Up until last season, the Packers under Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers treated meetings with the Lions as little more than bye weeks, never having lost to Detroit when Aaron Rodgers played a full game. McCarthy was unable to sustain that type of dominance on Sunday as the Packers found themselves on the wrong side of a 7-19 defensive battle at Ford Field. Arguably more shocking than the loss itself was a total let-down by Rodgers and the Packer offense.
As McCarthy alluded to in his Monday press conference, scheme and opposing personnel were not root causes of the offensive struggles. Instead, the Packers played fundamentally bad football against a very mediocre Lions defense. Routinely lining up against a Detroit defense with two deep, the Packers ground game was given every opportunity to set the tone and chalk up the usual 30-plus points. Instead, the Detroit defensive front had their way and shut down what was thought to be one of the league’s best offenses heading into the season.
For the third week in a row, fundamental mistakes continued to plague the Packers. The receiving corps was guilty of six dropped passes while Eddie Lacy handed Detroit early momentum with a fumble on the Packers’ opening drive. Perhaps the most puzzling aspect of the offense’s down day was the average play out of Green Bay’s face of the franchise. While his receivers failed to create much separation against pedestrian defensive backs, Rodgers held onto the ball too long and missed throws that he tends to make on a regular basis.
On a positive note, the Packers played some of their best defense since early last season, allowing only 10 total points. With a sack-and-strip of Matthew Stafford in the second half, pass rusher Julius Peppers delivered some of the big-play ability that the unit has lacked for so long. The pass rush looked vastly improved even outside of Peppers, despite facing a troubled Detroit offensive line. And sure enough, when Dom Capers dialed it up on third downs, the defense managed to hurry Stafford and force punts.
Some of the most spectacular play on defense came from physical but unpolished cornerback Davon House, who managed to contain wide receiver Calvin Johnson despite leaving the game early due to cramps. House has improved every week since the preseason and appears to be the Packers’ best option to defend the perimeter going forward. With a trip to Chicago in store for next week, House will surely be elected to line up across from one of the Bears’ two tall wide outs.
Visits with the Bears and Vikings over the next weeks make it crucial that Green Bay’s offensive issues are resolved immediately. While McCarthy’s Packers have struggled in the early fall a number of times, they have typically managed to steal wins from their NFC North counterparts, no matter the circumstance.