On Sunday, Packers fans everywhere were treated to a monumental collapse, in which a struggling Browns offense was able to score 13 points in the last 3:38 of the fourth quarter. Up until that point, the defense was able to pitch a shutout, hold the Browns to less than 200 yards, and generally remain mistake-free. 

The offense? Well…

When you’ve got an offense that is as high-volatility as the Packers is, the name of the game is setting the floor. We’ve seen everything from the offense during the Jordan Love-Matt LaFleur era, from the sky-high pummeling of Dallas in the playoffs in 2023, to… well, this game. Jordan Love is a rhythm quarterback with one of the best arms in the game. . Josh Jacobs is capable of taking games over, and it looks like the receiver room has found its sea legs, led by emerging superstar Tucker Kraft. The floor setters are the offensive line, and with as many resources that the Packers have poured into that room over the years, they were unacceptably out-performed on Sunday. 

The raw numbers are *bad. Like, *really bad. Via PFF’s individual player grading: Rasheed Walker: 34.1, Jordan Morgan: 40.7, Aaron Banks: 40.9, Elgton Jenkins: 44.6, Anthony Belton: 41.6 and Sean Rhyan 54.3. Five penalties for the unit as a whole. Six sacks, eleven hurries, and seventeen pressures. 2.6 yards per rush. Before this game, the Packers were a top-10 team in pass blocking efficiency, but Sunday was such a historically bad performance that the team now ranks *30th. 

So what went wrong? As the Packers players have admitted to themselves, sometimes the only thing that can stop the Packers is themselves. And against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, that statement was put to the test. 

We’ve got internal and external factors to consider here. First up, the injuries. 

It’s clear to anyone and everyone that Zach Tom was not ready to play in this game. On the very first snap of the game, the Packers’ best offensive lineman was on the ground, clutching his injured oblique. It was reminiscent of Jaire Alexander’s rushed return to play last year, when he also re-injured himself on the first drive.

While there may be plenty of blame to go around for the way Tom was returned from injury after only a week of rest, it’s impossible (and reckless) to assign that blame as fans. We don’t have access to the medical data that the team does, and even if we did, what would any of us know what to do with it? It’s easy to say the Packers should have rested Tom and Banks for another week, but that’s said with the benefit of hindsight. The team’s medical staff, coaches, and Tom himself had to all agree that he was capable of playing in this game, and they were wrong. 

Later on in the game, Aaron Banks also left the game, albeit with a different injury (groin) than the one he had been recovering from since week one (ankle). 

Being down two starters in any NFL game would be a difficult task to overcome. But, the Packers were supposed to be uniquely positioned to deal with those exact circumstances. Waiting on the bench was a first round pick and a second round pick, and a recent trade acquisition. The Packers *have the depth. It just didn’t play well. 

Jordan Morgan was first off the bench, and was inserted into the right tackle spot, for the first time in his entire career. He had *never played right tackle before Sunday, in his entire career. It’s clear that the team’s vision for Morgan is a swing tackle, first man off the bench. But the decision to go with Morgan over Belton (who they had just taken to play on the right side) and Kinnard (who was traded for, to play on the right side) is a head scratcher. What’s done is done, but the fact of the matter is that when Morgan was playing right tackle, he was instantly the weak link. 

Morgan committed three false start penalties when at right tackle, and over the course of the game allowed a sack, two hurries and three pressures. The two other penalties were committed by Rasheed Walker, on the other side of the line. When Morgan was later moved to left guard, there was a smoothing out from him for the rest of the game, but by that time the damage had already been done. When Belton entered the game at right tackle, he also struggled for a majority of the game, and Kinnard was only allowed on the field for four snaps. 

So, the depth didn’t help the line in this game. But what about the starters? The Packers line is uniquely battle tested, despite being a younger unit (like the team as a whole). Elgton Jenkins is a seven year, Pro Bowl right tackle. Rasheed Walker, Aaron Banks and Sean Rhyan and multi-year starters, and can comfortably be called veterans at this point. How do they look so shell shocked? How is it that two weeks ago, the same players handled the Detroit Lions and Aiden Hutchinson so easily? It’s time to look at the external factors. 

I went back and watched every snap of the offensive line. The Packers OL did manage to win some reps. There were clean pockets (especially on the last drive). A couple of holes to run through. But by and large? That Cleveland defensive line might be the best in the league. 

Over and over, their unit just overpowered ours. The offensive line was by and large unable to beat their man to the blocking point in the run game, or unable to parse out exactly how the Browns were going to attack them in the pass rush. I saw lots of confusion on blocking assignments, and lots of poor execution when the team was trying to set up the long developing passing concepts that killed the Lions and Commanders. When the offense was unable to get those going, the quick passing game was only mildly effective, and I thought the Browns’ cornerbacks did a great job of keeping receivers covered long enough to force Love into checkdown throws. 

I’ve seen a lot of blame assigned to Matt LaFleur in the loss, and I certainly agree that the offense as a whole was not prepared for exactly what they would be facing on Sunday, and certainly not prepared for how the offensive line rotation should have shaken out once Tom went down on the first drive. The game preparation was poor. 

But I’d also point out that once that dynamic is established in the game, and the OL can’t run block or pass block, where do you go on the playsheet? There’s no gameplan for that, no “break in case offensive line can’t block” emergency case. Moving to a quick passing game was the only thing to do. Love did a good job of taking what the defense was offering, and played the role he had to, until he didn’t. Credit Grant Delphit for his game turning interception, but Love and Wicks were clearly in miscommunication about that play. 

Obviously, the driver of the bus for Cleveland is Myles Gaarrett, and he deserves every ounce of credit he’ll get for this performance. While watching the film however, a player who *really jumped out at me was Browns’ rookie linebacker Carson Schwesinger. He plugged every hole in the run game, made athletic plays in the pass game and was the player running Love down on that sack to end the third quarter. He’s a real piece to this Cleveland defense, along with first round pick Mason Graham on the interior defensive line.  

The Packers were simply caught off guard on Sunday, and for better or worse had certain weaknesses exposed for the entire NFL to see. The offense will need to rebound in major fashion for a matchup with a historic rival in Dallas, with new, fresh, personal stakes on the line for both sides. While much will rightfully be made of Micah Parsons’ return, you can absolutely bet Kenny Clark knows how to exploit our offensive line as well as anyone. With a three way tie at the top of the NFC North, getting another win in the conference will be essential to tie-breakers down the line.