If you’re unaware of what happened this weekend, Green Bay Packer fans fell to the mercy of the “Dawg Pound” as the Cleveland Browns defeated the green and gold 13-10 in heartbreaking fashion.
The Packers started the scoring by snagging the lead at the beginning of the second quarter after Cleveland’s Denzel Ward made an incredible pass deflection that forced Jordan Love and the Green Bay offense to settle for a field goal.
Then the game was quiet until the Packers managed to score the game’s first touchdown when Love connected with backup tight end John FitzPatrick for a 3-yard touchdown in the third quarter, which gave the Packers a 10-0 lead.
Up until the 3:38 mark in the fourth quarter, the Packers had held the Browns scoreless, but things changed fast. Cleveland kicker Andre Szmyt converted on a 33-yard field goal to make the score 10-3, and 30 seconds later, the ball was back in their hands because of an irresponsible throw by Love that fluttered into the hands of Grant Delpit, one half of the Browns double coverage on that play. Delpit returned the ball to the Packers 4-yard line, which set up an immediate Quinshon Judkins touchdown to tie the game 10-10 with 3:01 to go in the fourth.
At this point, I didn’t know what to think. What was beginning to feel like a 10-0 cruise to a victory, turned into one of the most embarrassing losses I’ve experienced as a Packers fan.
What follows can only be described as a disaster. The Packers managed their way back into prime field goal position, but couldn’t convert because Tucker Kraft failed to set the edge and Ward, who’d been playing an incredible game, took full advantage of it to block the kick.
A little shove simply isn’t enough out of Kraft. There’s zero excuse to exert that little energy into that significant of a play. It sucks because Kraft has been such an elite playmaker for the offense, but mistakes like that simply cannot happen.
After beating two teams who made the playoffs last season in the Detroit Lions and the Washington Commanders, I don’t think a single sane person could’ve predicted this loss for the Packers. I was getting ready to write this article and gloat about how great the team has been but instead I’m ranting about a loss to the Cleveland Browns.
This wasn’t just a bad loss, it was a collapse. If the Packers don’t learn from it fast, the Cowboys won’t just beat them next week. They’ll embarrass them on national television.
The Packers will be back in action against the Dallas Cowboys in primetime at 7:20 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28, which is a game that has narratives of its own, as the freshly arrived superstar Micah Parsons gets to go back to his old home field, AT&T Stadium, to take on his former team.
