GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers were manhandled by the Baltimore Ravens 41-24 on Saturday night. It was their third consecutive loss as it looks like they will stumble into the playoffs for a second consecutive year.
Here’s our weekly analysis of the snap counts, plus a predictable stud and duds.
Packers Snaps on Offense
The Packers played 47 snaps on offense.
Quarterbacks: Malik Willis played like Superman until his injured throwing shoulder served as kryptonite. This might be Willis’ Matt Flynn moment with free agency on the horizon. He was magnificent. He was 18-of-21 passing, accounted for three touchdowns and was responsible for almost every yard gained.
Clayton Tune was 1-of-4 for 8 yards and one interception on a pass that went through the hands of Bo Melton.
Running backs: You’ve got to look hard for silver linings, but at least Josh Jacobs should be ready for the playoffs. The Packers didn’t bother to run the ball, so Chris Brooks led the unit with 21 snaps, followed by Emanuel Wilson with 17 and Jacobs with just 13.
Of the Packers’ 17 rushes, 10 were by the quarterbacks. Jacobs carried four times for 3 yards and Wilson carried three times for 16 yards. Brooks caught one pass for 11.
Receivers: With Dontayvion Wicks out with a concussion after just three snaps, the count was 29 for Christian Wattson, 27 for Romeo Doubs, 25 for Matthew Golden, 24 for Jayden Reed and 17 for Bo Melton.
Watson was kept under wraps by the Bears last week but erupted to catch 5-of-6 passes for 113 yards and one touchdown. It was the first 100-yard game by a Packers receiver this year and the most receiving yards since Watson’s 150 yards at Chicago in 2024. Each of his catches produced a first down.
Watson, Reed, Doubs and Melton all had a catch of 30-plus yards.
Tight ends: Back from a concussion, Josh Whyle played 30 snaps and caught one pass for 8 yards. With the Packers throwing the ball all over the yards, you might have thought Luke Musgrave would be at least somewhat of a factor. You would be wrong. He played 20 snaps and wasn’t targeted.
In his NFL debut, Drake Dabney played seven snaps. Darian Kinnard played two.
Offensive line: Right tackle Jordan Morgan, who started again for injured Zach Tom, and rookie right guard Anthony Belton played every snap. For the six-play final offensive series, Jacob Monk played center, Donovan Jennings played left guard, Darian Kinnard played right tackle and Morgan shifted to left tackle.
Generally, the group protected Malik Willis well with the Packers in must-pass mode, but, really, the only sequence that matters is Willis getting stuffed on a third-and-1 sneak and Josh Jacobs getting stuffed on fourth-and-1.
Packers Snaps on Defense
The Packers played 76 snaps on defense.
Defensive ends: What would the Packers’ record have been if not for the trade for Micah Parsons? Green Bay’s defensive line as a whole, not just the ends, is terrible.
Kingsley Enagbare led the way with 60 snaps, followed by Lukas Van Ness with 47, Rashan Gary with 34 and Brenton Cox with nine. Enagbare is going to get a nice payday in free agency. He had five tackles, including the team’s two tackles for losses. Van Ness had six tackles and made a few impact plays.
Green Bay Packers defensive end Kingsley Enagbare (55) stares at Derrick Henry after a tackle for loss. | Tork Mason / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Gary, on the other hand, had one assisted tackle in another milk-carton performance. Van Ness, Enagbare and Gary each had a quarterback hit.
Arron Mosby led the team with 21 snaps on special teams.
Defensive tackles: Karl Brooks led the way with 56 snaps and Colby Wooden played 52. Wooden had six tackles and Brooks had five (but a critical offside). Warren Brinson played 34 but had nothing to show for it. They were overwhelmed by the Ravens’ front wall.
Signed off the Giants’ practice squad, Jordon Riley played ahead of Nazir Stackhouse for the third consecutive game but was carted off the field with an Achilles injury following his 11th snaps. That meant a first opportunity for Quinton Bohanna, who played 15.
The Packers have a lot of needs entering the offseason. Defensive tackle is No. 1 on the list.
Linebackers: Quay Walker and Edgerrin Cooper played every snap. They had good fantasy-football nights with 12 and 10 tackles, respectively. Walker had a quarterback hit. Isaiah McDuffie played 48 snaps and had six tackles. Ty’Ron Hopper played two.
Cornerbacks: Keisean Nixon played 74 snaps, broke up a pass and gave up only a few trivial completions. Carrington Valentine was benched in favor Kamal Hadden. He played 59 snaps, was stiff-armed to Wrightstown by Derrick Henry and gave up a touchdown.
Nate Hobbs (knee) and Hadden (ankle) exited with injuries after 10 and six snaps, respectively. Hobbs’ injury came when he broke up a pass in the end zone as it appeared he banged knees with Ravens receiver Zay Flowers. Hadden had to be carted off the field, which sent Valentine back into the fray.
Safeties: Xavier McKinney played every snap and had a team-high 13 tackles. Back from a one-game absence with a knee injury, Evan Williams played 53. Javon Bullard’s 38 snaps were split between slot and safety.
Zayne Anderson, one of the team’s top players on special teams, played two snaps in the kicking game and had one tackle before an ankle injury ended his night.
Packers Stud vs. Ravens
Who else but Malik Willis? Willis threw for 288 yards and one touchdown and rushed for 60 yards and two touchdowns. That’s 348 yards on a night when the team finished with 363. He completed 18 passes, with 12 resulting in first downs.
Green Bay Packers quarterback Malik Willis runs for his second touchdown of the game against the Ravens. | Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Willis played from behind on every series and had no pretense of a running game to help, and yet he carried the load until his shoulder gave way. According to Next Gen Stats, Willis on passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield was 6-of-7 for 197 yards. It was the third-most yards on deep passes this season.
“I think Malik’s earned all the praise he’s gotten, and I think he deserves even more with the performance that he put out there today,” receiver Christian Watson said. “We’ve just got to be better for him as a team. But I think he did everything he could to out us in a position to win the football game. We’ve just got to find a way to do so.”
Packers Duds vs. Ravens
Really, it’s the entire defensive front, which was pushed around all night. It was like watching Tulane try to keep up with Ole Miss in the college football playoffs. Too often, Derrick Henry found an opening, got a head of steam and ran through an arm tackle. By our count, he had 152 yards after contact and broke eight tackles.
The Packers had played the run exceptionally well all season. They had tackled well for most of the season. They did none of those things on Saturday. The Ravens ran for 307 yards, or almost 200 yards more than the Packers were yielding per game.
“Some guys eluded to embarrassing,” Van Ness said. “It’s a gut check. It’s a reality check and it’s a punch on the mouth. But that’s the game of life. That’s the game of football. How do you react when adversity hits and I think we’re going to react the right way.”
Especially if Max Brosmer starts for the Vikings next week, the Packers better be ready to stop 50 rushing attempts again.
A definite dishonorable mention is Rashan Gary. Defensive ends get the big bucks to rush the passer. Against the Ravens, he had one pressure and has gone nine games without a sack.
Of course, this game wasn’t about the pass defense. It was about the defense getting taken behind the woodshed for a beatdown. When Gary has struggled to rush the passer at times in his career, the coaches have been quick to point to his run defense. Gary didn’t do anything against the Ravens. He had one assisted tackle, played less than half the snaps and seems to be playing with concrete in his cleats.
Even with Micah Parsons coming off a torn ACL, there’s no reason to pay Gary an $18 million base salary next season.
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