The Packers were returning from the Bye week. We were supposed to perhaps be a better team. The Packers had two weeks to try and put things together and they had a perfect opponent to face out of the Bye in the 1-5 Broncos. But once again, it was more of the same embarrassment. Sure, they came back later in the second half and seemed to get things put together, but they should have never been in that situation to begin with.

What is it with the first half that has this team so puzzled? It's like they need the entire half to realize what needs to be done and then finally try to muster up some points. I had my frustrations with the defense in this game, but it's not all on them. They held Denver to all field goals in the first half. Only nine points. But the offense couldn't put together a few first downs to save their lives. We were told ahead of time that Aaron Jones may still be on a snap count returning from injury, and Jones only touched the ball 11 times. We haven't had Aaron Jones at full strength since week 1 and it's beginning to become extremely evident that this offense may live and die by Jones carrying them. AJ Dillon has found some success in the last two games, but he's not quite the bell cow and go-to weapon that Jones is. If this offense is going to go anywhere, it appears they desperately need Aaron Jones at full strength.

A possibly unpopular opinion I may have is a lack of receiving experience. I was one of the first in line to defend not getting a veteran Wide Receiver in Free Agency this offseason, and I'm beginning to regret it. These young receivers are doing a decent job, but there's just no consistency to be had at all. Jordan Love doesn't exactly have a security blanket on the field right now to throw to and I think it's beginning to be a bit of an issue. A veteran receiver could have perhaps provided that ability to get open even if for just a 5-yard catch. 

Nonetheless, we've fallen to 2-4 unfortunately against one of the worst teams in the league. It's an unpleasant reality and all we can do is hope things turn around after this game.

Let's get to the recap:

First Quarter:

The Broncos' first drive looked like a good start for the Packers' defense as they got lots of pressure on Russell Wilson from Quay Walker and Rashan Gary. On third down, however, they allowed a 33-yard connection from Russell Wilson to Courtland Sutton putting the Broncos in Packers territory and erasing that early-drive success. After that big pass, the Packers' defense didn’t put up much of a fight at all as Denver marched inside the ten in six plays mostly on the ground and then Denver running back Javonte Williams was in the end-zone for a touchdown. However, the touchdown was called back on a holding call against Denver pushing them back 10 yards and Denver would have to settle for a Field Goal taking the lead 3-0 with 8:27 remaining in the first quarter.

The Packers took over at their own 25 and welcomed back Aaron Jones with the first carry of the game as he took the ball 3 yards on the Packers' first play from scrimmage. Outside of a five-yard catch for AJ Dillon after Jones' run, that would be all the Packers would do as their offense would go three and out and run a Daniel Whelan punt.

Denver took over at their own 19 after the punt also went three and out. The Packers' defense followed up the first drive where they were unable to get third down stops by getting one right away and forced Denver to punt with 5:15 remaining in the opening quarter.

The Packers, taking over at their own 38-yard line got off to a good start with a 5 yard run from Aaron Jones and an 8-yard catch from Luke Musgrave to get the Packers’ first first down of the game. After that first down they couldn’t convert another though. An incomplete pass to Jayden Reed looked to be pass interference on Patrick Surtain as the tugging was evident, however, this wasn't called and instead, the Packers were called for a facemask. Denver declined the penalty, however, so the Packers elected to go for it on fourth down, but Josh Myers was then called for a very questionable false start. The Center is normally allowed to pick up his head before he snaps the ball, but apparently, this time around, they decided it was a false start on Myers as nothing else he did before the snap looked to be an infraction. Not sure what to think about with that one, someone might have to explain it to me, and the rest of Packer nation for that matter. The Packers elected to punt after the penalty pushed them back instead of going for it on fourth down this time.

After the punt went for a touchback, the Broncos took over at their own 20-yard line to start their third drive. In three plays Denver was in Green Bay territory. And after a 5-yard run by Perine the first quarter expired with Denver knocking on the door at Green Bay’s 24-yard line.

Second Quarter:

To start the second quarter, the Broncos continued picking on Packer's rookie CB Carrington Valentine as Courtland Sutton made a catch converting a third down into the red zone. Luckily once again though, the Packers' defense tightened with some good coverage downfield after the Sutton catch and forced the Broncos to settle for a Field Goal. Denver was now up 6-0 with 13:14 remaining in the first half, and honestly, the Packers were lucky to only be down by this little as the offense needed to find its legs on the next drive and make something happen before that luck ran out.

