Packers Suffer Worst Loss of Season in 17-13 Defeat to Raiders

The Packers are in trouble.

After a mini bye week following the 34-20 loss to the Detroit Lions, this was supposed to be a get-right game for Green Bay. It was everything but.

The Packers suffered their worst loss of the season in the 17-13 contest against the Las Vegas Raiders. Yes, this was worse than the blowout loss to the Lions and the narrow defeat to the Atlanta Falcons.

Green Bay looked utterly inept on offense for most of the game Monday night. In a horrifying turn of events, it’s the Packers’ defense that appears to be the “strong” point of the team. That is not a good thing.

The Raiders are (were) one of the very worst teams in the NFL coming into this Monday night matchup. The Packers had no business losing this game. The Raiders possess exactly two exceptional players, one of which – future Packers hall-of-famer Davante Adams – was held to an unusually quiet night.

Green Bay simply looked like the worse team in this game – worst of all, their quarterback clearly looked like the worst of the night.

Per @EliasSports: This is first time since December 1990 that Packers scored three or fewer points in first half in three straight games of one season https://t.co/dkqoIFHwKH
— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) October 10, 2023

The slight doubt of Jordan Love crept in Monday as he threw for just 182 yards and 3 interceptions against a Raiders team missing two of their cornerbacks. Love and LaFleur will almost surely return as the QB/head coach duo next season, but their seats could be hotter than expected if the rest of the season continues like this game played out Monday night.

The Packers’ defense deserves credit for their performance. They held the Raiders to just 17 points, and Joe Barry cooked up a great gameplan to defend Davante Adams. Adams caught just 4 passes for 45 yards. Green Bay has generally been the worst run defense in the NFL for the past several years yet held Raiders’ star Josh Jacobs to 69 yards on 20 carries. The offense simply couldn’t capitalize on its opportunities.

More Jaire Alexander on #Packers defense’s role in turnaround: “I was telling the guys on defense, ‘We have to be better.’ We know that the offense is young, and they’re still finding their way. The defense is pretty old. We’ve got to stop people from scoring.”
— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) October 10, 2023

The Packers’ last three drives of the game resulted in an interception, punt, and interception to end it. Like the game in Atlanta, Love and the Packers’ offense looked unprepared for the game-winning moment.

Aaron Jones missed this game with his lingering hamstring injury. Though we still haven’t seen the Packers’ offense at full strength this season, I’m not sure Jones’ presence would have pushed the Packers over the edge against the Raiders. The passing offense has been incredibly poor the last few weeks, excluding the 4th quarter of the Saints game.

Green Bay are lucky they get the bye week and return Oct. 22 against the Denver Broncos, one of the worst teams and defenses in the NFL. However, after this performance against the Raiders, nothing is guaranteed. The Raiders and Broncos were supposed to be gimme, get-right games against two of the bottom-tier teams in the NFL, and Green Bay has already blown one of them. It’s hard to say that the Packers are easy favorites against any team for the remainder of the season.

The Packers can stay alive with a win versus the Broncos in a couple weeks to go 3-3. At this point, that’s a must-win game. An unexpected 2-4 start could bury the Packers’ season.

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Liam O’Donnell is a devoted Packers fan and an aspiring sportswriter from Milwaukee. He writes for PackersTalk.com and you can follow him on twitter at @liamodonnell___.

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Liam O'Donnell