Since the preseason I've maintained that we will be just fine going .500 until Parsons returns in week 9. After he returns we will go undefeated in a series of low scoring games. Everything is meant to be -- the youngsters must learn the hard way-- , everything is happening as it should. We are an undisciplined team with a lot of talent and when we put it together we will be unstoppable. Superbowl is not only likely it is inevitable.

Go Pack Go!

We deserved the loss. The missed kicks, the dropped passes, you name it. We can't blame this on the refs - heck, we had that frustrating call against us during the Bears game and Jordan responded by chucking that huge TD to Watson. There is no excuse for the way that the players themselves played.

That being said, how is it that players can be cut if they don't play well, coaches can be fired if they don't coach well, and a team's upper management can get fired if they are bringing in the wrong personnel and not drafting good players? But then the refs can just be blatantly terrible at their one job (which, by the way, the Lions also had some terrible calls go against them as well) with no accountability? The refs being the bane of everyone's existence is so common it's a cliche in the vast majority of sports, but with the NFL refusing to change how penalties are called and overturned and now the disgustingly brazen cooperating with sports gambling - this is going down a dark path. The entire way that the NFL "enforces" rules is so flawed and inconsistent that I can't believe they get away with it.

It doesn't hurt the NFL's bottom line so it won't get changed. But man. This stuff kills the enjoyment of the game for everybody. In other news: our special teams sucked, we can't catch the ball, and the refs are bad at their jobs. See you on Thursday!

I will preface this by saying that I think the Packers are still firmly in playoff contention. We have improved significantly since our TNF collapse against the Falcons, and the team deserves credit for that.

I think our loss to the Lions was a great display of the four big issues that has been plaguing this team since the start of the season.

Kicking

This has been the most persistent issue for the team dating back 4 seasons ago. We keep signing and drafting kickers that have a lot of power and distance, but lack any sort of consistency. Smack is the perfect example of this. He hit both a 58 and a 59 yard FG, but struggles somehow with XPs and chip shots. In fact, the most consistent kicking we’ve had in recent years was McManus’ first season with the Packers when he went 20/21 on FGs and 30/30 on XPs. The inconsistent kicking has cost us so many close games.

Drops

I really think Matthew Golden will end up being a Pro Bowler this season, but he leads the league in drops and drop rate. Tucker Kraft is close behind. Not only are we leading the league in total drops by a wide margin, we are also the only team to have 2 players in the top 5 players with the most drops list. We dropped 3 potential TDs against the Bears and were lucky because it did not matter in the grand scheme of things. But today, Jacob’s dropped TD would have likely won us the game, and we end up losing a close game. It is also costing Love a lot of stats, which aren’t as important as winning, but it still sucks.

Blocking

Queue the run game here as well, because I think it is largely an effect of bad blocking. Jacobs coming back does help it slightly and also bolster the receiving game in the backfield, but he was still quite inefficient with only 33 yards on 11 attempts. Love is also getting pressured and hit at one of the highest rates in the league. Of course, the offensive line is much better than the disaster at the beginning of the season, but that was a very, very low bar to clear. I do think that Zeitler will help us improve the offensive line, but I don’t see it being anywhere near a great unit.

Refereeing/RTP

I wouldn’t be surprised if news got out that Roger Goodell is paying money to the refs for each RTP called. Having a 0-8 ratio on RTP calls is absurd, and it feels like the refs have a personal vendetta against us. Those, along with the phantom intentional grounding call, are beyond our control. We do have some discipline problems though, like that offsides to give the Lions a first down. Those can be fixed. Overall, the defense has been decent despite bad officiating and Micah being absent.

The Fix

I really do not know how we can fix the kicker issue, as there isn’t any outstanding kicker on the market right now. I think the Packers should definitely work out someone else just to give Smack more competition, but I don’t think they should quite give up on Smack right now. The drops and actual penalties are just a discipline problem. Literally put Golden and Kraft on catching drills until they can haul in routine passes. Zeitler should make our blocking more serviceable, and I think that combined with Jacobs being back can improve the run game. And of course, Micah will improve our defense even if he is not at 100% to start. The only thing we can’t change is the bad officiating. That part is on Goodell.

We need a new kicker right?

Okay everyone it’s now Monday and we need to move onto the Panthers.

