Which team is better? Which team is worse? Which team is ugly?
The Packers of Green Bay were buried by the New York Giants’ many mistakes, making Monday night’s game at MetLife Stadium a chaotic loss for prime time.
The disappointing loss ended the Packers’ three-game winning streak as well as dropped Matt LaFleur’s team to 6-7. However, as the last wildcard team in the NFC, Green Bay is still in the running for a playoff place.
The last two scoring plays for the Packers were really exciting. On the first play, Jordan Love gained time and threw the ball to Heath.
Heath caught the ball in the end zone in front of a defender, got a step down, but the ball was batted away at the last second.
Heath made up for his mistake the next play by making an amazing over-the-shoulder catch close to the front goal for the go-ahead score. Heath scored his first touchdown in the NFL.
Love threw the ball perfectly, and Heath’s catch proved to be one of the best plays the Packers had all season. It was also just one defense stop away from making it 22-21, which was very unlikely.
In the first half, Jordan Love turned the ball over twice, and the Packers’ offense went 2 for 5 and scored two scores in the offensive end zone.
The defense let a third-string rookie quarterback run for over 200 yards and didn’t get a sack or turnover.
They also lost a fumble as well as missed an open goal. Overall, this was the Packers’ worst game since the game before Halloween toward the Vikings.
It’s probably a small wonder that the Packers were ahead 7-0 in the initial quarter, 10-7 at halftime, and 22-21 late within the fourth quarter.
They made every error they needed to in all three periods to lose the football game easily. Tommy DeVito is a rookie undrafted free agent who is making his fourth start for the Packers.
They only needed a single game against him to get out of New York with a bad win. But Joe Barry’s defense wasn’t able to give it.
DeVito calmly completed four passes in a row for 53 yards. One of them, a 32-yard pass to Wan’Dale Robinson against Keisean Nixon’s defense, got the Giants to the 22-yard line.
The drive that won the game was as simple as it gets. They finished four passes without being sacked, ran three times as they lined ahead of the field goal, and made it.
They lost after having a lead in the second half for a fifth time this season. The Packers took the lead in the second half for a fourth time but lost it right away on the next defensive drive.
Cobb grabbed seven passes for ninety-nine yards in 29 routes run, which was another efficient and useful game even though he had more snaps as well as targets.
At least two of the passes he caught were for 20 yards or more. One was for 35 yards on a third-down catch to start the first drive.
He then made a great toe-tap catch by the sideline. Cobb also gained an average of nine yards following the catch. Cobb, a senior slot receiver, did a great job when Aaron Rodgers gave him more snaps and chances.
Rodgers and Cobb made a big mistake on second-and-10 during the three-and-out. Cobb was covered one-on-one in the slot, and he had one step across the center of the playing surface, but he and the receiver couldn’t connect.
The Packers scored 20 points and had four scoring runs in the first half. In the second half, they only had four possessions and didn’t score, mostly because their passing game wasn’t good enough.
On third and eight, Aaron Rodgers was sacked, ending the initial drive and keeping the Packers from getting a field goal.
Three and outs included three incomplete passes on plays that both Rodgers as well as Matt LaFleur liked. The team just wasn’t able to execute and finish on big-play chances.
The Packers couldn’t cover on 3rd and 4th downs on the third drive. Rodgers’s two passes were picked off, including the game-winning one on a run-pass option toward a blitz.
The Packers’ attack had several chances to get back on track, but they were unable to do so. In many ways, the intentional mistakes that were made made the Giants stronger.