Cheese Curds, 10/2: Packers postmortem from Thursday night continues

Did you think that the over-analysis of the Green Bay Packers’ loss to the Detroit Lions last Thursday night was complete? Hardly! It’s just getting started.

With the Packers idle over the weekend ahead of next week’s Monday night clash with the Las Vegas Raiders, there was plenty of time to go back and look at the issues that the Packers displayed on Thursday. In fact, Friday saw the team holding some more press conferences and discussing the loss, which led to plenty of articles through the weekend.

For now, the reason why the Packers lost last Thursday is simple. How they lost is what the team must fix between now and the teams’ next meeting on Thanksgiving Day.

Why Packers have fallen behind Lions in NFC North -- for now - ESPN
The "why" is pretty clear: the Lions are the better team right now. The how is more complicated.

Packers’ run defense undergoing extensive scrutiny | Packers.com
Here's one of the "hows," and it's probably a good thing that the Packers have a long week -- followed by a bye -- to try to get their run defense fixed.

First Quarters Have Been Exercise in Futility for Packers - Sports Illustrated
Another how? The Packers have 10 first-quarter points in four games, with both of those scores coming on short fields. The rest of the team's drives over the first 15 minutes have been atrocious.

Packers day-after observations: O-line struggles, special teams penalties and more - The Athletic ($)
Green Bay's offensive line also needs to be orders of magnitude better than it was on Thursday night, as Jordan Love was on his back repeatedly despite barely blitzing.

Packers RG Jon Runyan Jr. played through ankle sprain vs. Lions | Packers Wire
Admittedly, Runyan playing through an injury probably didn't help, but it was still likely better than putting his backup out there.

Could a government shutdown affect Fat Bear Week? - ABC News
This is the most important reason to keep the government funded through the next several days.