CLEVELAND — On the Green Bay Packers’ very first offensive snap, right tackle Zach Tom aggravated the oblique injury that kept him out the previous week, and he was done for the day. It didn’t get much better for the rest of the offensive side of the ball.
While Sunday’s 13-10 upset loss to the previously winless Cleveland Browns came down to a couple of special teams plays — a blocked Brandon McManus field goal and a game-winning 55-yard kick by the Browns all in the final 27 seconds — the bigger problem was an afternoon-long struggle for Jordan Love & Co.
Love rarely had time to throw, Josh Jacobs hardly had any room to run and the offensive line was a revolving door. The Packers also lost left guard Aaron Banks, who dropped out after halftime with a groin injury.
Love was sacked five times, tying the most in his career, while Jacobs rushed for only 30 yards (on 16 carries), his fewest yards in a game since Week 2 of the 2023 season. Jacobs’ franchise record of 10 straight games with a rushing touchdown also came to an end.
“No. 1, I think early on they were getting to the quarterback, so a lot of those longer developing routes, if you’re going to play man coverage, you’ve got to be able to protect a little bit better,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “It felt like from my perspective, [Love] was under duress for the majority of the game.
“So we’ve got to look at just some of the things we’re asking our guys to do in terms of protection, we’ve got to do it better. We’ve got to come up with better stuff for our guys, to put them in better position to go out there and compete.”
Love was pressured on 13 of his 31 dropbacks. That 42% pressure rate was the highest he has faced in a game in his career, according to ESPN Research. He was only 3-of-8 for 28 yards and was sacked five times when pressured.
But he wasn’t under pressure on his biggest mistake of the day. He saw his regular-season streak of nine straight games without an interception come to an end when he threw it right to Browns safety Grant Delpit with a little more than 3 minutes to play and the Packers leading 10-3. While Love wasn’t under pressure, he got the ball out of his hand quickly, perhaps because he had been under heat all game, and it set up the Browns’ tying touchdown.
“Obviously I’m trying to get it out, but it’s one of those, you’ve got to be able to see him falling off,” Love said of Delpit. “He did a great job of making a play, I didn’t see him, but it’s something I’ve seen before. I’ve got to find a way to see him.”
LaFleur put that mistake on himself.
“That’s a bad play call,” LaFleur said. “We shouldn’t have called that play. That’s on me.”
The biggest concern going forward might be the offensive line. Tom said last week that his torn oblique muscle wasn’t bad enough to require surgery, but after he exited after the first play, perhaps that might be necessary now. It also brings into question whether Tom should have been playing at all.
“Obviously, yeah, I would say if a guy plays one play … we got to have some discussions about, like, we can’t allow that to happen,” LaFleur said. “You know, it’s disappointing when he plays one play. Banks, I don’t think that was the case. It was a different injury. So it is what it is. That happens.”
As to whether all of this could turn into a long-term issue, Jacobs did not think that would be the case. In fact, he believes it will look a lot different Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys.
“I think we’re going to come out hungry,” Jacobs said. “I really feel bad for whoever sees this team next. I can tell this bothered a lot of the guys in this room. I know we’re gonna come out hungry this next week.”
