X’s and O’s with LeRoy Butler: Breaking down the loss to the Vikings
LeRoy Butler explains how two errors led to a Jordan Love interception, and how Edgerrin Cooper and Quay Walker were in perfect coverage on a play.
It’s pretty clear why the Green Bay Packers fell more than a few spots in many of the national lists known as NFL power rankings.
In addition to Sunday’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings, there seemed to be more concern about the Packers’ defense than the fact that they’re 0-2 this season when quarterback Jordan Love starts.
Here’s a summary of where the Packers stand in NFL power rankings:
The loss to Minnesota created a fall of five spots for the Packers here. Josh Kendall gives his early take on the Packers’ draft class.
“The most impactful newcomer from this class has been safety Javon Bullard, a second-round pick who is third on the team with 20 tackles. The two players the Packers took before Bullard — offensive lineman Jordan Morgan and linebacker Edgerrin Cooper — aren’t regulars in the lineup. The continued production from the 2023 draft class of pass catchers — Luke Musgrave, Tucker Kraft, Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks — means the Packers may have been due a miss or two this year.”
Pete Prisco gives a matter-of-fact assessment after the Vikings loss knocked the Packers down two spots:
“Jordan Love was back, but it was clear he was rusty early in the loss to the Vikings. The defense certainly wasn’t as good as it has been, which is a concern.”
The Packers stood pat in the rankings here. Rob Demovsky gets real about why all this extra heat the Packers are emphasizing on opposing quarterbacks has some cold facts:
“While the Packers have pressured opposing quarterbacks 49 times (sixth most in the NFL through Week 4, according to ESPN Research), they’re not necessarily moving those signal-callers off the spot or speeding up their release. Passers have averaged 2.71 seconds inside the pocket, the most in the league, and they’re averaging 3.04 seconds before throwing, second most in the league. Green Bay’s pass rush win rate of 27.3% is the lowest in the league.“
The Packers dropped four spots. According to Mike Florio, “Someone should have talked Jordan Love into waiting another week or two.”
Nate Davis is another national writer looking at the improvement at safety, despite a six-spot drop from a week ago:
“How good a signing has SS Xavier McKinney been? He’s the first player this century to pick off a pass in his first four games with a team.”
It wasn’t a smooth September for the Packers, who dropped one spot, but Frank Schwab believes they’ll recover:
“The Packers are 0-2 with Jordan Love starting and 2-0 with Malik Willis starting. Go figure. The Packers will be fine, but being two games behind the Vikings, with Minnesota having the head-to-head road win, isn’t how they wanted September to go.”
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