Pick the top play from the Packers’ week 7 loss to the Commanders

The Packers fell below .500 on Sunday, falling to the struggling Washington Commanders, 23-21 in yet another ugly game. Terry McLaurin posted his best game of the season despite Taylor Heinicke entering the starting lineup in place of an injured Carson Wentz, and the Packers’ offense continued to operate like an old-school arcade shoot-em-up: move horizontally at all times. Despite the return of Sammy Watkins to the starting lineup, he and Rodgers continued to show little chemistry and sparked a Packers Twitter civil war over just one play.

Without Rodgers on the same page as Watkins, and with Christian Watson still on the mend, this team simply can’t create enough explosive plays. While this has been a problem for numerous offenses this season, the Packers need to find answers quickly. After being the beneficiary of great field position and scoring an early touchdown, the Packers offense did not score another point until the 3:26 mark of the 4th quarter. It’s another poor slate of top plays this week, but we make do with what we have, so let’s jump into it.

De’Vondre Campbell’s Pick Six

The APB on De’Vondre Campbell has been out for a few weeks now and the All-Pro linebacker came out of hiding on Sunday with a crucial pick-six. After a five-play Packers drive ended in a punt to kick the misery off, Washington went three and out deep in their own territory. Aaron Rodgers got the ball at the Commanders’ 42-yard line and drove down to deliver a touchdown to Aaron Jones. Thanks to the weekly peculiar decision from Amari Rodgers soon after that led to a muffed punt, Washington got on the board with a field goal. As their next drive entered Green Bay territory, the Packers had possibly their most exciting play of the season: A low bar to clear, to be fair.

Rashan Gary’s blazing speed off the edge was responsible for the ill-advised Heinicke throw, forcing his 3rd turnover by pressure of the season according to Next Gen Stats. With a few dropped interceptions on the day already, you’d be forgiven for not considering De’Vondre Campbell as the most likely player to grab one, but he ripped this one from J.D. McKissic and returned it for the house call. These were the Packers’ first points off of a turnover all season. If you’re interested in what went into Campbell’s stellar performance, both on and off the field, be sure to check out his interview with our very own Kris Burke here.

Aaron Jones comes down with the late touchdown (8:25)

The De’Vondre Campbell pick-six was the last good thing to happen to the Packers over the next two quarters. The defense which looked ready to flex its muscles on a backup QB and take the game overlooked lost. Terry McLaurin and Curtis Samuel hauled in high pass after high pass, bailing out Taylor Heinicke in crucial spots and confounding the Packers' secondary. On an early fourth-quarter drive down 20-14, Green Bay showed a bit of life, but on 4th and 1 at the Washington 37-yard line, Romeo Doubs dropped a quick pass. Washington responded with a 61-yard field goal drive that all but shut the door on the Packers’ horrible, no good, very bad day.

The next drive showed signs of life for the first time in what felt like days. On the 75-yard touchdown drive, the unlikely duo of Samari Toure and Amari Rodgers came up big, hauling in a few passes to add to a litany of Commanders penalties. Aaron Jones did what superstars do and hauled in the touchdown to shock the Packers back to life, at least for a few fleeting moments. This was Jones’ 57th touchdown as a Packer, placing him 9th in total touchdowns scored in team history. Feed. Aaron. Jones.

That’s it for this week’s top plays. Once again, only two worthy additions in a sea of filth. With a road visit to Buffalo in which the Packers are double-digit underdogs this Sunday, we may be starved for highlights for yet another week. Regardless of the score, we’ll be breaking it down live at halftime on Twitter Spaces @acmepackingco, so be sure to join us on our coping journey this Sunday.