GREEN BAY – The Packers are not in a good place.
Following Thursday night's 35-14 loss to the Falcons at Lambeau Field, the offense is stuck in a rut, the defense didn't resemble the unit from the first two games, and the special teams suffered a frustrating breakdown in a key moment.
There's really nothing to feel good about as the Packers transition from their short week to a long weekend and the search for answers begins.
Most of the focus is on the offense, because since the late stages at Minnesota in Week 1, nothing much has looked good. The struggles start up front, as the offensive line has dealt with injuries and personnel shuffling and hasn't played up to the standard of Green Bay lines in the past.
The inability to run the ball has stressed the pass protection, and the hits on QB Jordan Love reached double digits for the second time in three games.
But Head Coach Matt LaFleur isn't singling out one group for excessive scrutiny.
"I don't want to put all the blame on the offensive line," he said. "I mean, there's plenty of blame to go around. We've got to catch the ball better. Certainly there's some throws I think J-Love would love to have back, just like there's some play calls I'd love to have back.
"There's enough blame to go around to everybody."
Love, who wasn't sharp but was also under duress plenty, is willing to take his share. He managed to make a number of highlight-reel throws in difficult circumstances back in Week 1, but those are coming fewer and farther between now.
Nothing looks easy out there, including throws that theoretically should be.
"Just the feeling I have right now is not good," he said. "I think a lot of areas we need to improve but, at the end of the day, I sit here and look at myself and say there's so much stuff I can improve on to make us as an offense better. It always starts with me. Being the leader of the team, I've got to improve and be better in a lot of areas.
"I've got to do a better job of finding completions throughout the course of the game to help us stay on track as an offense and stay out of some of these bad situations – third-and-long, second-and-long. It's the NFL. There's always going to be plays where there's going to be pressure."
The offensive line certainly misses veterans Zach Bako-Bewele and Aaron Banks, just as the backfield misses Josh Jacobs, the receiving corps misses Jayden Reed and the defense misses Micah Parsons. All the O-line adjustments might've led to changes on the field-goal protection unit, too, which had a kick blocked, rekindling awful memories from Week 3 last year.
But the Packers have to figure this out with what they've got. While Parsons will be back, probably within the next month, Bako-Bewele won't be and there's no telling with Jacobs, Reed and Banks right now.
"We've got to continue to work with these guys and try to figure out what we do well, because right now I don't know what we're doing well offensively," LaFleur said.
That's tough to hear, but so will be all the criticism surrounding this rough start to the season. LaFleur's message to the team after the game was partly about that.
"You've got three days to decompress and we've got to get back to work," he said. "We know it's going to get loud. You've got to ignore the noise, and just focus on what we can do better."
Just as the failures are collective, working their way out of this will be, too.
Both LaFleur and Love expressed confidence in each other and in the locker room, while acknowledging the lengthy season that remains.
"I just think we've got the right kind of guys that aren't afraid of the work, that aren't afraid of the challenge, that aren't afraid to attack adversity, and I fully anticipate our guys doing that," LaFleur said.
Added Love: "It's a long journey."
