I agree Cory. I thought that this was going to happen this year a few times as we have a new qb, young wr's and te's as well.

What is concerning to me is the defense. I do like the new players we have and they do lack experience but I do not feel like the coaching staff put the packers in a position to win the game. Yes, make Atlanta one dimensional! How? I remember in the early to mid 70's when Scott Hunter was the qb and we had a couple of stud rb's. They played Washington in the playoffs and they took the running game away from us by using 5 down linemen, begging us to pass. They were successful against us that year.

I am not saying that we should have 5 down lineman against Atlanta but our focus should have been on stopping their running game and we failed to do that.

So basically, my thought is that the coaching staff lost the game for us for not putting us in a position to win. You can say Barry is to blame and he is to a certain extent but the real blame goes to LAF. He retained Barry when there were other DC's available.

Yes I agree that Love looked good so far. I have not seen the whole game yet because I am out of the market but I have it recorded and started to watch the game.

Defense has a problem if they cannot stop a one dimensional team. It starts with the DC. Berry is not a good coach and should have been let go.

Our highest paid player who refused to take a pay cut did not play. They say it was because of his knee. Sorry I am no fool. He did not want to play on artificial turf. Let's see what happens the rest of the year. You are making 1/4 of the what the Packers are paying the whole offense and you do not play. Bakh needs to go.

Yes we lost Jenkins but that lose would not have been as bad if Bakh was playing.

Love did good for not having one of our top WRs, the top RB, and the best LT.

MLF let the team down by not trying the 58 yards FG in a dome. They said Carlson was so good and had a very strong leg that he did not need competition but then you get scared and punt the ball in the beginning of the game. MLF coaches scared. You do not win if you are not willing to take chances, MLF does not know what all in means.

"Even if it’s true that he doesn’t want to play on artificial turf, I don’t have a problem with that. If anyone has earned a rest on one of the most unforgiving surfaces around, it’s one of the best left tackles in the game."

Bullshit Cory...The Packers gave him a 4 year $92 million contract to PLAY. I understand he signed it before his knee injury but IMO that isn't the point. He's a Football Player... They get that kind of money to PLAY. Period, end of story. What does that say to the 26 Rookie or 2nd year players on this roster? D-Bak is SUPPOSED to be a leader on this team. Based on his comments this summer, and his week two hiatus from his teammates, he's clearly not that.

"But I am very impressed with Jordan Love. I have read and heard a lot of people blame this loss on No. 10, but that couldn’t be more wrong."

I'm with you on this one Cory...Reading all the comments on different articles not just here at CHTV buy EVERYWHERE, most people, like 95% were MORE than happy with Love. I understand his 4th quarter wasn't very good but nether were the OTHER 10 guys on the field with him. He gave the Defense a 12 point lead with like 13 minutes to go and for lack of a better word...CHOKED it right away. That's not to say Love is without fault, but he sure in the hell isn't the reason the Packers lost on Sunday.

News Flash... The Packers were 6-10 in Rodgers first year as a starter, 1-7 in one score games IIRC...It takes TIME for a young QB to learn how to win. ESPECIALLY when throwing to rookies and 2nd year guys.

Matt LaFleur said that David Bakhtiari had swelling in his knee, and he did not think Bakhtiari would've played even if the game was at Lambeau Field. So I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt here. They are stuck with him and his huge contract, and he is still excellent when he does play. This is just the way it's going to be, at least for this season. I hope they can move on from him before next season.

I appreciate the mostly positive column from Cory. We already knew that Jayden Reed is really good, but for me, Dontayvion Wicks was an even bigger story in this game. He really looked like he belonged.

As for the defense, it was disappointing, but I don't think taking the run away is as easy as it sounds against a really good running team with a new RB who already looks like one of the best in the league. You can't completely sell out on defending the run. This is not the 70s, when so many teams had really poor passing offenses. There seems to be this mentality among fans that if our defense "wants" to do something, they can just do it. Yes, they have a lot of talent, but they are not that great.

