Jaire Alexander: Packers defense has to score and prevent opponents from scoring

Green Bay Packers

Published Oct. 10, 2023 2:02 a.m. ET

After a disjointed game from the Packers offense that saw them fail to capitalize with a game-winning drive after the Raiders’ coaching blunder in Vegas on Monday Night, it’s painfully obvious that progress isn’t linear for Green Bay’s offense and their young quarterback Jordan Love.

The Packers got the ball back, down four points, with 1:56 to go. Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels had inexplicably elected to kick a long field goal on fourth down and two at the Packers’ 34-yard line coming out of the two-minute warning. Every probability metric says to go for it there, and they didn’t. Kicker Daniel Carlson, brother to Packers kicker Anders Carlson, missed the kick, or rather — it bounced off the right upright and Green Bay took over.

“You get another stop and it’s like damn, it’s destined for us to win,” said cornerback Rasul Douglas. “We just gotta win it. But we didn’t do it.”

Love and the Packers’ offense looked, at first, like this could be the drive. It could be the drive they put it all together and come back, just as they had done earlier this season against the New Orleans Saints, where Green Bay scored 18 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to win.

Love hit rookie tight end Luke Musgrave for a seven-yard completion to start the drive. Then another for eight yards two plays later. Love and the offense got two first downs and made it to the Las Vegas 35. Two incomplete passes on first and second down made it third and 10. There were still 51 seconds on the clock. Packers still had a timeout in the bank.

But instead of focusing on making a play, Love tried to make the play. He lobbed it deep, something he hadn’t been very successful on all night, looking for wide receiver Christian Watson in the end zone. The ball was a bit under-thrown and Raiders cornerback Amik Robertson was there to pick off Love for the game-sealing interception.

To make things worse, it was Love’s third interception of the night. His first came in the second quarter, but the defense was able to hold the Raiders to just three points, despite having a first and goal at the Packers’ seven-yard line following the pick. Outside linebacker Preston Smith was able to get a hand on Raiders quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo’s pass on third down to save the touchdown.

The second interception was tipped by Las Vegas cornerback Marcus Peters in the fourth quarter and it landed in the hands of outside linebacker Robert Spillane, who had the first pick on Love. This time, it was a third-down sack by Rashan Gary to force a Raiders punt, meaning Las Vegas came away with no points off the turnover.

The Packers’ defense had four total sacks, three on Garoppolo and one on running back Josh Jacobs. All of Garoppolo’s sacks came on third down and forced a Las Vegas punt.

But it was Love and a disjointed offensive gameplan that seemed tailored to running back Aaron Jones being part of it that failed to capitalize. Jones ended up being ruled inactive last minute, which threw the Packers into scramble mode, literally, just before the game. The result was a discombobulated offense that couldn’t seem to get into any kind of rhythm. Love finished 16-of-30 for 182 yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions. His passer rating was 32.2.

And while Love and the offense struggle to find their identity or see consistency, the defense has been steadily improving, especially in critical moments.

The players have noticed. More specifically, cornerback Jaire Alexander has noticed.

“Yeah I think at this point it’s pretty obvious that the defense has to not give up any touchdowns,” said Alexander in the locker room after the game. “That’s part of being self-critical with our defense. The offense is pretty young and they’re still figuring out their mojo. The defense, we gotta be the ones to score and stop them from scoring.”

Both Alexander and cornerback Rasul Douglas commented on how the defense needed to have stepped up even more.

When asked if the defense did all they could, Alexander shook his head.

“No definitely not,” he said.” On defense, on our side we left a couple plays out there. A couple third downs we should have gotten off. In the course of a game like this, it adds up.”

Douglas put it on himself and on one play in particular. It was third down and three. Raiders had the ball at the Packers’ nine-yard line and Garoppolo completed a pass to Davante Adams for a seven-yard gain, setting Las Vegas up with first and goal at the two. Douglas was on him.

“It’s probably my fault,” Douglas said. “I could have had a pick on a play I messed up on. If I make that it probably takes seven points off the board. I think they scored at the end of that drive. I just have to make that play.”

The defense is shouldering the responsibility while making it known that they have no choice. This is what comes with having a young quarterback, with young talent around him at that. They are going to need to lean on the experience of the defense.

But perhaps the defense didn’t think it’d be this much. And so the Packers’ up-and-down season will continue.

Because after all, progress isn’t linear.

Carmen Vitali covers the NFC North for FOX Sports. Carmen had previous stops with The Draft Network and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. She spent six seasons with the Bucs, including 2020, which added the title of Super Bowl Champion (and boat-parade participant) to her résumé. You can follow Carmen on Twitter at @CarmieV.