The Green Bay Packers have been favored to win by over 10 points in 3 games so far this season. They have only won 1 of those 3 games. After their latest failure against the Carolina Panthers, fans of the Packers want to know where to place the blame.

Looking back on Monday, there are many reasons for the disappointing Sunday. This article aims to identify a few of the reasons for failure and sparks of Packers hope in the wake of a frustrating loss.

Injuries

There were a significant number of Packers that were injured during the course of Sunday’s loss. These included rookie wide receiver Matthew Golden, defensive tackle Colby Wooden, offensive guard Aaron Banks and most importantly, Tucker Kraft. None of these players returned to the game, and Kraft was confirmed to have torn his ACL and will not return this season.

These injuries had a tangible effect on the game. Wooden has been one of the stronger defensive linemen at stopping the run for the Packers. In his absence, Panthers running back Rico Dowdle ran for 130 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Other than Kraft, all of these players are expected to return this season. This gives the Packers hope in a season which seems to need every player available to win.

Red zone mistakes

The Packers walked on to Lambeau with the 7th best red zone offense in the league. On the field, they went 1-5 inside the 20; only scoring one touchdown in the fourth quarter. This subtracted a potential 21 points that would have led to a comfortable victory.

Instead, Savion Williams fumbled on the 16 yard line ending the Packers first drive. The second drive ended with a sack sandwiched by two penalties against the Packers forcing a field goal after a 3rd and 23. Finally, an attempt on 4th and 8 from the 13 was incomplete.

Looking more closely at the offensive performance gives the Packers hope going forward. Only one drive ended outside of Panthers territory, showing that the Packers did not struggle to move the ball. The lack of points produced is partially due to unfortunate fluke plays and limited drives afforded to the Packers offense.

Kicking themselves

Although it was a windy day at Lambeau that required kickers from both teams to need holders to complete kickoffs, Brandon McManus continued to struggle. On the opening drive of the second half, McManus missed a 43 yard attempt. He is now 2-6 on kicks attempted beyond the 40 yard line.

Although Lucas Havrisik remains on the roster, Packers head coach announced that they will continue to have McManus as the primary kicker. This annoyed many Packers fans online when announced. However, the fact that Havrisik is still on the roster could mean that the Packers are not totally confident in McManus.

Mistakes by Love

After a nearly flawless game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Jordan Love made several head scratching mistakes against the Panthers. He threw his 3rd interception of the season on a deep throw to Christian Watson who was surrounded by 3 defenders at the time. Additionally, on the failed 4th and 8 attempt in the red zone, he threw a ball that should have been picked by the Panthers.

Although he made some very poor decisions, this was far from Love’s worst game. He managed to get into the red zone on all but 2 of the Packers drives. Even on the disastrous 4th and 8 play, he kept the play alive despite relentless pressure and could have scored a touchdown if Romeo Doubs had not stepped out of bounds.

Poor playcalling

One of the most criticised aspects of the Packers’ loss was Matt Lafleur’ s playcalling. It is reasonable for fans to be upset at their offensive-minded coaches’ failure to score more than 13 points against the 18th ranked defense by DVOA. He admitted himself that the 4th and 8 attempt was a mistake.

While Kraft was a major contributor to the Packers offense, his absence may bring the Packers hope by shaking Lafleur out of frustrating tendencies. Missing his solid run blocking tight end might force Lafleur to put the ball in Love’s hands sooner and more frequently. The second half of the season presents big challenges for one of the league’s most creative playcallers.