaking off the rust of a long layoff? He doesn’t look particularly comfortable in the pass game at right tackle. Would playing Yosh Nijman at right tackle and sliding Jenkins inside to guard make sense for the Packers, or is Matt LaFleur and Adam Stenavich willing to be patient while Jenkins gets back in the groove?
Run defense: The Packers were facing a third-string quarterback for much of the contest, and the Patriots rarely hid their intent to run the football, yet Green Bay’s defense still gave up 167 rushing yards and 5.1 yards per carry in another disappointing effort defending the run. On the plus side, the Packers did hold up against the run on three consecutive possessions to end the game.
More turnovers: Two more on Sunday, giving the Packers seven through four games. LaFleur’s team hasn’t won the turnover battle in any of the four games in 2022.
The Ugly
First half offense: Aaron Rodgers completed all of four passes and threw a pick-six to give the Patriots the lead. The offense turned the ball over twice and scored just seven points in six possessions. Things got turned around at halftime, but the first 30 minutes were ugly on the offensive side. As was the case in 2019, there will be long lulls and sinks in performance throughout this season as the offense figures out its identity and the passing game finds its stride.
