2018 Week 3: Packers Lose An Ugly Game In D.C. to the Redskins, 31-17

My first reaction was that this game exposed all of the Packers weaknesses on defense. A confused secondary, led by safety Kentrell Brice, who's first post-game comment was to throw his coach under the bus.

#Packers S Kentrell Brice on the deep touchdown pass to Paul Richardson: "We was in Cover 4. I was doing what was asked of me to do. Anything else you can ask the coach."

— Michael Cohen (@Michael_Cohen13) September 23, 2018

The buck stops somewhere else! I'm not a fan of his (unfortunately I don't see his replacement currently on the roster) but he wasn't the only one. CB Jaire Alexander, CB Tramon Williams, and CB Davon House all had pass interference penalties (on one drive!) as part of a disastrous first half. Washington has one of the least impressive groups of receivers in the NFL (Richardson only had that one big reception, Doctson had zero receptions, and Crowder had a nice game as their No. 3 receiver). Whatever adjustments were made at halftime worked because those problems didn't show up in the second half. But most teams who commit 11 penalties for 115 penalty yards are going to lose.

They also had a lot of trouble on the defending the edge against the run. While Adrian Peterson looked a lot better than I expected, his big 40+ yard run went right at OLB Kyler Fackrell, who continues to receive playing time for no good reason. OLB Reggie Gilbert wasn't much better against the run on the edge, often getting swallowed up inside.

The pass defense's biggest struggle was against TEs, Davis and Reed were killing them. It was the first game for ILB Oren Burks but I'm not exactly sure how much he played as he rotated with Morrison and Whitehead inside. But it wasn't a problem in the 2nd half, maybe Whitehead was playing more later in the game. Morrison was dumped by the Colts because of his problems in coverage, so he's not part of the solution.

And zero pass rush. Once DC Mike Pettine started dialing up some DB blitzes, they got some pressure, but the front four did little outside of the roughing the passer call on Clay Matthews. Those calls are an embarrassment for the NFL, it's called a tackle and it shouldn't be a penalty, but that call was not why they lost the game.

I don't know if I'd even blame the defense for the loss though they've got to find a way to create more of a pass rush (legally) and improve their pass defense. But on second viewing, the offense found a way to maximize their worst plays and avoid their effective ground game.

Tough day for Randall Cobb -- who had two drops, a lost fumble and just four catches for 23 yards -- after what had been two solid weeks. He didn't hide from it.

"I didn't give us an opportunity to win," Cobb said. "A third-down drop on the first... https://t.co/NzEV2bJv7i

— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) September 23, 2018

Their offense is better with Randall Cobb but I can't understate how bad he was on Sunday. He was targeted 11 times and those 11 plays went for 23 yards and a fumble. He was targeted every sixth play, no one was targeted more and he produced absolutely nothing. Adams also had a drop (and a TD reception) and TE Lance Kendricks continued his pass-dropping ways from the preseason with another big drop in this game. There's no reason for Kendricks to play anywhere except special teams. Overall, it's amazing the Packers only lost by 14 points when they committed 115 penalty yards and their No. 1 target was clearly their worst offensive player.

And Mike McCarthy, if you're averaging almost 6 yards on the ground and your most dynamic running back has just returned (Aaron Jones had 7 yards per carry! On only 6 (team leading!) carries) and your franchise quarterback is hobbling around on an injured knee, why don't you run the ball? Over 50 pass plays were called and only 15 running plays. Yes, they were trailing the entire game, but those passes to Cobb weren't working all game. And the Redskins struggled covering Ty Montgomery out of the backfield. Rodgers had something to do with throwing all those attempts to Cobb but the last pass attempt to him was a designed quick screen pass that led to his fumble. A lot of this is always second-guessing but McCarthy's 0 for 3 this season in coming up with offensive game plans that out-coach their opponent and he didn't adjust at halftime.

A week ago, their upcoming Week 4 game hosting Buffalo looked like a relaxing Sunday, before the Bills stomped all over the Vikings in Minnesota in Week 3. The players need to play better and the coaches, especially on offense, need to come up with a better game plan. This game was bad, but they're a better team than what they showed against the Redskins.