Week 3 was supposed to be a great moment for the Green Bay Packers. A chance to go 2-1 on the season in their home opener at Lambeau Field and face off against a favorable opponent.
This was an Atlanta Falcons team with uncertainty at quarterback. It turned out it would be Michael Penix Jr. starting in Week 3, who was returning after tearing his ACL last season. Not only that, but the Falcons had an offense that couldn't even reach the red zone in the first two games of the season.
Instead of a game that was supposed to be filled with joy and celebration, it was a miserable all-around experience for Packers fans inside Lambeau Field. The team lost 35-14 to the Falcons. It truly was stunning that the Packers found a way to outdo themselves in terms of disappointing performances this season.
The offense is receiving plenty of blame, and deservedly so, as they were unable to move up the field, convert third downs, or block for quarterback Jordan Love. But the defense, coached up by coordinator Jonathan Gannon, deserved plenty of blame.
Packers' defense failed to pressure Michael Penix Jr. in his return game
The Falcons had to deal with Cooper Rush as their starting quarterback for the first two weeks, as Penix wasn't fully comfortable returning from his knee injury, while Tua Tagovailoa suffered an oblique injury during practice ahead of Week 1. Yet, it was revealed on Monday that Penix would get the start.
Even though Penix was, by default, the best quarterback, he was a player returning from a knee injury. So, the ideal game plan for the opposing defense was to pressure him to force him to make bad throws and decisions. The Packers tried, but they simply had no answers.
ESPN NFL analyst Benjamin Solak noted that the Packers were only able to pressure Penix on 20 percent of his dropbacks, which turned out to be five total. Yet, Penix offset them by getting rid of the football by an average of 2.27 seconds, the second-fastest in a game this season.
Oh, and none of Penix's dropbacks were longer than four seconds. Credit can be given to head coach Kevin Stefanski and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees for getting Penix comfortable and ensuring the plays called would allow him to get rid of the football quickly.
As for Gannon, he was just unable to dial up anything that would allow any of his pass rushers to get to Penix quickly.
Packers had no answers for Bijan Robinson or Drake London either
This game proved just how much the Falcons needed a quarterback like Penix starting. By having a passer able to actually thwart the opposing defense and unleash quick passes, it opened the door for two of their top players to have huge games in running back Bijan Robinson and wide receiver Drake London.
Robinson, who is arguably the top running back in all of football, was expected to receive a ton of carries. After all, Penix was returning to action for the first time in nearly a year. But did Robinson ever make the Packers' defense pay for missed tackles and leaving openings at the line of scrimmage. Robinson ran for 194 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries. That's an average of 6.7 yards per carry.
In fairness, stopping Robinson is a tough feat for any defense. But perhaps the most damning statement of them all was from Robinson himself. After the game, Robinson said the Packers defenders' "eyes were really big" as he was making them miss tackles, h/t ESPN's Jeremy Fowler. That's not what you want to hear after a brutal loss.
Then, there was London, who didn't have the greatest first two weeks of the season. Prior to that game, London had six receptions for 80 yards on just 10 targets. But with a quarterback who could actually move the football and connect with accurate passes, London thrived. Oh, and it certainly helped that the Packers' secondary left London open for huge gains. He was targeted 10 times on Thursday night, hauling in nine of them for 194 yards. His longest gain was 68 yards.
Yes, the defense can only stop so much if the offense isn't keeping them on the sidelines for an adequate amount of time. Instead, Green Bay's defense was stuck on the field for over 37 minutes. To make matters worse, the Packers didn't force a single three-and-out the entire game. You're not going to win football games like that.
The defense will undoubtedly improve once Micah Parsons returns, yes. But the fact that a team that looked destined to earn the No. 1 overall pick in the 2027 NFL Draft ran and threw the football all over the Packers' defense just can't be ignored.
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