Let’s show Trey why the packers truly have the best fans in the world. We need Trey for the rest of the season and hopefully for the next 10 plus years. He’s a 23 year old and probably just had one of the worst days of his life. Over the next week let’s show Trey unconditional support and help him turn his season around. No booing, no harmful DM, hell let’s stop talking about the negatives on social media (he’s 23 and sees stuff on Reddit/twitter). Some people will say this sounds soft but the dude is living out his dream and looked completely defeated yesterday. We have the greatest fan base in the world and let’s show it.

Thursday let’s go crazy any chance we have for Trey, stop posting negative posts about him and show him support any way possible. Mason Crosby isn’t walking through the door and right now we need Trey as much as he needs us!

Go Pack Go!

Ya'll make us look bad a bunch of grown men whining giving everyone bulletin board material. Was is a shitty game with questionable calls? Yes. Do we usually get calls our way over the last 3 decades? Also yes.

Blocked or not we missed 2 kicks less than 35yds and we have dropped passes left and right. We win this game if we execute those things despite the shitty penalties. No excuses

I really hate the decision to try to let the lions score at the two minute warning. With our time outs if we get a stop we’d have about 30 seconds to try to get a FG. This has happened twice this year already

If it was first and goal I’d say let them score. But they pretty much ice the game with a first down so it just doesn’t make sense to not play defense there especially since our D held up pretty well all day

I couldn’t even sleep. At least 4-5 terrible, game deciding calls were made yesterday. Is there anything that can be done? A petition for review? I have always refused to believe the “NFL is rigged” crowd but I am starting to change my mind. Is there anything recourse here? Thanks all-

This isn’t getting enough traction. Detroit O line running down the field on every positive run to “push” the pile and hit defenders from behind in the back and legs even after the runner is down. I know the NFL wants to be rugby but even in rugby there is a late tackle rule that is enforced within the contours of that game. And then to flag a player who tackles a player who is pushing for extra yards and getting off a tackle to run? NFL is a laughing stock. Or in the pockets of gambling industry. Probably both.

We play on Thursday’s night there’s no better time to take a stand than now!!! Let’s go!!!! Somebody make a hashtag boycott Thursday night football or something. This league is gonna end up being a joke like the NBA otherwise.

Edit: to clarify I mean a television boycott not a boycott in the stadium.

Anyone calling this team bad is just defending this garbage product from the NFL. Most of you deserve this garbage.

It always sucks to lose but there is several positives from yesterday. Josh Jacob’s is clearly still that dude, although he needs to get back up to game speed. Our defense has done a great job with missing key players. (yesterday we both our starting linebackers out). We had not one but two centers leave with injuries and a rookie with 0 NFL snaps only allowed one pressure. Jordan Love looks surgical in his throws. There is several balls this whole season that couldn’t be anymore perfect and they are just dropped. That has to been cleaned up and if it is we will start to score 30+ a game. The best part, our best defender has yet to play a snap this season. His return is still undetermined, but the bright side is our defense has looked good and getting him back will make a huge difference.

The more Packers games I watch the more I feel like I’m watching the WWE 🫠. We have been penalized 8 times for roughing the passer. We have got that call 0 times. In almost every single game we have been penalized almost double our opponent.

As always, GO PACK GO!

You know what's really unfortunate? There are so many good lines that go with our kicker's name. Things like "Did you see the way he was smackin 'em through the uprights?" Or "Damn, did you see the Lions get smacked with all them field goals?" But no. He's utter garbage. Dude couldn't kick his way out of a wet paper bag.

The NFL isn’t leaving me much choice. I like getting together with family to watch the Packers, but I can do that with the Brewers 162 times instead of 17. I can also know that the games aren’t corrupt. It’s a shame really but it what it is. I’ll gladly buy Brewer stuff for my kids from now on.

Go brewers!!! 2 more wins baby.

I don’t care who the bad calls are on. Whether it’s my team or the other team, I hate seeing it. It makes the game brutal to watch and the zebras should not be deciding the game, ever!
That being said, the Packers doomed themselves and probably would’ve lost this game, but because of the terrible calls, there will always be speculation

Hi does anyone know of any type of tailgate or group outing for the Packers vs patriots game?

When they were still kicked from the two yard line. Just some relevant perspective.

EDIT: if every rookie who struggled listened to y'all there'd be way less good players in the league. Vinatieri's first 4 games: 5 missed FGs and 2 missed extra points from the 2.

Writing off a rookie after 7 games makes you a bad fan. If the Packers listened to overly emotional fans like this we'd have missed out on Davante Adams, Christian Watson, the last several good years of Crosby's career...​I could go on.