The defensive game plan against Atlanta was actually working quite well until the fourth quarter, when the Packer offense tanked and left the defense out there against a grinding offense that is designed for winning the fourth quarter. The Packers fell right into their trap. When you have a two-score lead in the fourth quarter, the offense's job is not done yet. In the fourth quarter, the Packers had the ball three times and went three-and-out each time. (Total time of possession for that quarter: 3 minutes!) The defense was hung out to dry.

No excuses, but it sure didn't help for the offense to be without their two best skill players and their two best offensive linemen. When some of these players get healthy, there is reason to believe that this sort of thing won't happen again.

Agree Cory, lots to be optimistic about.

The only thing I'd disagree with is on 69. If that was truly just a rest for his long term health, I'm cool with that. If he actually had swelling in his knee...Walker has already said 69 told him on Saturday he had swelling and was going to be out... then GB needs to do something meaningful there. The guy has done very little work this year and is already back on the bench, there's no way he play a full season again. Very disappointing if that's the case

In 2018, after the Packers played with no energy, heart or enthusiasm on December 2nd losing to the bottom dwelling Cardinals, leaving the stadium I remarked to my brother in law..."that game showed the Players are not buying what McCarthy is selling. I would not be surprised if he was fired."

A few hours later, Mike McCarthy was fired. It was not cruel. It was not uncalled for. It was necessary.

A mentor of mine once told me, as I anguished over the decision to fire a talented employee who was not meeting expectations, said "there is talent there, but our job is not right for him. We are doing him favor and longer term he will be better off and he will know it too. He was and he did. Just like Mike McCarthy.

Just like Joe Barry would be. The DC job for the Packers is a very poor fit for the man. He needs one that does fit him. DC is not it.

Does MLF have the courage to do what is required?

There is No doubt the Run Defense is a Concern.
But I’m giving all the credit to the Next great RB
In the NFL. Face it -
No body could stop Barry Sanders either.

And thats exactly why this Loss is on Love.
He had brain Farts. It wasn’t CTE or a Concussion.
And the 0-6 when he was needed was pathetic.
He showed NO moxie or Leadership.
But as long as we're after Barry, pin it on MLF.

This OL gave Love enough time even without,
Are often injured “supposedly” All pros.
Bahk and Jenkins need to go. Enough already.
Use the money elsewhere.
TT was so good at changing the OL. Why Gute?

You expected Rodgers to put up Lack of weapons.
You expected Rodgers to win it, when the D failed.
You expected Rodgers Etc.Etc. Etc.
But the biggest thing is, he never was a Ma Ma's boy.
Look guys. This is the NFL, Love is No Rookie.
Quit treating him like one. The guy Looked like a Loser.
It doesn’t mean he can’t rebound. But he still lost it!

I was impressed up until the forth Quarter.
But Dillion has to go. What is it with RBS and GB.
They either eat their way off the roster,
Fumble, or fall down or get injured.
Always when their needed the most.

Something interesting IMO... The Packers have scored 8 TDs, MOST in the NFL and 7 on offense which is tied for 1st...

Hmmm...What you say about that JL haters?

https://www.nfl.com/stats/team-stats/offense/scoring/2023/reg/all

Thanks for an upbeat article, Cory.
I agree with most of what you said, but I want to say this: Before the draft, I said Bijan Robinson's tape was the most impressive RB tape I've seen in a good 30 years. He COULD BE another Jim Brown/Barry Sanders/Earl Campbell level of RB. Additionally, his OL is an excellent run blocking line. I think Atlanta is going to run successfully against most NFL defenses, but especially any average run-stopping defense.
Our defensive roster doesn't have the wall of granite players you need against a team like this; we're a penetrating defense. We had a few TFLs too; it was a shame LVN got hurt.