The Packers finally got their first third-down conversion on their third drive off a 6-yard pass to Christian Watson, but that’s all they would get as they couldn’t convert again. Nothing to be had in the running game and the passing game couldn’t get more than a few short throws as the offense would have to hope the defense could hold the Broncos once again so they had time to figure things out. The Daniel Whelan punt would pin the Broncos at their own 10-yard line with 9:44 remaining in the half. 

The Packers nearly forced Denver to another three and out on the next drive, but on third down, pass interference was called on Keisean Nixon to give Denver a first down at their own 36. Luckily for the Packers, Denver went nowhere but backward after Rasul Douglas broke up a Marvin Mims run deep in the backfield for a loss of seven, and then a few penalties and failed conversions, led to a Denver punt.

The Packers took over at their own 28-yard line with 6:31 remaining in the half. After a few conversions on the ground and a nice WR screen to Romeo Doubs for 14 yards, the Packers found themselves in Broncos territory. They were able to drive down to Denver’s 25 but a false start called on Rasheed Walker pushed them backward and the offense wasn’t able to convert. Anders Carlson came out for a 43-yard field goal attempt however it was missed wide left. This was Carlson’s first miss of the season as the Broncos would take over at their 33 with 0:41 left in the half. I can't help but cringe at the broadcast jinx before the kick as Kevin Harlan on the play-by-play talked about how Carlson was perfect up until that point. Just our luck that the jinx followed through.

After the miss, the Broncos in two plays got into field goal range through the air with catches from Jerry Jeudy for 17 yards and Perine for six. Wilson then scrambled 21 yards to the Green Bay 17 and one play later Denver settled for a field goal to move up 9-0 with 0:05 remaining in the half. 

The Packers would receive the ball with time left for one play and instead of kneeling it, they decided to run a hand-off to Emmanuel Wilson for 14 yards to wind out the half with something positive.

Third Quarter:

The Packers offense kicked off the second half with a six-yard run by Aaron Jones and a 17-yard pass to Dontayvion Wicks. Finally, the Packers' offense was cooking with gas. Two plays later Jordan Love scrambled nine yards for a first down to Denver’s 39-yard line. That was a nice kick in the pants for the Packers' offense but things slowed down a bit the next play as Center, Josh Myers went down with an injury and was replaced by Zach Tom. Yosh Nijman would take Tom’s right tackle spot. Myers would later return to the game. After the line shift the Packers got in a little trickery with Jordan Love passing to Wicks backward and then Wicks completing a pass to Aaron Jones for a 17-yard gain to Denver’s 17. Though the trick play was a nice touch, the Packers drive would stall after this and they would have to settle for 3 taking the score to 9-3 with 10:24 remaining in the 3rd quarter. 

Denver’s first drive of the half would start out with an 18-yard pass to Jerry Jeudy and then a 21-yard Javonte Williams run straight into Packers territory. The Packers' defense finally started to hold and prevented a third-down conversion at their own 29, but Jonathan Owens was called for defensive holding allowing the conversion. Several plays later Russell Wilson would hit Courtland Sutton for an 18-yard touchdown pass. Rasul Douglas was unfortunately held up on the coverage by another route which allowed Sutton to get wide open for the score. Denver would go up 16-3 with 6:17 remaining in the 3rd quarter.

After the Denver touchdown, on the Packers' first play of the following drive, Love hit Watson on a 23-yard pass and then two AJ Dillon runs later the Packers entered Denver territory. After this, Love hit Jayden Reed for a 12-yard catch and Aaron Jones took off on an 11-yard run and the Packers offense found themselves in the red zone with the chance to answer Denver's touchdown. They would do just this as on 2nd and 9 Jordan Love then hit Romeo Doubs for a 16-yard touchdown. Doubs was battling the defender for the ball in the end zone but the tie went to the receiver and the Packers took the score to 16-10 with 1:46 remaining in the 3rd. Gene Steratore on the broadcast tried to say that play should’ve been called an interception, but my Green and Gold brain says he’s wrong, sorry Gene.

The Broncos then took over and went three and out after Rashan Gary made a big run stop on third down and that’s how the third quarter would wind out.

Fourth Quarter:

The Packers would take over at their own 24-yard line with 14:50 remaining in the fourth quarter. On 2nd down, Love hit Luke Musgrave for an 18-yard gain on a nice pass to the left for the first down. On that play, Kareem Jackson of the Broncos hit Musgrave up high and was called for a personal foul. Jackson would be ejected from the game. Jackson’s history of high hits recently resulting in several fines likely contributed to the ejection. There will likely be more fines in his future, if not a suspension. The Packers then found themselves facing fourth down in Denver territory and converted on a short Luke Musgrave rollout down to the Denver 27. AJ Dillon then followed it up with a 15-yard gain to the Denver 12. Now in the red zone, the Packers were able to drive inside the 10 highlighted by a Jordan Love scramble before Love hit Jayden Reed in the end-zone on 4th down for the touchdown. The pass bounced off Romeo Doubs’ hands and made me feel sorrow just before Reed caught the tip and made me believe again, as the Packers would go up 17-16 with 8:31 remaining in the game.