On the very off chance that Trey goes on reddit and sees this: I hope you can use this negativity as fuel

To start off let me say I was frustrated as hell last night. (Probably going to have to take back what I said about being done with the NFL.) But here are the problems I saw, and why I'm optimistic anyway.

After the first few games, did anyone think we'd be above 500 going into week 8? That's enough to be happy about right there!

If you're playing a decent team, football requires you to be damn near perfect to win, and the pack lost (and damn near won!) on the culmination of little things. Yes, they have multiple small problems, but there is a lot to be optimistic about.

The refs screwed the Packers. A LOT! And they still almost won. We all saw it. And enough has been said about that in this subreddit.

What I will add is, MLF speaking out publicly against the refs will only put a bigger Target on the Pack's back. I get it, part of me wants to hear him rip them apart, but that's something you handle through the proper channels to the league and refs. And I think the players said just enough yesterday without going over the top. I respect the composure.

Jacobs makes the TD catch if he had been at practice the last 6 weeks. You could literally see him improving through the game.

Golden's hands will get better. Just look at Watson and how much he has improved. (By the way, The faster you are, The less time you have to secure the ball as you move.)

Smack needs to adjust his technique on short kicks. I'd way rather have a guy who needs to work on short kicks than long kicks.

Look at how much better the o-line is playing. Speaks for itself. (That's coaching by the way.) Shout out to John Williams for being a dog! No reason to think they won't keep improving.

Jordan Love is a beast and a role model. The guy is playing lights out, top five quarterback. You're getting hit like that all season and still totally composed? Role model. Absolute bad ass. Ask yourself, out of all the other top QBs, who is playing this well compared to the performance of their o-line?

One of the, if not the, best defensive players in the league comes back in a few weeks. With the way the rest of the defense is playing, I'd be scared to be an NFC North quarterback. Nearly picked off Goff a few times, and Goff does not throw interceptions.

I get it, we have justifiable reasons to be frustrated. But focusing on the negatives won't improve your life and it certainly won't improve the team. (And we can all still be happy with how they embarrassed Ben Johnson)

GO PACK GO!!!!

Yes the reffing was terrible. Yes Smack missed 2 inside of the 35. Yes we got screwed on a RTP and the kick by ARSB with that soft ass ref on his back

But if you’re Detroit, how do you address the fact that you needed:

A rookie Kicker to miss 2 statistically guaranteed kicks inside the 35
Matt to go for it inside the 10 instead of kicking it a third time
More dropped balls on perfectly placed passes
2 drive saving penalties
And a non call on the entire offense for egregious taunting

to win the game, by 3, at home, and need the entire clock to do it.

If i am Detroit I feel like we are barely scraping out of there alive.

If even one of those things goes properly we walk out with a win it seems like.

A lot of doom and gloom on the Monday after a loss. I don’t think it’s time to sink the ship.

Defense is playing well. We have shown up and shown out with turnovers and keeping points low. Offense has to get on the jugs machine. Micah will come back. Zietler may come in for Monk. We aren’t even halfway down the stretch and are above .500.

R E L A X

First of all, sharing all this because I’m very interested in all of your thoughts, and hope you share your opinions and tell me where I’m an idiot or even perhaps where you agree. Analysis follows;

Honestly imo Jacobs is 4 tiers above our other RB’s . I think our other three RB’s are all practice squad tier guys on normal depth charts, with Lloyd due to his speed and youth the likeliest to gain consideration at times over the next few years for third string roles on 53 man rosters, but even with him I do think currently he plays at the level of a practice squad RB.

By contrast, I think Jacobs has spent the last 5 years as a lower tier pro bowler, and I didn’t see anything today that made me think that wouldn’t be his level this year. A lower tier pro bowler puts him in the top 30% of RB1’s, aka top 10 RB’s, and that feels about right, with him being something like the 7th or 8th best running back usually. Going from a room whose best guy is the type that probably starts the season on the practice squad and is the first call up when injuries hit to a lower tier pro bowler, aka lower end of top 10 RB’s in the league is, even at a devalued position like RB, an upgrade probably worth a couple of wins all by itself. That’s upgrading from a below replacement level player to an all star basically. In quarterback terms that’s like replacing Bailey Zappe with Dak Prescott (or maybe Joe burrow or Jordan love).