Yes, Reed's strong suit is his extra gear; he has amazing afterburners which make him perfect for getting around the corner (and punt returning).

Love has looked EXTREMELY good in my opinion.

On the other hand, no one is more disappointed than me when it comes to AJ Dillon. This was the game for him to prove he's still good, and he fell (literally) on his face. :-(
I'm convinced we'll take a RB with one of the second-round picks in spring.

"The Packers win that game eight times out of 10."

Not with this coaching stuff. THEY DO NOT HAVE THE BALLS (well, except Rich Bisaccia). And that is the truth. Again, MLF traded 3 very valuable points in the 1 half for one TO he even not used! That 3 points, showed later, was winning points in this game.

If you do not believe, go to FG stats of Carlson through practices this year - highest % was on FGs 50+ yards. Kid has leg for maybe 70 yarder and you sh*t ypur pants, MLF? Pathetic!

I'm optimistic for the season, though Packers had that game, up 24-12 in the 4th. Several players and coaches could have stepped up and didn't. Two dropped INT's right in the chest and one in game one. Missed tackles and most of all, not stacking the line when you knew it was a run. I was ready to give Joe Barry a do over and be more aggressive this year. Not happening. How can he and LaFleur not see the glaring problems when they view the tape. Still, several rookies are making plays and Walker and Savage are in on many tackles. They will get better as a group, and the toughest games are late in the year. They can beat the Saints (home game). 23-20

I was one that was skeptical of Love because I hadn't seen what he could do. Outside of the Eagles game last year he never really showed that he was going to be the guy to me. But since taking over as the starter (to this point) he has really impressed me. He has not been perfect. Far from it. But when he gets locked in he is locked in. He has not had the best of luck with players around him. He is playing with all rookie and 2nd year players at WR. He hasn't had his most explosive weapon in both games. He also was without the offenses best playmaker this week. He was without his LT and lost his LG in the 2nd quarter. There was a lot to over come. So far I am very happy with Love. I'm looking forward to seeing how he progresses!

Reed has been very good so far. I can't wait to see what Reed looks like when Watson starts taking attention away because that will free up Reed more. Reed instantly has improved the offense.
To go with Reed, Wicks has impressed me as well. His TD catch and run showed a little bit of his ability. Wicks as our 4th WR is very good now. We have to really like our rookie pass catchers.

As for the team. We should expect a quite a few ups and downs especially early. The most disappointing thing about the Falcons game is that we were set up to win. We had the lead and lost it. But were 1 point away from winning in the end. And that was without 2 of our most explosive offensive weapons, our starting LT, losing our LG. There was a lot to overcome for a young offense. And yet we lost by 1 point.
I'm curious to see how this team responds to this. How do they come out after a loss in which they should have won. I'm looking forward to Sunday.

What I'd hope to see this year from the Packers is improvement each week. Yes, there are a number of bright spots and many good reasons for optimism. I think Love is off to a fantastic start and has a bright future ahead. There were mistakes by veteran players that could have changed the outcome of the game (looking at you, Ja), but the bottom line for me is what's happening and not happening on D. Good Lord, that was painful to watch! And, it wasn't something new. We watched a mediocre team run the ball at will, and let a middling QB get comfortable and play well.

There's a great post from yesterday on here (can't find it now) - the poster broke down our inexplicable D calls on a number of key plays in the game. In each instance, we had the wrong personnel on the field for what the Falcons had dialed up (from memory 3rd and 15, Packers in Dime, 3 routes against 6 DBs, light pressure, throw for a first down). Other examples Had the Packers in Nickel against the Falcons in 21 personnel. If on of you can find that, please link to it - outstanding work by the poster.

Joe Barry does not have the skills to be a successful DC in the NFL. Matt LaFleur needs to step it up as a play caller, and someone on that sideline needs to be able to put our guys in a position to win. The Saints game will reveal a lot.

