After placing Jayden Reed on injured reserve, the Packers have only 51 players on their active roster.  The Packers chose to leave those roster spots empty and to not elevate any players from the practice squad.  The Packers apparently feel that their 48-man active gameday roster would remain unchanged even if they signed a player or two to the 53-man roster or if they elevated a player from the PS.  The inactives were all healthy scratches: OL Donovan Jennings, DL Warren Brinson, and CB Kamel Hadden.

OFFENSIVE LINE:

The offensive line had a terrible time out there.  I do not think any of them played well.  Tom only lasted 1 snap before his injury flared up and he had to take a seat.  Aaron Banks lasted 30 snaps before he departed, and he struggled when he was on the field.  I have written repeatedly that I do not think the Packers medical staff are particularly cautious.

Jenkins whiffed completely once while generally allowing push.  I expected Jenkins to provide a significant improvement over Josh Myers, but that boost just has not materialized.  Jordan Morgan had a brutal game which included 3 penalties.  Rasheed Walker had some successes and some failures.  He also had a bad false start that stopped the clock when the Packers were trying to bleed the clock down.  Rhyan and Belton were also up and down. 

The Packers gained 81 yards on 31 carries, good for a 2.61-yard average.  They were able to run a little better on the perimeter and when receivers ran jet sweeps.  Josh Jacobs' 1.9 yards per carry average was more indicative of the line's actual ability to open up holes.  I thought Jacobs ran hard.  

The line allowed 5 sacks and 7 QB hits.  The problem was that the pressure came so quickly, and Love usually could not step up into the pocket.  Most of the sacks and pressures were on the line as opposed to being Love's fault.  There was a sack that he should have avoided by throwing the ball away but the pressure again was almost immediate and intense. 

The coaches and players seemed terrified of Myles Garrett.  I lost count of how many false starts were called.  Morgan had at least two.  Rasheed had at least one and Malik Heath added yet another false start.  The Packers were penalized a whopping 14 times for 75 yards.  It is hard to say, but I do at least wonder whether having a play sheet specifically for when Myles Garrett was out was a good idea.  Garrett played 52 of the 65 possible snaps (80%).  DT Maliek Collins had a monster game, with a lot of it coming against Green Bay's guards.  DT Mason Graham, who was taken in the first round of the 2025 draft with the 5th pick, looks like he can play immediately.  DT Maliek Collins, who I already mentioned, is entering his 10th season and has been a good player for a long time.  That said, at some point the offensive line has to produce even against good defenses.  I expect to learn that the Packers played a lot of snaps in 12 personnel.

QUARTERBACKS:

Love completed 18 of 25 attempts (72%) for 183 yards (7.32 yards/attempt) with 1 TD and 1 horrible interception.  Love had a passer rating of 89.2.   LaFleur took the blame for the interception, suggesting that he should have called a different play.  Be that as it may, the Browns were in man coverage.  Love expected the linebacker (Delphit) to run with Tucker Kraft but Delphit was actually playing a zone and passed Kraft off and dropped back into the passing lane.  Love threw the ball right to him.  Other than that, Love was under a lot of pressure all game.  The Browns were able to get pressure with 4 rushers.  

RUNNING BACKS:

Josh Jacobs gained 30 yards on 16 carries (1.87 yards/carry) with a long of 7.  Jacobs ran hard.  He also caught 5 of 9 targets for 44 yards, a 8.8-yard average.  He had no drops.  Jacobs did have some lapses in pass protection.  Emanuel Wilson got more snaps than Brooks for the first time, probably because the team needed to get some positive yards on the ground and Wilson is a better runner than Chris Brooks.  Wilson gained 25 yards on 6 carries, good for a 4.16-yard average.  Brooks got no carries.  