Our offense line still isn’t good but even with the injuries today I feel like it’s fairly firmly established itself in “normal bad offensive line” territory rather than “historically bad offensive line” like it was the first 3 weeks. I sometimes think what this offense would look like with this cool calm collected version of Love combined with the 5 man skill position lineup of Watson, Jacobs, Kraft, Golden, and Reed, plus add back Zach Tom at his lower end of top 10 right tackles peak, and I think we would have been the odds on favorite to have the very best offense in the league, even with a bottom 10 offensive line (which even with a borderline elite right tackle I do believe our O line overall would still be something like 10th worst).

We might not literally be the best offense in football but with that skill position group plus how good Love is now (borderline top 5 QB imo), and just a below average offensive line rather than straight up bad, and imo we’d be in the top 3 for sure. When add the fact that even without parsons and edgerrin cooper and Hargrave our defense has looked like a fairly comfortably top 10 defense, and when with a shitty kicker we’d be inner circle Super Bowl contenders imo.$82!84 you think about parsons coming back at full strength (1st team all pro, top 3 defensive player in the world) to combine with our already genuinely above average D Line, plus Cooper playing at a pro bowl level like he was, with how elite our safeties are plus the fact that Cisse is competently filling the CB1 slot, allowing Nixon to fill the CB2 slot competently, and our defense fully healthy might honestly be better than our fully healthy offense lol 😂. When’s the last time a team with a genuinely shit kicker and a below average offensive line was the unambiguous Super Bowl favorite, in other words hahaha

Of course, no team is ever fully healthy, so it’s all academic even in lucky scenarios. But it is also true that the packers have lost by far the most production to injuries thus far this year (measured by the objective standard of salary sitting on the IR/bench, as well as the subjective opinion that it’s between us and the eagles for that distinction), along with the fact that we are leading the NFL in drops AND absolute horseshit roughing the passer penalties (seriously, bad roughing the passer penalties in this game, the cowboy game, and the Vikings game alone has been more than the average entire season quota of horrendous drive extending bad calls against the defense for all potential bad calls, a quota filled purely from bad roughing the passer calls), and it’s sort of amazing we are 4-3 with a positive point differential.

Like seriously, having the most salary out due to injury of the entire league, the most drops by far, and the most egregiously bad roughing the passer penalties by far, plus playing an above average difficulty schedule thus far, plus having one of the worst performances by our kicking staff of any team so far, and it’s actually kind of amazing we are 4-3.

The rams were way more hyped than we were coming into the season, have had all the same problems as us except for egregious bad roughing penalties, and they are 3-4.

Honestly with how good Cisse Evan Williams Van Ness and Denis, the rookie pass rusher, all look, I genuinely think that this is like an inner circle contending roster with even just above average injury luck and the kicking game improving, even if the drops and egregious penalties stayed the same. I can’t recall the last time I felt as confident as I do about our defense, is really the main reason, plus the fact that Love is truly the real deal

I remember watching the game and seeing the PI flag on Cisse's interception come very late and from off camera and it seemed super fishy. So I watched the All-22 of the play and realized that the ref that called the PI, didn't even start reaching for his flag until Cisse had made the interception. Almost as if, he wasn't going to call one then suddenly it was picked off and then decided to.

In the first photo I uploaded, Cisse had already made the break for the ball so apparently the PI had already occurred. The ref is at the top of the screen, by the pylon. A peculiar angle by the way to see Cisse's hand "turn" St Brown.

In the second photo, Cisse has made the INT and only then did the ref start reaching for the flag in his pocket.

Take this as you will, but it makes me wonder...

Again, you have to think of where we were at after week 3. I thought this team would be mediocre at best and win maybe 7 or 8 games after that abysmal home opener. 4 weeks later, and the packers have won 3 of 4 with their one loss being on the road against the lions in a game they absolutely could’ve won. It would’ve been different had we gotten blown out, but after losing to them by a walkoff field goal Detroit doesn’t scare me. Dan Campbell practically gifted us the game at the end and we couldn’t capitalize, Jacobs dropping a td and Smack missing a chip shot.

The defense has played really solid football the past 4 weeks despite all the injuries, holding teams to 20 points or less in 4 straight games. Jordan Love is playing at an elite level this year despite constantly being under pressure, having no run game, and Packer receivers leading the league in drops by a mile. The offensive line has slightly improved from historically bad to regular bad, who knows maybe in a few weeks they can be considered average if we shuffle the lineup around. Drops are another thing that can be fixed.

Division will be very hard to win now unfortunately, but even if we are a wildcard team the nfc looks wide open this year. The packers can go toe-to-toe with every team in the nfc.

Try to stay cautiously optimistic :)