There is one major culprit for the Green Bay Packers’ embarrassing loss in their home finale against the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday night, and it’s reflected in this week’s report card.
Green Bay got all it could have asked for from its backup quarterback. Malik Willis was a star, carrying the entire offense throughout the night.
However, the whole world knew the Packers were going to get a steady diet of Derrick Henry. The core fundamentals of football start with being able to run the ball and stop the run. The Packers did neither. They were beaten up on both sides of the line of scrimmage in embarrassing fashion.
The grades from our weekly Packers report card reflect that.
Pass Offense
There was one shining star for the Packers. If Saturday’s game was Malik Willis’ last start with the team, he will have earned every penny he’s set to receive in free agency.
Willis won both starts with the Packers last season after being acquired in a trade in August 2024. He didn’t win on Saturday night, but that was no fault of his own.
Willis was practically flawless when he was on the field. He was the team’s leading rusher in addition to continuing to make big plays through the air. He finished the night with 288 passing yards and a 134.6 passer rating. He even set an NFL record.
Christian Watson had 113 receiving yards. Romeo Doubs made two explosive plays, including a 40-yard bomb to open the game.
Green Bay Packers receiver Christian Watson (9) catches a pass while being defended by Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey. | Kayla Wolf-Imagn Images
When Willis exited after aggravating a shoulder injury, Clayton Tune entered the game and promptly threw an interception on a pass that went through Bo Melton’s hands. Chris Brooks also had a drop. Sean Rhyan’s premature shotgun snap resulted in a critical turnover.
Ultimately, the only reason this team was in the game at all was because of the excellence of Willis and the plays made by his pass catchers, who routinely got open against the Ravens’ secondary.
Grade: B
Rush Offense
This was the Malik Willis Show in the run game, as well. The Packers made two big plays through the air on their opening series for a touchdown, and that set the tone for the rest of the night. Josh Jacobs and Emanuel Wilson were nonfactors.
Willis was the team’s leading rusher with 60 yards on nine carries, including touchdowns of 22 and 11 yards on zone reads following fakes to Chris Brooks. Jacobs had 3 yards on four carries. Wilson had one carry for 6 yards.
Baltimore’s run defense is the strength of that group, though it was ranked in the middle of the pack. Green Bay, which had run the ball well the last several weeks, found nothing on the ground.
Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs (8) is tackled by Baltimore Ravens linebacker Tavius Robinson. | Kayla Wolf-Imagn Images
Perhaps the most damning portion of the night came during the second series of the game. Trailing 14-7, the Packers faced a third- and fourth-and-1 from their 34-yard line. With the Ravens running wild on offense, coach Matt LaFleur kept his offense on the field and tried to keep his tired defense off the field.
First, Willis was stuffed on a quarterback sneak. Next, Jacobs was stoned in the backfield.
For a team that has put as much emphasis on its interior offensive line and its run game, it is beaten in short-yardage situations far too often. Those failures negate Willis’ touchdowns for this week’s grade.
Grade: F
Pass Defense
It’s hard to grade this portion of the defense simply because it didn’t have a lot of opportunities to play against Baltimore’s passing game.
Tyler Huntley threw for a modest 107 yards on 20 pass attempts. The big key was that the Packers did not make any big plays when they had the Ravens in obvious passing situations.
The worst moment came on a third-and-8 from the Packers’ 10 in the fourth quarter. Green Bay trailed 27-24 and had a free runner at the quarterback on a pressure sent by Jeff Hafley. It didn’t matter. Zay Flowers beat Carrington Valentine quickly and with relative ease for a touchdown that essentially put the game away.
The Packers have two sacks since Micah Parsons went down with an ACL injury on Dec. 14. The first was Warren Brinson’s sack at Chicago last week, which was negated by a facemask penalty. The second was a 0-yard sack by Quay Walker against Baltimore.
The defensive backs have not made plays on the ball all season, and that continued vs. the Ravens. Huntley was 16-of-20 passing.
There is a talent attrition, no question, with the loss of Parsons and Devonte Wyatt. They still have enough defensive linemen to apply more pressure than they have in recent weeks. They need more from Rashan Gary, Lukas Van Ness and Kingsley Enagbare through the rest of the season, however long that may be.
Ultimately, this group did not give up a lot of big plays, but they didn’t make any, either.
