GREEN BAY – A multitude of factors played into the Packers' 35-14 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday, but a stark contrast in ground production certainly loomed large at Lambeau Field.
All-Pro running back Bijan Robinson came within a yard of tying his single-game career high, as the Falcons ran the ball 41 times for 242 yards (5.9 yards per carry) and three touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love was forced to throw 53 times while the Packers mustered just 17 yards on nine carries (1.9 ypc) against Atlanta's defensive front.
The Falcons controlled the ball for more than 37 minutes, allowing quarterback Michael Penix to gain comfort in his first game back since tearing his anterior cruciate ligament last year.
All told, Atlanta gained 498 total yards and went 4-of-5 in the red zone after failing to penetrate the opponent's 20-yard line in recent losses to Pittsburgh and Carolina.
"It's real frustrating, just period," defensive lineman Karl Brooks said. "They go for 200 some yards rushing, 500 total offense, so that's just frustrating as a D-lineman. Don't matter where they are in the field, just getting them explosives and those runs, those hurt us, and those are frustrating."
The game started well enough for Green Bay. Safety Xavier McKinney picked off Penix on his third pass of the Falcons' opening series. The Packers were unable to capitalize on the opportunity, though, as the offense went three-and-out.
It was one of four three-and-outs Green Bay had in the first half, as the offense struggled to get going on the ground. MarShawn Lloyd and Kaleb Johnson combined for 12 yards on five carries in the first two quarters.
Staked to a 17-7 halftime lead, the Falcons started to pin their ears back in the second half against a Green Bay offensive line playing without right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele (knee) and left guard Aaron Banks (knee/toe). Right guard Jacob Monk also exited the game in the fourth quarter with a quad injury.
Love was only sacked once but still hit 12 times.
"We gotta be more complete of an offense," receiver Christian Watson said. "We gotta find a way to get that dialed back in because the run game is a big part of our offense. I think it showed today when we weren't running the ball as much in other situations and not executing as well as we want to."
Defensively, Green Bay controlled the line of scrimmage early, but Robinson's 55-yard run with 3 minutes left in the first quarter signaled a turning point.
The 5-foot-11, 215-pound running back broke the 100-yard mark in the first half alone (15 carries for 111 yards and a touchdown) before finding another gear in the third quarter.
It was a tough blow for a Packers run defense that allowed less than three yards per carry through the first two weeks of the year.
"Not much to say right now," edge rusher Lukas Van Ness said. "Credit to Atlanta. They had a great game, had a good gameplan. They just dominated us through the whole night."
Both Lloyd and Johnson expressed confidence in Green Bay's offense and optimism for the run game. Right tackle Anthony Belton added that "we're going to get it going" when asked to describe the rushing offense's issues so far this season.
"We have everything on every level," Lloyd said. "We can pass the ball well. I do believe we can run the ball well, but I can't say that because we're not doing it.
"We can do a lot of things. I think we have a really explosive offense as you can see, different spurts of different things, you know, in the pass game. Run game, we're going to get better. We're going to get better for sure, but we do have to do better with what we get."
Passing superlatives: While the Packers struggled to get going on the ground, Watson and Matthew Golden powered Green Bay's passing game.
Watson caught a 4-yard touchdown to put the Packers up 7-0 early, becoming the first Packers receiver since Davante Adams (2018) to catch at least one TD in each of the first three games of a season.
The fifth-year wideout is also the first Packers player to catch four TD receptions in the first three games since Jordy Nelson in 2016.
Meanwhile, Golden caught his first NFL regular-season touchdown in the fourth quarter and finished with a career-high 100 receiving yards on five receptions.
Still, those superlatives served as little consolation in the loss.
"We gotta just find a way to get things going, get this thing churning and go," Watson said. "Because I think that when we're clicking, we're a great football team. But I mean it can't be when we're clicking – it's got to be we are clicking."
More on the block: The Packers' bid to slow Atlanta's momentum came up short when Zach Harrison blocked Trey Smack's 47-yard field goal midway through the second quarter.
Harrison wiggled his way past Belton and the interior of Green Bay's field-goal protection and had a clear path to Smack.
"Can't lean out," said Belton about the block. "Teams kind of can plan stuff out as they go, you're expecting somebody to come at you full force and then they just kind of jump out."
Penix's debut: The Falcons' third-year quarterback settled in after McKinney's interception, completing 18 of 25 passes for 256 yards with a TD and the INT for a 101.4 passer rating.
He found instant chemistry with Drake London, who caught nine of 10 targets for 194 yards, including a 68-yarder.
"We just got behind on the sticks a little bit, they were winning on first and second down," cornerback Brandon Cisse said. "We've got to keep 'em behind the sticks, and they executed some pass plays in the pass game, but nothing really changed schematically."