Losing 2 All Pro players on the left side of the offensive line is a big issue but the team does have players with experience to put out a passable offensive line for a short period of time and the return of Jones and Watson should boost the offense.

The biggest and continued problem is Stopping The Run. The team has added noticeable talent via the draft some who are ready to play right away but the Draft ignored the teams biggest problem - stopping the run. The 4th and 5th round defensive lineman they picked were somewhat undersized as they preferred quickness and their #1 pick who was a lineman in college has linebacker size - none of the 3 when you look at them say "run stopper".

Add to that the defensive coaching issues in regards to scheme to be able to play with a smaller front 4 and the lack of containment by Smith & Gary that makes the situation even worse. This falls on the Head Coach as he has kept Barry who has yet to distinguish himself in several organizations other than as a positional coach. We are seeing the same trend as the Head Coach ignored several "over their head" Special Team Coordinators until public outcry forced him to hire a "real one". Looks like DeJaVu all over again as Yogi Berra would say.

Packers are 30th in run D allowing 165 yards a game. This despite playing base way more than usual. There's not a lot of teams in the NFL that can run against base and have success, the Packers made the Falcons look like one of them.

The sad part was their tackles couldn't stop the pass rush. They would have beat the hell out of Ridder if they could have only stopped the run.

If this column only addressed the offense, I’d largely agree. What we saw is the ripples inexperience inevitably causes in amongst otherwise largely encouraging play from the young players.

I’d we include the defense, however, absolutely not. This was not youth, it was an inability to deal with a perennial problem both individually and schematically. Barry had no discernible plan and made few if any adjustments week-on-week or in game to counter an O that was exactly as expected.

As predictable, we had players out there that are lighter disruptive types that aren’t know for prowess in run defense. They showed that is fair, and in trying, their threat evaporated, leading us to stack the boxes and to giving up big plays. It was eerily reminiscent of the Eagles last year. A total shellacking of the players and coach.

This week is a better match up for our D, at least at the front. The Saints OL is their Achilles, Carr needs a stable pocket and we could overrun them. Our issue will be that they have a good derp threat—their MVS type will burn Douglas, and Olave is averaging almost 100 yards a game. Our safeties are going to be tested if we can’t overwhelm that OL.

They have a very good D based on performance so far, though not one tested particularly effectively. We are going to have to work hard to move the ball. I don’t hold out much hope for a run game predicated in pounding Dillon between the tackles even with the unlikely event of effective blocking. Their rush has been good, but I think somewhat flattered by the opposing OL. However, we are going to need to be better in protection than we have had to be thus far.

"The Packers have to know if they can rely on AJ Dillon."

* please substitute Bakh for AJ in the above sentence.

Thanks Cory for the article. It was a well thought out IMO.

GPG!

Only two games in and the Packers are the second highest scoring team in the NFC.

The Defense is in a familiar spot with the cellar dwellers...5th worst in the NFL and 2nd worst against the run. The Packers have to date received the fewest punts in the NFL. Last season they defended the fewest 3rd downs in the NFL.

PFF has rated 37 QBs so far this season and Ridder is 35 and Fields clocked in at 25. You wouldn't think Barry needed to be too preoccupied giving up the big play. But he was...trying to prevent it as the Falcons gleefully took what he offered.

Do you think the D room is buying what Barry is selling? Kenny said the DL was going to be more aggressive this year. After the Bears, it looked promising. Alas, back to Barry Ball.

In fairness to Dillon the run blocking up the middle stinks. With Jenkins out at guard the lack of depth in the middle of the O line is a major concern. Even with the return of Aaron Jones you still need a little daylight to run in. It is imperative that we improve the O- line. Is Newman the best we have? Maybe even move Zach over to guard? We have better depth at tackle. We will see against the Saints defense come Sunday. Time will tell.

Are there concerns? Of course. There are going to be revelations during this first half of the season, both good and bad. Hopefully the players and staff make the proper adjustments in their play and schemes accordingly, and that the 2nd half of the season shows us to be a better team overall, building momentum.

