Moving On Without Micah

The narrative heading into the season, prior to the Packers trading for Micah Parsons, was Green Bay was going to contend for a Super Bowl title. The issue now is that’s the same scenario now, but that initial narrative included the likes of Defensive Tackles Kenny Clark and Devonte Wyatt – they’re both gone. With the current state of the defense, it will be on Defensive Coordinator, Jeff Hafley, to scheme pass rush in a different manner as well as devising a different type of coverage considering the pass rush will likely include more blitzing, leaving the secondary with less personnel and more vulnerable to explosive plays (rushing play that gains 10+ yards – passing play that gains 20+ yards).

Keep in mind, last year under then first year DC, Hafley, Green Bay’s defense ranked 6^th in yards allowed (total defense) and 6^th in points allowed (scoring defense). They were able to be so effective in 2024 due to taking the ball away 31 times (4^th in the NFL) and they’ll absolutely need to increase the takeaways if they want to continue on the path to hoisting the Lombardi trophy with their best player missing the remainder of the season.

Much of the attention to fill the void will fall on Edge Rusher Rashan Gary, as it should considering he’s the 2^nd highest cap hit on the Packers this season ($25,771,138 in 2025) he needs to step up his production. He’s been extremely good in the run game and contain, however his pass rush has fallen off considerably since storming out the gates with 7 ½ sacks to begin the season as he hasn’t logged a sack since he recorded 2 in the Pittsburgh game (week 8). The other player that will be looked at under a bigger microscope than he has been is another former 1^st round pick, Lukas Van Ness. LVN (as he’s called) has missed considerable time with a foot injury and his production, much like Gary, has been limited in the pass rush department, but has been a stalwart against the run. General Manager, Brian Gutekunst, used premium draft picks on these guys to do all the above – they now have an incredible opportunity to step up and show Packer Nation they’re ready for the hype.

Referring to the initial plan heading into the season before Parsons joined the team, there’s a player that was expected to take a huge jump after showing a promising rookie season, Edgerrin Cooper. “Coop” was making huge leaps towards the end of last year and flashing his athletic ability all over the field – both in coverage and pass rush (as well as shooting gaps in the run game). Pete Dougherty had a great article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel stating how the Packers can revert to that initial plan to utilize their uber-talented Inside Linebacker to help fill the void left by the 2^nd best pass rusher in the NFL.

Back to the 7-Seed

With Chicago beating Cleveland and Green Bay losing to Denver, the Bears move back in front of the Packers for 1^st in the NFC North and takeover as the 2^nd seed in the NFC, while San Francisco winning allowed them to hold the 6^th seed, thus dropping Green Bay to the last available playoff spot with Detroit trailing by 1 ½ games. The margin for error is slim to none, making these final 3 games of the regular season as close to “must win” as possible without truly being “must win.” While there is still a path to winning the division should the Packers lose on Saturday night to Chicago, they’d need to win their final two games against Baltimore and Minnesota while Chicago would need to lose to San Francisco and Detroit – both very possible and almost expected scenarios…however, for the sake of our mental and heart health, beating Chicago would be very therapeutic. That, along with silencing their insufferable fans would go a long way for our stress levels moving forward.

Recapping the Game

Prior to the injuries to WR Christian Watson and RT Zach Tom, the Packers were absolutely rolling on offense. Green Bay scored on its first 5 drives of the game, against (arguably) the NFL’s best defense at their home. While complaining about the refs is Loser Talk, on GB’s first drive of the game (after the Micah Parsons forced fumble) the refs short-spotted both Jacobs’ 2^nd down run resulting in an eventual 4^th down conversion and then on the next set of downs, Jayden Reed appeared to gain the 1^st down on a 2^nd & 14, but was marked short and the next play Jacobs was blown up in the backfield on a pitch play (which saw now 3^rd string TE Josh Whyle leave the game from that hit as well). That forced Green Bay to settle for a Field Goal when the offense was humming. While the Packers lost by more than 4, that four-point swing, especially in a tone-setting 1^st drive could’ve changed the direction/path of the game from thereon out. The next Packers drive was halted by one of 4 Rasheed Walker penalties after a 1^st & 10 from the Denver 12-yard line saw Love complete a 7-yard pass to Romeo Doubs to the Denver 5 already leading 3-0, which seemed like an inevitable touchdown. If you’re keeping track, that’s 8 points off the board on just the first two drives of the game. I understand any team can do this for any game, but these are the mistakes (penalties = controllable; refs being awful = out of your control) that can’t happen with Micah Parsons now being out that the Packers must avoid if they want to win against premium teams, especially on the road.

This play ended up being, possibly, the biggest momentum shifting play of the season – and it was the wrong direction. With Green Bay leading 23-14 (having scored 3 right before half to take a 16-14 halftime lead, then coming out in the 2^nd half and ripping off a 40-yard TD run to increase the lead to a two-score game), Matt LaFleur tried another shot play to go for the kill and it was a well thrown ball, especially seeing Love was blasted as he let it go. Watson was in man coverage against the best corner in football, and had a step on him. Had Love been able to step into the throw and lead Watson a step more, that easily could’ve been a touchdown and a fatal blow to the Broncos. The Packers might’ve gone for 2 had they scored to increase their lead to 17 (a three-score game) which given the Packers defense, is almost insurmountable. However, Love was hit as he threw and the ball still hit Watson in stride and Patrick Surtain II made an incredible play to intercept the pass. Essentially a 13 to 15-point swing in that play alone. If you’re still following along, the first two drives the refs and Walker cost the Packers a combined 8 points, and that play cost the Packers at least 6, that’s 14 points right there…

After that play, Watson was hurt as well as Zach Tom and the offense went dormant. Green Bay ran 28 plays following that drive, gaining only 55 yards and scoring just 3 more points the rest of the game. The main issue wasn’t Love or LaFleur (although both needed to find a way to overcome the injuries to Tom and Watson), but as soon as Tom exited, the best pass rush in the NFL made its presence felt and essentially iced the game. The argument could be made that Zach Tom is the 2^nd or 3^rd most important Packer on the roster considering (to borrow a baseball term) WAR (wins above replacement) has got to be one of the highest in the NFL since whomever replaces him is well below average. With all, Green Bay still found itself down just one score (8 points) and had 3 opportunities to go down and tie the game. Those drives were brutal:

• Interception: 2 plays, 2 yards, 0:56
• Downs: 7 plays, 1 yard, 2:31
• Downs: 4 plays; -5 yards, 0:23

The interception was a poor throw by Love, but it still hit Wicks in both hands and should’ve been caught – no, it must be caught in that scenario as it’s a step-up situation and no one did.

The Defense Got Gassed in the 2nd Half, Again (or did it?)

Denver Head Coach, Sean Payton, in his postgame press conference said he told his team to keep hammering away, they’re gassed, the Broncos did end up scoring 20 second half points. However, did the Packers defense really give it up that easily? There was a 2^nd & 7 that Denver hit for 22 yards that saw the most egregious missed holding call I’ve seen in years (of course it was on Parsons) which would’ve set up a 2^nd & 17, likely resulting in a punt, wiping off 7 points for Denver (keeping track, that’s 8 + 6 + 7, see where I’m going?)

This all happened, and the Packers still defense still showed up, but didn’t make the plays necessary to overcome. Denver was able to get their hands on 2 Love passes, catching both. Green Bay got their hands on 5 Nix passes, 3 of them were easy interceptions, caught ZERO. That cannot happen in must-win games moving forward, it just can’t.