The Broncos then took over down by 1 and moved down the field mainly through the air, highlighted by a 16-yard catch by Jerry Jeudy down to the Packers 39-yard line. Frustratingly it seemed like the Packers' defense had gone into prevent coverage at this point giving the Broncos all the shorter throws they wanted. That’s not quite what you want to see when you’re only up by one point with 5:30 remaining and they could take the lead with a field goal. The defense really needed to tighten up. Luckily they did tighten up and on third down Preston Smith tripped up Russell Wilson for a sack for no gain. Denver would still take the lead, however, on a Will Lutz field goal to go up 19-17 with 3:50 left in the game.

With the game on the line, the Packers were able to drive downfield highlighted by a 29-yard catch and run by AJ Dillon. However, a holding call later would push them backward into their own territory and everything got rough from there. Facing 3rd and long, Jordan Love would then launch it deep for Samori Toure, but it would be intercepted by P.J. Locke. The ball seemed a bit under-thrown, but nonetheless, Locke made a great play coming across the field for the INT.

The Broncos would take over with 1:40 remaining in the game and the Packers had only one timeout to stop the clock. The Broncos would then wind out the clock on the ground ending the game with a victory over the Packers 19-17. 

Offensive Player of the Game:

His stats weren't huge, but I'd give the Offensive Player of the Game to AJ Dillon. He finished the game with 15 carries for 61 yards on the ground and 2 catches for 34 yards through the air. He provided a spark for the offense with a long 15-yard run in the red-zone before a touchdown and his 29-yard run after the catch on the Packers' final drive was huge despite the following result. He's no Aaron Jones, but in the last two games AJ Dillon has helped provide some positivity after he got off to a slow start on the season. 

Defensive Player of the Game:

This was a hard one for me. There were some good plays here and there. Rasul Douglas' big tackle for a loss on a run, and Preston Smith's trip-up of Russell Wilson to kill the drive, were all big plays. But after that, none of those players had anything else that stood out to me and Douglas getting held up on Denver's only touchdown kind of soured his candidacy for me. I think I'm going to go with Quay Walker on this one. Two tackles for losses, five tackles total, it's not amazing, but neither were many other performances tonight. Walker didn't have any big mistakes that popped out to me, so those tackles for losses are going to take it for me. 

What Went Right:

I think there are only two things I can put here, one is resiliency on offense. This team looked miserable in the first half on that side of the ball. They could have mailed it in in the second half and hopped back on the plane for home. But they recognized they were only down by 9 and turned it into a game. They put together some success in the second half and hopefully, they can build on that moving forward and do it in the first half one day. 

The next is protection. The bullets this offensive line has taken, injuries, shifts, they didn't allow a single sack and Love was only hit three times. For as banged up as this line is, and coming off a terrible performance vs Las Vegas, it wasn't a bad go for the boys up front in the protection area.

What Went Wrong:

First-half offense. Say what you want about the Packers' defense and Joe Barry, but the defense only gave up 9 in the first half. 10 in the second. The offense just could not capitalize on it at all though. If the Packers' offense scores maybe even one touchdown in the first half, this could've been a different ball game. 

That being said though, one thing I did not like with the defense is the Broncos' last scoring drive. The offense had just gone up by one point with a touchdown. But on the next drive, it seemed like the defensive call was to just sit back on their hands and let the Broncos drive as far as they wanted. 7 yards here, 6 yards there, 5, 16, and then finally tightened up once Denver was in field goal range. It just seemed like we allowed them to get that score. We didn't put up a fight. Whether it be play calls or execution, it was just an all-around terrible drive for the defense. 

Next week, the Packers will be at home again in Green Bay to take on their division rivals, the Minnesota Vikings for the first time this season. Yours truly will be standing up in a wedding for a good friend on Sunday with the wedding kicking off at 3 pm. Don't worry, I've already given my friend lots of grief for his wedding being during a Packer game. So, as a result, your game recap will not be published until late at night. But fear not fellow cheeseheads, I will still be with you to go over what will hopefully be a Packers victory. Heading into this week, it's not going to be pretty. This is a tough loss no matter what the scoreboard says. This was a game we could've and should've won. But, as always, I have hope this team can hopefully find its legs, get it together, and get some wins. Until then, Go Pack Go.