Grade: D
Rush Defense
The defense knew that Baltimore’s plan was to try and ram their ball down their throat with Derrick Henry. Coach Matt LaFleur said as much after the game.
Sometimes it does not matter if you know what’s coming if you’re completely helpless to stop it. The Packers were just that, helpless right from the start. The Ravens piled up 144 yards in the first quarter, including 93 on the ground.
“Yeah,” LaFleur said, looking as defeated as his defense was on Saturday night, “that was tough to watch.”
It got to the point that any passing play felt like the Ravens were doing the Packers a favor. Not that they were stopping the Ravens when they put the ball in the air, either.
At halftime, Henry had 105 rushing yards. The Ravens had 175. The Packers had 22, all on Malik Willis’ touchdown run.
Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry (22) runs for a touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Green Bay Packers. | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images
As a result, they trailed by two scores and showed little resistance throughout the half.
There’s no feeling as a player that is worse than knowing what is coming but being powerless to stop it. That’s what happened to the Packers.
LaFleur sounded upset when talking to the broadcast team at halftime about his team getting bullied.
They responded to the challenge to start the second half, shutting down Henry on the first possession of the third quarter, which gave the team a chance to get back into the game, but that was a brief reprieve from what was a beating handed down by the Ravens’ front and their star running back.
They ran the ball 52 times for 308 yards. The Ravens averaged 5.8 yards per carry. That includes 216 yards from Henry, who scored as many points as the Packers did by himself. His 216 yards were the most by an opposing player in Lambeau Field’s history.
If nothing else, the Packers’ defense was historic.
To give this phase of the game an “F” is likely not harsh enough. This was as embarrassing as Raheem Mostert running wild in the 2019 NFC Championship Game.
Grade: F
Special Teams
It’s hard to say who is at fault for a kickoff going into the end zone, but the Packers seem to be addicted to kicking the ball over the goal line in the worst possible situations. Brandon McManus gave the Ravens the ball at the 35 late in the first half with that kick. Whether he was told to do that or he inadvertently kicked the ball too far, it was a brutal mistake that cost his team valuable field position late in the first half.
On the kick-return side, personnel decisions continue to baffle. Savion Williams did not play due to an illness, so the Packers used three different returners. Bo Melton and Emanuel Wilson have lined up alongside Williams throughout the season or in tandem when Williams was out with a foot injury. The other was Nate Hobbs, who has not returned a kick since his college days.
The Packers do have a former two-time first-team All-Pro kick returner on their roster. Keisean Nixon said at the end of last season that he did not want to return kicks anymore, though the coaching staff pushed back and Nixon relented. So, why he’s not being used back there at this point is anyone’s guess. That is a decision that is actively hurting the team.
The Packers did not punt. Romeo Doubs fair caught his only punt-return opportunity. McManus made a short field goal and all three extra points.
In coverage, the Packers did a good job keeping the Ravens’ return game under wraps. If the phase the Packers care about the most on special teams is kick coverage, they’re in good shape.
Grade: C
Coaching
Matt LaFleur’s first big decision of the night came with 11:20 remaining in the second quarter. The Packers were facing a fourth-and-1 from their 34. LaFleur and his team were trailing 14-7 and had not come close to stopping the Ravens.
Lafleur kept his offense on the field, and their run play to Josh Jacobs was promptly stuffed, setting the Ravens up in scoring position.
It’s hard to blame LaFleur for feeling desperate at that point considering how the flow of the game was trending, but the play was unsuccessful. The Ravens kicked a field goal to extend their lead to 17-7.
After giving up 10 more points, but scoring seven more of their own, LaFleur probably said it best after the first half ended.
“We got punched in the mouth pretty good,” LaFleur said. “All in all, that’s about as bad as we could play.”
Were the Packers still in the dumps after blowing a double-digit lead last week? Was there an emotional letdown? They’ll never admit that, but if there was, that falls squarely on the shoulders of the head coach.
Regardless, the hole they dug in the first half was enough to sink their ship. LaFleur’s team lost three of their last five to close the regular season last year, and now they’ve lost three in a row going into what is a meaningless regular-season finale in Minnesota.
Furthermore, the Packers have now seen the Lions, Vikings and Bears all win a division title since the last time the Packers won one in 2021.
Another loss or an early exit in the postseason and the spotlight will go squarely to LaFleur.
Grade: D
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