6 takeaways from Packers’ overtime loss to Colts
The Green Bay Packers (7-3) turned the ball over four times and were unable to survive a furious comeback from the Indianapolis Colts (7-3) in Week 11, losing 34-31 in overtime despite taking a 28-14 lead into halftime at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Here are six big takeaways from the Packers’ 34-31 overtime loss:
Tale of two halves
When the Packers exited the field for halftime, they left with a 14-point lead on the Colts. A 28-point first half against of the league's top defenses undoubtedly showed just how explosive this offense can be when it's clicking. The second half? Holy Dickens. It was the tale of two halves. The offense went three-and-out in back-to-back drives to open the drive, and then they compounded their mistakes with a special teams fumble. On defense, the Colts made clear adjustments the Packers simply couldn't stop. Former Badgers running back Jonathan Taylor exploited a weak Packers' run defense between the tackles. In four consecutive Colts' possessions, Indianapolis found a way to put points on the board. The Jekyll-Hyde performance of the Packers – to keep the literature theme going – more of an anomaly than it was a season ago; however, they need to start finding more consistency against the more talented teams if they hope to succeed in January.
MVS Experience
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What else is there to say? Marquez Valdes-Scantling is earning a reputation as one of the more polarizing players within the organization. His raw speed and playmaking potential are enticing; it's why Aaron Rodgers elected to take the late shot down the middle of the field, splitting the safeties and punishing the Colts for asking their middle linebacker to carry the middle-deep zone. There isn't another player on the Packers' roster whose straight-line speed can threaten over the top like MVS. It's why he's such a fun player to watch. Then again, his fumble in overtime is enough to test of faith of his most ardent supporters, which is why he's also such an unnerving playing to watch.
Passive pass coverage
Mike Pettine certainly knows much more than most people (including yours truly) penning screeds against his coaching decisions, but at a certain point, the results are the results. In Year 3 of his stint as the Packers' defensive coordinator, it's hard to say without equivocation what this team does well. On Sunday it was the pass coverage. For whatever reason, Pettine elected to play his defensive backs 10-plus yards off the ball. On more than one occasion, the Colts took the easy money underneath to set up easy conversions. It's fine if the team wants to play soft coverage, but then the corners, safeties, and linebackers have to tackle the defender at the catch point, which we just aren't seeing. Tackling wasn't atrocious yesterday, but they still allowed the Colts' receivers to squeeze the most out of their YAC.
Preston Smith's continued slide
AP Photo/Michael Conroy
If it's not clear to the defensive staff, it should be now – Rashan Gary needs to be the bonafide starter. Preston Smith should be rotating in to give Gary and/or Za'Darius Smith a breather. Smith just isn't playing anywhere near what the Packers are paying for him. If Smith played above his contractual expectations last year, he's equally playing below them this season. His run defense has been suspect, he jumped offsides twice, and he's not consistently pushing the pocket. Gary left yesterday's game with PFF's top defensive grade. It's not only good news for the Packers, who have a lot of draft capital tied up into Gary, but it's also good insofar as the Packers need to get more production at the other outside linebacker position. It doesn't help that Pettine shouldn't be asking Smith to be covering tight ends on an island, but that's a team/scheme issue. From what we can reasonably expect of Smith, the returns are too marginal to maintain his current snap counts.
What to make of all the turnovers
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The Packers finished the game with four turnovers, two in the first half, two in the second half. It started with a Rodgers-Linsley fumbled snap exchange on the opening drive. Then, Rodgers gets intercepted by Rock Ya-Sin. The Colts netted precisely zero points in the first half off of the Packers' mistakes. The downward spiral continued, however. After the offense failed to get past the sticks in back-to-back drives to start the second half, the special teams compounded the mistakes when Darrius Shepherd coughed up the football, his second special teams fumble in two years. And, finally, MVS fumbled on the opening drive in overtime to put the Colts into instant field goal range. It's hard to win games when you turn the ball over, so it's no surprise that the Packers couldn't scrape together a win. Interestingly, the Colts weren't able to add any points on the first two, but the damage arguably occurred. Once the Colts forced a couple of three-and-outs, the Shepherd fumble exacerbated the time-of-possession disadvantage for the Packers. The defense started to look gassed midway through the third quarter, which was enough for the Colts to climb back and take the lead. When things have gone south for the Packers (and when the Packers have gone south, literally), they've been unable to overcome mistakes. This defense just doesn't have a ton of resilience. With just six games left in the season, it's hard to say with any modicum of confidence that the defense can be the reason this team will win games, especially against tougher competition.
Silver lining?
The Packers didn't win. They lost to a good AFC team with a top defense. In the last matchup against a top defense, the Packers looked overwhelmed. This time, they held their own. Rodgers evoked a sense of confidence in the team after the game. The defense, for all its troubles, still has a good collection of physical talent that just hasn't cohered for four quarters yet. The Packers have enough talent to be able to hang with the top teams in the NFC. There are real vulnerabilities; the same is true, however, for New Orleans, Tampa Bay, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Arizona. The Packers can beat every single one of those teams. The question is: can they find enough consistency to string together wins against talented teams?
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