TIGHT ENDS:  

Kraft caught 3 of 4 targets for 29 yards, a 7.25 yards/attempt average.  Fitzpatrick caught both of his targets for 12 yards, including a 9-yard touchdown catch.  Musgrave was not targeted.  The tight ends spent the whole game blocking, either chipping and then running a route or simply blocking.  On his touchdown reception, Fitzpatrick chipped, lost himself in the wash and then sat in a hole in the zone until Love, who was rolling out, found him.  The offensive line needed more help than the tight ends were able to supply, and all the blocking and chipping rendered the TEs less of an offensive threat.

WIDE RECEIVERS:

Golden caught all 4 of his targets for 52 yards, a 13-yard average.  He added 3 carries for 9 yards.  Doubs added 25 yards on 2 receptions.  Wicks caught 2 of 4 targets for 21 yards.  Although the wide receivers failed to break 100 receiving yards, I think most of the problem is not related to personnel.  I do not think Love had time to keep his eyes downfield long enough to complete longer-developing routes.  The Browns realized that they could get home with 4 and force the ball to come out quickly.  

DEFENSIVE TACKLE:

Wooden, Brooks and Wyatt each played 38 snaps.  Wooden had 2 assisted tackles and Brooks had 1 solo tackle and 1 QB hit.  Wyatt and Stackhouse had no statistics.  The Browns gained 96 rushing yards on 19 carries, a 5.05-yard average.  The Packers kept a good-looking running back in Quishon Judkins in check except for a 38-yard run which was immediately followed by a 14-yard run.  Judkins otherwise averaged 2.65 yards per carry.  Wyatt left the game with an injury.

DEFENSIVE ENDS:  

Rashan Gary had 3 solo tackles, 3 QB hits, 2 sacks, and 2 tackles for loss.  That is a fine game, and a player taking advantage of more single blocking.  Parsons had 2 solo tackles and 2 QB hits to go with 4 pressures.  Van Ness had 2 tackles (1 solo) and 2 QB hits.  Van Ness tied Gary for the team lead in pressures with 5.  Enagbare added a QB hit and provided a hard edge.  Sorrell had no statistics.  The defensive ends provided 2 sacks and 8 QB hits.  Overall, the defensive line was pretty stout and provided a lot of pressure.  The Browns scored a touchdown on a 1 play, 4-yard drive and a field goal on a 5 play, 16-yard drive.  That is 10 points in a 37 second span of time.  The Packers offense gave great field position to the Browns.

LINEBACKERS:

Quay Walker had 14 tackles (6 solo) with 1 QB hit and 1 pass defensed.  He was very active.  He did allow a 5 completions on 6 targets for 35 yards.  McDuffie had 5 tackles (2 solo) and a QB hit.  Cooper had 4 tackles (2 solo) with a pass defensed.  Niemann had a special teams tackle and Hopper had no statistics.  

DEFENSIVE BACKS:

 It looks like Bullard is playing solely in the slot and Nixon and Hobbs are playing outside with Valentine sliding outside sometimes to allow Hobbs to play nickel or slot.  Bullard hit his head hard and did not return.  McKinney had 6 tackles (2 solo), an interception and a passed defensed.  Williams had 6 tackles (4 solo), but he allowed 4 completions on 4 targets for 40 yards.  Nixon had 4 solo tackles and he was called for pass interference in the end zone.  That still only resulted in a field goal.  Hobbs had 2 solo tackles and a tackle for loss.  He allowed just 1 completion on 3 targets.    Valentine had an assisted tackle and did not allow a completion.  The Packers held Flacco to a 55.6 passer rating and just 142 passing yards.  

SPECIAL TEAMS:

Daniel Whelan flipped the field several times with booming punts.  He average 53 yards gross and 50 net.  McManus made his only extra point and missed a 43-yard punt when his low trajectory caused it to be blocked.  It looked to me like he also pulled it off line.  DT Shelby Harris blocked the field goal; it looked like he got some penetration against Walker and Morgan on the left side.   

RB: 1.02

TE: 1.31

RB: 0.98

WR: 2.63

DT: 1.88

 DE: 2.21

LB: 2.38

DB: 4.53