Despite the loss, there are numerous lessons from the Packers loss to the Lions that the Packers can take home and use moving forward.
First Lesson: This Team Does Not Quit
There were lots of things that went wrong during the Packers loss to the Lions. But, one thing is for sure. This team just does not quit. Very often during the Aaron Rodgers era, especially towards the end, as soon as the Packers faced any sort of adversity: they crumbled.
There are so many examples of this phenomenon. In 2019, they faced adversity against the Chargers, against the Niners in the regular season and got pummeled in both of those contests. Same thing happened in 2020 against the Buccaneers in the regular season. The story was that whenever the Packers faced adversity, they lost. In fact, Robert Saleh, then-Jets head coach and now Packers assistant coach, had this to say about the Packers in 2022 when the Jets beat the Packers at Lambeau Field:
However, it is safe to say that these are not the same old Packers. These Packers do not quit. At halftime, the Packers were down by 10 points. But the Packers had almost nothing going for them in the first half. Jordan Love was way off in every facet of the word, the run game finally got them a touchdown, but it was looking extremely bleak.
But the Packers came back in the second half, scored on their first possession, got a turnover on the Lions possession, and took the lead on the ensuing possession. These Packers do not quit. Even when they were down by numerous scores against the Vikings this season, they came back. From all their four losses this season, only one came by multiple scores. Safe to say that you can expect the Packers to be competitive in every game, and in the playoffs, sometimes that is all you need.
Second Lesson: The Pass Rush Needs A Complete Game
The pass rush is not great. However, they were up against one of the best offensive lines in football alongside one of the best playcallers in the league. That should cut them some slack. Yet, the pass rush looks much improved from previous games.
Rashan Gary had a sack in this game, Kenny Clark had his best game of the season by far, and Colby Wooden made plays! Here is a look at Wooden winning a 1 on 1 vs one of the best centers in the league in Frank Ragnow:
Karl Brooks was also close on a few plays, Arron Mosby had a good play in coverage on third down to force a field goal try after the Christian Watson fumble. The defensive line is making plays, they are flashing at sporadic times. They either put it all together down the stretch or there will be a whole lot of reinforcements coming in the offseason. The optimistic approach is that they put it all together, and the hope is they do.
Third Lesson: Keep Feeding Wicks
The third lesson from the Green Bay Packers loss to the Lions is that Wicks is improving. Wicks has always been a smooth operator, but has struggled a whole bunch with drops. Over the last two games, he only has one drop. Wicks is the best pure route runner on this team, just look at this route and look at how open he is:
Wicks had 4 receptions for 49 yards on Thursday, while having 4 receptions for 30 yards the week before. He is catching more passes, his route running is still just as good as it has always been, he his blocking incredibly well, he is due for a big game. Hopefully it comes next week against Seattle on Sunday Night Football.
Overall, the Packers can go toe to toe with the biggest tier of teams. But they badly, badly need Jaire Alexander and Edge Cooper to get healthy. They cannot cover the middle of the field with Isaiah McDuffie and they need to limit Eric Stokes snaps. Once Jaire Alexander is healthy, and once Edge Cooper is healthy, they will no longer need Eric Stokes, and will cover the middle of the field better. That will help decrease the margin of error in games, and will hopefully lead to more Packer wins.
Watch this incredible play one more time from last week:
Go Pack Go. Beat Seattle.
The post Lessons from the Packers loss to the Detroit Lions first appeared on PackersTalk.com Blog Posts and Podcasts.