Packers: Positives, negatives from Week 5 vs. Lions

Positives and negatives from the Green Bay Packers’ Week 5 loss to the Detroit Lions.

The Green Bay Packers were annihilated by the rival Detroit Lions Sunday and dropped to 2-2-1 on the season.

Here are some positives and negatives from the loss:

Positive: Marquez Valdes-Scantling

With both Randall Cobb and Geronimo Allison out for the road matchup against the Lions, Marquez Valdes-Scantling showed up for the Packers with a touchdown.

His impressive showing will hopefully give Mike McCarthy and Joe Philbin the confidence to potentially call his number again in the future.

Rookies J’Mon Moore and Equanimeous St. Brown also received playing time, but Valdes-Scantling is clearly the name to watch going forward for what has been a disappointing offense.

Negative: Pass rush

The Packers chose not to address the pass rush both during the draft or in free agency. Muhammad Wilkerson was brought in to help against the run, but with him out for the season, the Packers look like the same weak defensive line that they have been for years.

Clay Matthews appears to have next to nothing left in the tank, and Nick Perry has been miserably disappointing since receiving a contract worth almost $60 million.

Matthews’ time in Green Bay is likely over at season’s end, but the Packers are still on the hook for three more seasons.

Perry has regressed as a run defender and has never been much of a pass rusher. With Vince Biegel gone and Kyler Fackrell still not looking like an NFL-level player, the pass rush is desperately searching for answers.

Positive: Dean Lowry

While the Lions don’t have much of a running game, the Packers front still looked characteristically leaky throughout Sunday’s game. Dean Lowry has the burden of replacing Muhammad Wilkerson in the rotation, and against the Lions he showed some signs that he might be able to do that at a decent level.

Lowry has always been a solid rotation player on the defensive line. While never quite good enough to take over a game by himself, he can be a useful asset with enough help around him.

Kenny Clark is still slowly ascending towards his first Pro Bowl, while Mike Daniels, while overrated, is solid at defensive tackle. Lowry has a chance this season to play his way into a second contract with the Packers.

Negative: Confidence

The Packers looked like zombies throughout the game. The Lions played with considerably more energy and confidence despite coming into the game in last place in the division. The body language of Aaron Rodgers and the rest of the offense suggested that they were not capable of coming back from a 24-point halftime deficit.

Right now, Green Bay is not a Super Bowl team, and made not even be a playoff team. The Packers play with no intensity, energy, or enthusiasm, which starts with their head coach. Unless something changes quickly, the Packers’ season will continue to spiral out of control.

Positive: Oren Burks

Oren Burks looks to finally be getting some consistent time on the field even after the training camp injury to Jake Ryan.

Burks impressed at Vanderbilt as a sideline-to-sideline linebacker who can both cover and be an effective run defender. Burks is extremely raw, but after the Packers’ draft-day pursuit of Leighton Vander Esch failed, they settled for Burks in the third round.

The Packers have foolishly left their defense without a legitimate rangy linebacker for years. Burks has quite a long way to go, but he appears to have the physical tools to do just that.

Negative: Mike McCarthy

It is time to let Mike McCarthy go as head coach. McCarthy and his staff simply cannot implement any semblance of an offensive scheme and have forced Aaron Rodgers to do everything himself each and every week.

McCarthy has not been able to help improve his helpless defense year after year, and the team does not appear to be responding to its head coach.

McCarthy is out of excuses. The Packers have given him pass after pass because of his lone Super Bowl appearance almost a decade ago.

The Packers will not win another Super Bowl under this regime, even with Aaron Rodgers under center. It is time for change in Green Bay.