The Green Bay Packers took an early 7-0 lead and looked primed to put the blues of the first two weeks behind them, but Matt LaFleur's team blinked and suddenly the Atlanta Falcons had run up 27 straight points and were cruising to a blowout win over the Packers in the home opener on "Thursday Night Football" to open Week 3.
An embattled offensive line melted down again. A once sturdy run defense crumbled under the weight of an elite player. And just like that, the Packers are 1-2 after losing by 21 points to a team that came in 0-2 with 16 total points scored during the first two weeks.
Troubled times are here in Green Bay.
Highlighting the good, the bad and the ugly coming out of Thursday night's home opener loss:
The Good
WRs Matthew Golden and Christian
Watson: Sure, there were a few drops and a few missed contested catches. But overall, the Packers receiver pair was dynamic again, catching 12 passes for 196 yards and both of Jordan Love's touchdown passes. Golden produced his first career 100-yard receiving game and first career regular season touchdown while also drawing another long pass interference penalty, and Watson tied a career high with seven catches, including his fourth touchdown catch of the season. Can you imagine if the Packers could consistently block for the passing game? The positive impact of Golden and Watson as a duo is being overshadowed by an offensive line that is continually letting the quarterback get hit. Shiny toys at receiver don't matter much if the line of scrimmage is such a glaring issue.
The Bad
The quarterback, or the rookie cornerback: Pressure is clearly affecting Jordan Love. He's getting hit every other dropback, so it'd be hard to blame him for not trusting in the process around him in the dropback passing game. Even when things are clean in the pocket, the Packers haven't been consistent enough finding completions. Love averaged 5.9 yards per attempt, threw a pick late and had at least two other turnover-worthy plays against the Falcons. On defense, rookie starter Brandon Cisse enjoyed a nice start (Michael Penix was 0-for-2 targeting him in the first quarter) but then fell apart, allowing five catches for 111 yards as the targeted player in coverage, including a 68-yarder to Drake London (who finished with 194 receiving yards) in the second half. He also missed at least one tackle in the run game and got penalized for illegal contact downfield. There's been a lot of good from Cisse through three games, but the 21-year-old is clearly still learning on the job as a perimeter corner in the NFL.
The Ugly
The offensive line or the run defense. Take your pick. The Packers offensive line gave up pressure on 23 of Jordan Love's dropbacks and paved the way for 17 rushing yards, while Jonathan Gannon's defense allowed 242 rushing yards. Love was hit 12 times officially, but the count is probably higher. He is becoming a shell of himself behind an offensive line he clearly doesn't trust. Meanwhile, the Packers run defense -- which mostly stonewalled the Vikings and Jets to start the season -- got gashed by Bijan Robinson and the Falcons. Robinson finished with 194 rushing yards. Might as well throw the run game into the "ugly" category, too. MarShawn Lloyd rushed four times for 11 yards while Kaleb Johnson rushed four times for four yards. And what happened to Tucker Kraft? He dropped at least two passes and finished with only 26 receiving yards on eight targets. Oh, and don't forget the blocked field goal, where the Packers let an unblocked player into the backfield for an easy block despite the Falcons only having 10 players on the field. Three points down the drain. Plenty of U-G-L-Y to go around coming out of Thursday night.
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Good, bad and ugly from Packers' 35-14 loss to Falcons in Week 3
