Hit the panic button. This could get ugly for the Green Bay Packers. Really ugly.
The Packers somehow escaped MetLife Stadium with a win four days ago, but they crashed back down to earth in embarrassing fashion on Thursday Night Football, suffering a 35-14 blowout loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
Yes, we're talking about the same Falcons that lost their opening two games, including a 34-3 defeat at the hands of the Carolina Panthers. There's a lot to unpack from this Packers performance.
Instant takeaways from the Packers' blowout loss to Falcons on Thursday Night Football
1. The run game battle turns into a Packers embarrassment
One stat that completely captures the story of this game? The Falcons rushed 39 times for 244 yards and three touchdowns. The Packers? Nine carries for 17 yards.
Green Bay can't run the ball behind one of the league's worst offensive lines. That much we already knew. But the defense? Oof. Someone handed Jonathan Gannon the Joe Barry playbook.
Bijan Robinson humiliated Gannon's defense to the tune of 194 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 6.7 per attempt. That's how it's done. The Falcons' offensive line bullied the Packers' front all night long, and they had the running back tandem to make it count.
The gulf on the ground was truly remarkable. It felt like each Packers running back had to run through water just to gain a yard, while Bijan and Brian Robinson glided through the Lambeau grass. They made it look easy. The frightening part? It was easy.
2. Brian Gutekunst needs to make a move along the offensive line
Good luck finding a starting offensive lineman in free agency or via trade. Few talented linemen are available in September. Brian Gutekunst might not have much choice, though. It was Gutekunst's long run of questionable roster moves along the offensive line that put them in this mess to begin with.
Signing Aaron Banks? Drafting Josh Myers over Creed Humphrey? Using premium picks on Jordan Morgan and Anthony Belton? Not finding a capable right guard over Jacob Monk?
It was ugly again on Thursday Night Football. Per Pro Football Focus' unofficial count, the Packers surrendered 18 pressures – Monk allowed six, Jager Burton five. On the ground, only Morgan earned a positive run-blocking grade. Three starters had a grade below 44.0.
3. Jordan Love doesn't look like Jordan Love
Make that two rough performances in a row for Jordan Love.
He looks like a quarterback with the weight of the franchise on his shoulders. A quarterback with no trust in his offensive line (and who could blame him?). A quarterback truly lacking rhythm.
Love completed just under 53 percent of his passes for 312 yards, two touchdowns, and a pick on the final, pointless possession. But those numbers don't paint the entire picture. Love missed some throws he'd usually make in his sleep. He was pump-faking, hesitating, and uncomfortable.
He handled Brian Flores' blitzes for three quarters in Week 1, hanging in the pocket and delivering strikes even when he knew a hit was coming. But since the fourth quarter of that game, when Love took a ridiculous amount of hits and was under constant duress, he hasn't looked the same. Maybe it's a lack of trust in his protection, or just a lack of timing. Perhaps both.
But Love doesn't look like Love, and that's a real problem.
4. Where do the Packers go from here?
Not even Micah Parsons can save this team, unless something drastic changes.
The Packers are 1-2. They get the struggling Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 4, but that no longer feels like the comfortable game many would've predicted. Then come the Chicago Bears and Dallas Cowboys.
Matt LaFleur must use the next 10 days to hit the reset button and find a solution. Something. Anything. That's easier said than done, though, as his team has now lost seven of their past eight games dating back to last December.
Losing is an ugly habit and a tough one to shift. Even the most pessimistic of Packers fans didn't see this blowout loss coming. Where do they go from here? It could get far worse yet.
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