Following a hot start to 2025, the Green Bay Packers crashed and burned on the road on Sunday, suffering their first loss of the season to the Cleveland Browns, 13-10.
The breakdown was a result of several failures in all three phases of the game, which are analyzed in more detail here.
On Offense
The Green Bay Packers’ offense, which was producing an average of twenty-seven points per game prior to the Sunday’s contest, completely floundered in Cleveland, leading to the first loss of the year.
The unit’s average of only 3.8 yards per play was its worst in the last five seasons, and more than a few miscues pre-snap added to the team’s pile of penalties.
The Offensive Line
The Green Bay Packers’ offensive line was undoubtedly their weakest link against the Browns, as the unit struggled all game to find stable ground against one of the league’s best fronts.
Returning starter Zach Tom re-injured his oblique on the Packers’ first drive, indicating that he likely shouldn’t have played in the first place, and fellow starters Aaron Banks and Rasheed Walker also missed portions of the game due to injury and an equipment malfunction respectively.
This lead to a game-long shuffling of the Packers protection, which contributed to the team’s astronomical penalty count and overall lack of consistency.
The group’s combined passing blocking grade of 15.5 per PFF was the worst they’ve recorded since PFF started collecting data, and all five of the Packers worst player-based PFF grades on offense came from members of the line.
Jordan Love
Quarterback Jordan Love, as one could’ve predicted, struggled mightily in the Packers’ first loss against Cleveland, mostly thanks to poor line play.
Love was sacked five times and pressured on 42% of his drop backs per ESPN Research, which was likely a shock to the system, considering how clean he’d been kept through the first two games.
As a result, Love’ league-leading average depth of target plummeted from 13.49 yards to a measly 1.9 yards, meaning that his typical pass only made it about two yards past the line of scrimmage, and against a more than competent defense, that wouldn’t be nearly enough.
With little time to throw, the pressure that Love faced all game came to head in the fourth quarter, where he threw his first interception of the year, and a truly awful one at that.
The turnover allowed the Browns to tie the game at ten late, which started the domino effect toward the team’s other endgame miscues.
After the game, head coach Matt LaFleur took responsibility for the costly mistake, indicating that he shouldn’t have called the play, but considering that Jordan Love took multiple bad sacks to avoid forcing the ball throughout the contest, you would hope that he’d be able to notice a third defender in the area.
On Defense
The Green Bay Packers’ defense was again the biggest bright spot in week three, surrendering only thirteen points, but their standard of play dropped significantly in the final minutes, which contributed to the team’s first loss.
The team committed eight penalties over the final five possessions as a whole, and a handful of those penalties came on defense.
Although a few of the calls were borderline, particularly in the secondary, and the refs seemed to be a bit flag happy, the Packers might’ve been able to hold the Browns scoreless after Jordan Love’s interception if they had been able to keep it clean, and Micah Parsons’ offsides on the final drive got Cleveland close enough for the game-winning field goal attempt.
On Special Teams
Despite their errors on both sides of the ball, the Packers were able to put themselves in position to win the game, lining up for a game-winning field goal with just under a minute left to play.
As almost all Green Bay fans are aware however, nothing on special teams is a given, and that was again the case on Sunday.
Brandon McManus‘ winning attempt was blocked, which allowed the Browns just enough time to get into position for a game-winning attempt of their own, which kicker Andre Szmyt nailed.
And the icing on the cake?
The Packers were offsides on the try, so even if Szmyt had missed, he would’ve gotten a second chance.
Cleaning it Up
Heading into week four against the Dallas Cowboys, there are a couple points of emphasis for the Packers: penalties and pass-protection.
You simply can’t expect to win games while committing fourteen penalties, a team-most since they had eighteen in a week three game versus the Bears in 2010, and Jordan Love will need to be better supported if the offense is going to produce.
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