Five things we learned from the Green Bay Packers' 19-7 loss to the Detroit Lions in Week 3 . . .
Aaron Rodgers threw for 162 yards Sunday in Detroit. If that sounds like a very low number for the former NFL Most Valuable Player, that's because it is. It's the second-lowest amount of passing yards in a single game of Rodgers' entire career, with the lowest being from his first year as a starter in 2008 (142 yards in a loss at Minnesota). Last season, Rodgers' lowest passing yardage game was 244 yards.
This is already the second game this season in which Rodgers has thrown for less than 200 yards, and they've both resulted in Packers losses. Rodgers didn't have any games in 2013 with less than 200 yards passing, and the two times he was below that mark in 2012 were both Green Bay victories.
Rodgers is obviously vital to the Packers' offensive success. His $22 million per-year annual average salary is superstar money, which Rodgers deserves. But it also makes below-average (by his standards) performances more noteworthy. Though he didn't have any interceptions and still had a respectable 88.8 passer rating, Green Bay needs a lot more from its quarterback. That was evident once again against the Lions.
With a subpar and injury-depleted Detroit secondary, it seemed odd that the Packers didn't go to a four wide-receiver set until late in the game. All of those elements played a role in Rodgers losing to the Lions, something he's never done before when starting and finishing a game against them.
It would certainly help Rodgers if he had more open receivers to throw to, but that hasn't been the case much this season. It's been Jordy Nelson, then a fairly big gap, then Randall Cobb, then another significant gap, then the rest. Jermichael Finley's presence in the middle of the field has been missed. As has the veteran know-how of James Jones.
Jarrett Boykin, who somewhat surprisingly was the No. 3 wide receiver in this game, continues to struggle with his bigger role. He dropped another pass in Detroit, hauling in just one of the four targets sent his way for 11 yards. Davante Adams showed, though, why the Packers are tentative to have him permanently supplant Boykin. Adams had a mental error on a route that had Rodgers upset with the second-round pick rookie. Adams finished this game with two catches on three targets for 11 yards.
After Nelson's 30 targets in Green Bay's first two games, the Lions made sure that he wasn't the receiver to beat them. Detroit had emerging cornerback Darius Slay on Nelson and frequently gave safety help over the top. Even with that amount of attention on him, Nelson still led the Packers with five catches for 59 yards on seven targets. Cobb had just three catches for 29 yards on six targets.
It was a struggle once again for Eddie Lacy. After rushing for 34 yards in Seattle and 43 yards against the Jets, Lacy had 36 yards on 11 carries in Detroit. That puts the reigning NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year's season statistics at 36 carries for 113 yards (3.1 average) and no touchdowns. It also means Lacy is on pace for just 602 rushing yards this season. As a rookie, Lacy had 1,178 rushing yards despite playing in just 14 full games.
The worst part of Lacy's performance in Detroit was his first-quarter fumble that was scooped up by the Lions and returned for a touchdown. It was Lacy's first fumble since his NFL debut game last season. After the Packers' first-snap-of-the-game fumble in Week 2, the last thing they could afford was a second-snap-of-the-game fumble this week, especially one that got brought back the other way for a defensive score. It proved to be a huge difference in a low-scoring game.
If not for Lacy's 17-yard run in the fourth quarter when the Lions were focusing on stopping the pass, Lacy would be below 100 rushing yards on the season and hovering around a 2.7 yards per carry average.
It's been James Starks who's been the more successful running back so far this season. Starks led Green Bay in rushing yards in Seattle and in Detroit. Starks had 38 yards on eight carries against the Lions after not touching the ball at all in Week 2.
Through the first five-plus quarters this season, the Packers' defense was very poor, allowing 55 points. In the six quarters since, however, Green Bay's defense has definitely done its job, allowing only 13 points.
Julius Peppers had a point-saving play late in the third quarter in which he had a sack, forced fumble and fumble recovery with the Lions inside the red zone. The Packers also had two interceptions of Matthew Stafford and held him to a 61.6 passer rating. Calvin Johnson had a couple Calvin Johnson moments, but any defense would be happy with holding the NFL's best receiver to 82 yards and no touchdowns. And while Green Bay's run defense wasn't flawless, keeping Reggie Bush, Joique Bell & Co. to a 3.0 average per rush was an overall good day.
But with the Packers offense giving up nine points (seven on Lacy's fumble and two on a safety) and Rodgers only able to put seven positive points on the board, this performance by Green Bay's defense didn't give it the win it deserved.
When Ha Ha Clinton-Dix intercepted Stafford late in the first quarter, it was the first time a Packers safety has had a pick since December 2012. It was a wild throw that bounced high off of Corey Fuller's hands and directly into the waiting arms of Clinton-Dix. But there is credit due to the rookie safety for being in that spot and getting in position to make such a play. No Green Bay safety was able to do so throughout all of 2013 while Clinton-Dix was busy playing at Alabama.
Last weekend, when the Packers beat the Jets, Green Bay's tight ends had just one catch on three targets for eight yards. Without Brandon Bostick part of the offensive game plan yet, it seemed there wasn't a tight end on the Packers' roster capable of making big plays in the receiving department. That was before Andrew Quarless made the best catch of his career. On Green Bay's only score of the game, Rodgers had a tight window to get the ball to Quarless in the end zone, and the fifth-year tight end snagged it out of the air. Quarless continued to perform well after that, too, finishing with four catches for 43 yards.
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