Jordan Love is making his first NFL start today in place of Aaron Rodgers (who, you might be aware as there’s been a little bit of coverage on the subject, is out with Covid-19.)
Getting tossed into the fray at Arrowhead, notoriously one of the loudest stadiums in the sport, against a Chiefs team that needs wins, is a tough assignment for any quarterback. In that scenario, you’d hope that your offense can make plays for Love, and that the defense can keep the Chiefs in check. So far that plan has come to fruition.
But Green Bay is losing at halftime anyway, and it’s almost all thanks to a series of fairly comical miscues on special teams.
That’s actually been a storyline all this year, too. Last season, Mason Crosby converted 16-16 field goals and 59/63 extra points.
That’s an incredible season for a kicker, though admittedly it’s a lot easier to kick when you’re part of a juggernaut offensive team. (Crosby only attempted four kicks from outside fifty yards.) This year not only had Crosby already attempted 17 heading into today, but he’d missed four, including a memorable three-miss game against the Bengals.)
So Green Bay fans were probably not thrilled when Crosby missed a chip shot early, which he immediately blamed on the holder as the laces weren’t facing fully out.
— Clips & Quips (@Clipselberry) November 7, 2021
Joe Buck noted that Crosby gave an earful to holder/punter Corey Bojorquez for the laces not being fully spun around. That made their next try even more entertaining (for non-fans), when a bad snap led to the laces being completely backwards, and the field goal was blocked.
— Clips & Quips (@Clipselberry) November 7, 2021
— Clips & Quips (@Clipselberry) November 7, 2021
So, yeah, Crosby’s down year continues. Things actually got even worse, though, this time in the return game, when a prone Packer accidentally kicked a live punt, leading to the Chiefs recovering inside the Green Bay ten.
— Clips & Quips (@Clipselberry) November 7, 2021
The officials somehow ruled that a touchback, in a fun example of NFL refs blowing two calls in one play, as there’s no reason the Chiefs scooping up the ball there would ever be a touchback. A Kansas City challenge overturned the call, though, and the Chiefs ended up kicking a field goal.
All of that combined to mean that despite Jordan Love putting a few decent drives together, Green Bay was unable to put any points on the board in the first half. That’s not going to get it done, obviously, and it’s the kind of thing that the Packers historically haven’t had to worry about, though this season is obviously a different story.
The Packers special teams ranked 28th this season entering the week per ESPN's FPI.
I'm not exactly sure how it's calculated but two missed FGs and a muffed punt won't help.
— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) November 7, 2021
And if they end up shut out, with talking heads trying to pin things all on Jordan Love this week, it’s important to remember the many miscues he had nothing to do with.
