Packers: Three reasons they lost vs. Washington

Three reasons why the Green Bay Packers lost to Washington in Week 3.

Following last Sunday’s loss, the Green Bay Packers fell to 1-1-1. In their first road game of the season, Green Bay played poorly throughout. The game was essentially over at halftime, as the Packers trailed 28-10.

Due to the slow start Green Bay was never able to make this game competitive. This loss was very reminiscent of these teams’ 2016 matchup. That year, the Redskins dominated the Packers and won 42-24 on Sunday Night Football.

This loss exposed multiple problems with the Packers. Green Bay’s defense looked very exploitable and could not get off the field. Rodgers and the offense struggled to do anything.

Here are the three reasons Green Bay lost to the Redskins:

1. Defense looking familiar in the wrong way

The one missing link from getting Green Bay back to their championship glory is a stout defense. Since winning the Super Bowl in 2010, Green Bay has not had a very good defense. The heroics of Rodgers and the offense hides the fact that this defense is bad.

On Sunday there was no hiding the defense. Former Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson had his way versus his former rival. Peterson averaged 6.3 a carry, in a game where he rushed for 120 yards and two touchdowns.

In the passing game, Alex Smith was very efficient. Smith finished with a QBR of 87.2 and threw two touchdowns. Washington had many chunk plays in this game. One being a 46-yard touchdown pass on their opening drive. Smith also averaged 11 yards per pass play.

Green Bay’s defense played better in the second half only giving up three points. But the 28 points given up in the first half was too much to overcome.

2. Constant pressure on Rodgers

One common thread through the Packers’ first three games of the season is that Aaron Rodgers has been under pressure. In the first game versus Chicago, Rodgers got hurt due to the pass rush. In Week 2 against the Vikings, Green Bay was unable to score in overtime due to Minnesota getting a sack.

On Sunday, Washington matched both the Vikings and Bears’ sack performances. Washington managed to get four sacks and seven quarterback hits. Rodgers being limited with his knee injury hurts the offense even more.

If the offensive line is unable to hold up, it’s rare Rodgers can escape the rush. Blitzes from opposing defenses seem to get more effective as the weeks go on. The receivers must get open quickly in order for the passing game to be productive.

3. One-dimensional offense

This comes as no surprise but the Packers’ offense was one-dimensional on Sunday. As I just mentioned, the offensive line is struggling against the pass rush. So the same is applying in the run game. The Packers have yet to have a 100-yard rusher this season.

Another reason the running game was not effective is because the Packers were behind very early in the game. Mid-way through the first quarter Green Bay was down 14 points.

Aaron Jones showed promise for Green Bay’s running game in his return from suspension. On just six carries he had 42 yards rushing, which is exactly seven yards a carry. If Jones can carry that production into this week’s matchup versus Buffalo then the offense will be balanced.

There is no reason for Packers to panic after this loss. It was the team’s first road test of the season, against a legitimate Washington team. If Green Bay is able to correct these problems, they won’t fall victim to a Bills upset like the Vikings did.