The Green Bay Packers’ offensive problems have drawn plenty of attention in the first three games, and the drops issue has become impossible to ignore. The offensive line and play-calling have taken much of the blame, but Jordan Love is also absorbing the fallout from receivers who keep letting catchable balls slip away.
Through Week 3, Pro Football Focus says Love leads the NFL with nine passes dropped by a receiver. That number has turned a nuisance into a real storyline, especially after the first wave of drops against the New York Jets in Week 2 could be chalked up to the rain and messy conditions. Last week against the Atlanta Falcons, though, the issue looked less like bad weather and more like a problem that has settled in.
The Packers’ drops by player tell the story:
Christian Watson: 3
Matthew Golden: 3
Tucker Kraft: 2
Chris Brooks: 1
Golden and Kraft were the most noticeable examples, with both leaving a few routine plays on the field in a game where the offense never found a rhythm. Those misses helped stall drives and added to a broader sense that Green Bay’s attack is fighting itself as much as it’s fighting defenses.
PFF also has the Packers sitting 32nd in its “supporting cast” rating, which measures the average grades of a team’s running game, passing game, and offensive line play in run and pass blocking. That lines up with what has shown up on Sundays: an offense that can’t string together much of anything.
Drops are a different kind of problem because they don’t really bend to scheme. The players have to clean them up themselves.
The good news for Green Bay is that Golden and Kraft have shown they can be dependable in the past, so this may not be a permanent issue. But right now, it’s one more layer of trouble in an offense already dealing with plenty.
The Packers are near the bottom, or dead last, in several major offensive categories, including rushing yards, third-down conversions, completion percentage, and penalties. A lot of those issues trace back to an offensive line that has been so shaky it appears to be dragging the whole unit down with it.
With nearly a full week between the Week 3 loss and the next game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the conversation around the Packers’ struggles has only grown louder. The schedule gives them a little breathing room, but the next two games are still massive. The Buccaneers and Chicago Bears are both on deck, and both are likely to be played against backup quarterbacks.
That doesn’t hand Green Bay anything. Even with a softer stretch on paper, the Packers still have to show they can get the offense moving again before anyone buys into the turnaround.
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