The status of starting quarterback Jordan Love is a major concern for the Green Bay Packers. But as Malik Willis has demonstrated over the past two years, their offense can function at a high level with him in the lineup.
Their bigger concern than Love’s injury right now might be the state of their defense, especially after a stunning no-show performance against the Baltimore Ravens in a 41-24 loss on Saturday night that officially ended their quest for an NFC North division championship.
Packers defense showing serious flaws without Micah Parsons
There was always going to be an expectation for the Packers defense to regress without superstar Edge-rusher Micah Parsons. He is one of the best players in football and a one-man game-changer every week he plays.
Before his season-ending injury, he was everything the Packers expected him to be when they traded for him.
But with Saturday’s loss, the Packers have now lost three games in a row with a defense that is showing very little resistance without Parsons.
The first loss on that losing streak saw them give up 34 points to the Denver Broncos.
They followed that a week ago by blowing a double-digit fourth-quarter lead to the Chicago Bears, which helped hand them the division championship.
Saturday’s game was the worst of them all.
They allowed 41 points to a Ravens offense that was being quarterbacked by third-string quarterback Tyler Huntley. It was also a Ravens offense that has been extremely hit-and-miss in recent weeks, struggling to establish any sort of identity. The Packers defense made one stop the entire game against that offense, which did not result in a scoring drive.
Baltimore accounted for 414 yards of total offense, including 307 rushing. Derrick Henry ran for 216 of those yards and four touchdowns.
Excluding their end-of-game kneel-down, the Ravens’ eight offensive possessions resulted in five touchdowns, two field goals and only one punt. Against a Tyler Huntley-led offense.
What makes it especially concerning is that they had to know what Baltimore’s game plan was going to be coming into this game. Without Lamar Jackson, and with the Ravens coaching staff facing heat for under-utilizing Henry a week ago, it was pretty apparent that was going to be the focal point of the game. From the opening possession, it was. Green Bay had no answer for any of it.
They were outplayed. Outworked. Outschemed. They could not match Baltimore’s toughness. It is a concerning sign with the playoffs just around the corner. They are going to face better quarterbacks and better offenses than they have over the past few weeks. Nothing they have shown recently indicates they will be able to answer them.