Pick the top play from the Packers’ Week 7 loss to the Broncos

The Green Bay Packers are bad. They aren’t just rebuilding bad. They aren’t “they could go on a run soon!” bad. They’re just bad bad! The Packers traveled to Denver this week to take on the Broncos, and things went off the rails, to the extent they were ever even near the track. I will refrain from saying this is rock bottom, because who knows what horrors await in the coming weeks!

The offense was an unmitigated disaster against a Denver Broncos defense that had every right to be called the worst in NFL history through six games. This team gave up 70 (should have been 77 points) in an NFL football game! In 2023! But against the Packers, the mile high squad that looked like a Division II college all year was nearly unblemished. Jordan Love’s game, marred by inaccurate throws, a poor offensive gameplan, and bad decision making left much to be desired, to say the least. The Packers now hold the 7th pick in the draft, were it to occur today. Absent a miraculous turnaround from quarterback, offensive line, or coaching staff, the team is going to face massive, lingering questions sooner than expected. Now that the cheery part is out of the way, let’s dive into this week’s top plays.

The Broncos opened this one as they surprisingly have all season: by driving down the field for a score. Despite being one of the most abysmal teams in football, the Broncos have looked strong on opening drives all year. A penalty bailed out the Packers on a Javonte Williams would-be touchdown, and the Broncos were held to a field goal.

The Packers started off slow, as they are wont to do. A lack of execution continues to plague this team, this time to the tune of just 100 yards of offense in the first half. On the bright side, this shows improvement on their season average of 94 yards. Progress!

At the end of the first half, the Packers made a little progress, moving into Broncos territory. But on 3rd and 9, a Jayden Reed tunnel screen predictably failed, leading to a missed field goal. This was Anders Carlson’s first miss of the year. In response, the Broncos took advantage of injuries to Darnell Savage and Devonte Wyatt and knocked another kick through to go into the locker room up 9-0.

Dontayvion Wicks throws downfield to Aaron Jones

The Packers opened the second half looking more in sync, as they pulled off their biggest play of the game. What at first glance seemed like yet another screen lead to a Dontayvion Wicks throw downfield to Aaron Jones. Slightly under thrown, but possibly the best throw of the day! He once again shined in limited snaps and continued to show the most promise of the young rookie receivers in 2023. I’ll absolutely be counting this as a positive screen play. The drive stalled at the Broncos’ 11-yard line, however, and the Packers settled for a field goal.

The Broncos’ responded with heavy dose of Javonte Williams and poor tackling. After Jonathan Owens committed a back breaking hold on 3rd down that kept their drive going, Russell Wilson hit Courtland Sutton on a wheel route for a touchdown. Rasul Douglas had no chance recovering from the bunch set scrum, and Sutton walked in to put the Broncos up 16-3.

Romeo rips the ball for the score

The Packers showed signs of life by looking downfield on the next drive. Aaron Jones and Christian Watson both got involved, and Romeo Doubs finished off the drive, bailing out Jordan Love and wrestling the ball away from Patrick Surtain on a jump ball. This was just the 2nd red zone touchdown allowed by the Broncos in the last 12 quarters.

Jayden Reed’s go-ahead score

The Packers took the lead on a strong drive midway through the fourth, marred by a Kareem Jackson hit to the head on Luke Musgrave, but capped off by a ridiculous (derogatory) series of red zone plays. Jordan Love’s slant to Romeo Doubs had a bit too much heat on it and took a fortunate bounce off the 2nd year wideout’s hands into the chest of Jayden Reed, who secured the go-ahead touchdown.

The next possession, Denver kicked a field goal to go up 19-17, and that was pretty much all she wrote. Jordan Love and AJ Dillon lead the offense down to the Denver 44-yard line but quickly self destructed with a Christian Watson injury followed by a short armed deep ball to Samori Toure that P.J. Locke had no issue picking off. This ended a Denver streak of 10 losses in a row when leading at half - the longest in the league.

That’s it for this week’s top plays. At the rate the Packers are going, week 8’s edition may have no plays at all. Just bad vibes. Be sure to check out all our coverage this week as the Packers prepare to face the Minnesota Vikings and dig themselves out of the NFC North cellar.