Who's In Command? Packers Struggle in D.C.

It’s a mess right now in Green Bay, and the amount of stains the Packers have tried to deep clean over the last few weeks just won’t come out.

The Packers dropped their third straight game in a row in a 23-21 loss to the Washington Commanders on Sunday as their record now sits at 3-4, their worst mark at this point in the season since 2006.

Inconsistency has been the biggest factor in the team’s performances week-to-week, but it didn’t show at the start for Green Bay.

The defense forced two three-and-outs on Washington’s first two drives, and the Packers scored a touchdown on their second drive with an Aaron Jones 4-yard TD catch from Aaron Rodgers. Jones got the most use on the Packers’ first 12 plays from scrimmage, as he was the ball carrier for 7 of them.

The best play for Green Bay in the first half happened in the 2nd quarter, when ILB De’Vondre Campbell jumped in front of a corner route and picked off Commanders QB Taylor Heinicke. The All-Pro linebacker would take the ball the other way and go 63 yards for the pick-six. It was the second interception of the season for the Packer defense, the other from a Week 2 win over the Bears.

The defense almost got another huge score late in the first half. With a 14-10 Packers lead with 4:29 left, Washington got the ball back with good field position. On a 3rd and 6 from the GB 39, Heinicke was strip-sacked by Rashan Gary and Rasul Douglas scooped up the loose ball and took it to the house for a 62-yard play.

However, an illegal contact penalty by Eric Stokes nullified the score and gave the Commanders a new set of downs.

While the drive resulted in a missed 47-yard field goal by Joey Slye, the defensive touchdown called back left a bad taste on the Green Bay sideline as they led by 4 at the break.

That taste would sour even more in the second half. The Commanders scored 13 points on three straight possessions, which included a 16 play, 72 yard field goal drive that took 8:48 off the game clock and gave Washington a 20-14 lead going into the 4th quarter.

It would take 42 minutes for the Packers to reach the end zone again on an offensive drive. Starting at their own 25 with 6:40 remaining in the game and trailing 23-14, Green Bay benefited from two illegal use of hands penalties on the Commanders as Rodgers connected with Jones again for a 21-yard touchdown pass to make it a 23-21 ballgame with 3 minutes to go.

Although Washington converted a key 3rd down just before the 2-minute warning, the Packers would get the ball back with no timeouts and 23 seconds left to get into range for a game-winning field goal.

From their 18-yard line, Rodgers hit Sammy Watkins on a post route to bring it up to the GB 46, which was not enough for a field goal attempt but set up one final play.

Green Bay would try the ole’ razzle dazzle, with at least 4 lateral plays getting to the Commanders’ 21 yard line before a Rodgers lateral across his body to LT Zach Tom went out of bounds, which ended the last ditch effort.

After Rodgers mentioned last week that the offense needs to simplify things when they’re on the field, they played very conservative when they had the ball. It’s sounding like a broken record now, but the Packers have not used the run game with any positive effect. Although he had 9 receptions for 53 yards and 2 touchdowns, Jones only carried the ball 8 times for 23 yards. AJ Dillon’s limit was just 4 carries for 15 yards.

Both backs ran the ball only once in the second half in a game where Rodgers threw 21 passes for 10 yards or less. Even with a comfortable pocket, he only averaged 5.5 yards on each attempt but did not take any sacks in a game for the first time this season.

The pass protection setup for Rodgers was very different compared to the previous week. David Bakhtiari did not suit up for the first time since Week 2, so the rookie Tom got the start at left tackle. Elgton Jenkins moved to LG, while Jon Runyan started at RG and Yosh Nijman filled in at RT.

This was Tom’s first start of his NFL career, although he filled in for Runyan in Week 1 against the Vikings when he left the game with an injury. The rookie did not allow a single pressure on 41 pass-blocking snaps, showing he could be an asset on the blindside.

For the defense, the secondary for the league’s top passing defense did not look too solid. Jaire Alexander struggled against Terry McLaurin, as the Commanders WR hauled in 5 catches for 73 yards and a touchdown. Rasul Douglas had 3 pass breakups, but also dropped two potential interceptions; and Eric Stokes committed two bad penalties on third down that kept the defense on the field.

Third-down defense was also a contrast. The Packers made 6 stops on 3rd down in the first half, but gave up 4 key conversions in the second half. Washington utilized both Curtis Samuel and Antonio Gibson in the flat as the team averaged 11 yards on third down in the second half.

Special teams has also been very bland. After the Packers forced a Commanders punt on their second drive, Amari Rodgers muffed the ball and Washington recovered on the GB 20, which resulted in a field goal. After Keisean Nixon replaced him on the next couple returns, Rodgers was back deep for the last few punts despite his early turnover.

The patience with Amari Rodgers has become razor thin, as he has three fumbles this season and only 3 returns for more than 20 yards. Special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia and LaFleur will have to evaluate who will return kicks this upcoming week against a special teams unit who has only punted the ball 11 times in total this season.

There probably isn't a single aspect of the game that the Packers have managed well here over the last 4 weeks. They have lost 3 straight games to teams that they were favored against and have only scored an average of 20 points a game during this stretch.

With a huge matchup this upcoming Sunday night against the Buffalo Bills, who are arguably the best team in the NFL coming off their bye week, the timing of this game may be good or bad depending on who you ask. Regardless, this may be the first time in almost 3 decades that playing the Packers could be considered a trap game.

If the Packers do pull off an upset, that will bring huge upside to their season trajectory. If not, fans may have to embrace a season slide down a rough hill.