There are fixes Gutekunst can make from a personnel standpoint prior to the NFL's Oct. 31st trade deadline, amongst other avenues. Maybe some players surprise us moving forward here.

We saw some bad stuff. My biggest concern is Joe Barry failing to commit to a more dedicated rotation to spread the snaps out. That, and leaving Jonathan Ford off the 53, as he would be an immense help - one who should have been used v. ATL. Week 1 Barry employed a great rotation v. CHI, and it worked well. Why go away from what works? Clark, Slaton and Wyatt got the bulk of the snaps v. ATL, and of course they wound up getting gassed at the end, when we needed them to be fresh.

Do these coaches not know Wyatt worked best in the rotations employed at Georgia? UGH. Get it together, Joe Barry.

There were other coaching blunders that actually lost the game for us, any number of which, had they not occurred, might have resulted in GB having scored more points than ATL at game's end.

Looking to see improvements and adjustments made by this entire team v. NO Sunday at Noon.

DOMINATE

LFG GPG

Where's LH to tell us it doesn't matter that they're 30th in Run D or 27th overall? They've played two shitty QBs and they're 14th in points! Everything's fine!

I am extremely optimistic on most parts of the team except for injuries and the continued employment of Joe Barry. These 2 factors are limiting our success.

One problem - injuries - is not solvable. It's just the nature of football. The other- Joe Barry - is solvable with a pink slip. How can a multi-million operation allow this to continue?

Maybe there is a 3rd problem? MLF just doesn't have the cajonnes to make hard decisions in a timely manner?

Still don’t understand why Lafleur didn’t call a time out on the early FG. Then he doesn’t go for a 56 yarder with a kicker who supposedly has such a strong leg, especially when kicking indoors. I still have no faith in Barry. Thru 2 games we’ve given up 333 yds on the ground. Sounds just like the last couple of years. Win or lose GPG.

Who will man the OL Sunday?

I hope it will be Bakht, Tom, Myers, JRJ, Yosh. At least that band has played together...and I believe with decent results.

Question...Now "all" of you who love to comment, please think about this. Mark Murphy, Gutey,& Matt...
Are these folks standard, exceptional or poor in their respective positions. If you have a strong feel toward any of the three words given, I would add another 3 words...those being current, past or future/potential.

In 1999 Ron Wolfe hired Ray Rhodes. Rhodes went 8 & 8 during the season and was fired immediately after the season because an exceptional GM knew he had made a mistake.

So again, I ask..."is Mark Murphy exceptional?" "Is Gutey exceptional?" "Is Matt Lafleur exceptional?"

I think "all 3 of these gentlemen" have the future potential to be exceptional as opposed to standard.

One of the things that makes any of us exceptional is accepting and recognizing when we make mistakes.

Matt hired Joe Barry. Mark and Gutey approved the hiring.

It's time for our Packer "brain trust" to start being exceptional.

Seems like most students of the game pretty much figured the Falcons would run against the Packers ( even I, a solid novice, assumed the Falcons would probably take a shot at turning their running backs loose ). Let's assume that Joe Barry thought the same thing. . . and prepared for a mainly running threat. So who's to blame then for the defense being " shredded. . . consistently, " according to LeFleur, especially in the fourth quarter when the Falcons got a touchdown and two field goals to our nothing?

Was it the players fault, then, for failing to stop the Falcons running game? Like Barry had the right defensive plays called, but the players were unable to execute them.? And let's face it, the Packer secondary also failed to stop at least a few excellent passes by the Falcons in the fourth quarter.

The argument could be made ( and it has been made here and there ) that poor ol' Joe Barry for the past two years ( including this now beginning third year ) just does not have the right personnel. His defensive players just ain't got it: the heft, the weight, the skill, the smarts, etc.

So, maybe, poor Joe has been saddled with a lotta bum defensive players, hmm?