5 takeaways from Packers’ loss to Ravens

GREEN BAY – The Packers relegated themselves to a wild-card team and the No. 7 seed in the NFC with their third straight loss, this one 41-24 to the Ravens on Saturday night at Lambeau Field.

Here are five takeaways from the defeat:

1. Baltimore’s ground game simply dominated.

Head Coach Matt LaFleur called it a “humbling night” in his opening statement, and there’s no other way to say it when an opponent’s running game is unstoppable to the tune of 307 rushing yards.

Two-time NFL rushing champ and former 2,000-yard rusher Derrick Henry pounded his way to 216 yards and four touchdowns on a career-high 36 attempts. It was the seventh 200-yard game of his career (first since 2022) and second four-TD game for the 31-year-old.

It also marked the most rushing yards by an opposing running back in the history of Lambeau Field, topping the 210 by Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson in 2012.

“That was tough to watch,” LaFleur said. “We all see the end result. It just was not good enough. Wasn’t up to our standard.”

2. Green Bay was behind from the get-go.

LaFleur was asked if the defense came out flat, as it allowed the Ravens to put together back-to-back drives of 13 plays each, covering 75 and 74 yards for TDs, with Henry carrying 14 times for 82 yards and both scores on Baltimore’s first two possessions.

“That’s the natural thing to say, the easy thing to say,” he said. “I don’t think I saw a team that was flat. I saw a team that … we just got beat. We got whipped.”

Baltimore backup QB Tyler Huntley, subbing for an injured Lamar Jackson (back contusion), added 60 rushing yards to the Ravens’ total and played mistake-free in completing 16-of-20 passes for 107 yards and a TD to Zay Flowers for a 105.6 passer rating.

Two early miscues on offense by the Packers, a turnover on downs and fumble, also gave the Ravens two field goals for a 20-7 lead late in the first half, forcing Green Bay to play uphill the rest of the way.

3. Malik Willis did everything he could to make it a game.

Playing in place of starting QB Jordan Love, who didn’t clear concussion protocol this week after exiting last Saturday’s game in Chicago due to a helmet hit, Willis played phenomenally well just to give the Packers a chance despite dealing with an injury to his throwing shoulder.

Willis got the Packers on the board early with two big throws, first to Romeo Doubs and then to Christian Watson for a touchdown, in between Baltimore’s first two drives.

He added two TD runs off zone-read keepers to pull the Packers within 27-24 late in the third quarter, and he finished with a sparkling 134.6 passer rating (18-of-21, 288 yards, one TD) plus 60 rushing yards.

Unfortunately, down by 10 and approaching scoring territory midway through the fourth quarter, Willis banged his injured shoulder on the ground on a slide, then aggravated it on his next throw, and had to come out of the game.

“I just think that speaks to the type of competitor Malik Willis is,” LaFleur said of how he was gutting it out. “I mean, he’s as tough as anybody. He made play after play after play out there. He was one of the few bright spots I would say on the night.”

Practice-squad callup Clayton Tune promptly was intercepted when his first pass bounced off the hands of Bo Melton and into the arms of Baltimore’s Marlon Humphrey. When the Ravens turned that into Henry’s fourth TD run of the night, Willis didn’t return to the game even though LaFleur said he could have.

4. One opportunity on defense in the second half went quickly by the wayside.

After the defense got its lone scoreless stop of the game and Willis scored his second rushing TD to make it 27-24, the Ravens faced third-and-5 from their own 20-yard line with a minute left in the third quarter.

Huntley changed the play at the line of scrimmage, handed it to Henry for a 9-yard run and key conversion, and Henry followed with a 30-yard run to close out the period. Eight plays later, the Ravens were in the end zone again on another steamroller of a drive.

“You’re giving yourself a chance, absolutely,” LaFleur said. “Unfortunately in those critical moments when we needed a stop, we didn’t get it done.”

The biggest offensive regrets came in the second quarter, as the Packers turned it over on consecutive drives. First, Willis was stuffed on a third-and-1 sneak, and then a fourth-and-1 run from shotgun was also thwarted.

Two plays into Green Bay’s next drive, Willis was trying to change a play call from the shotgun, and the ball was snapped despite him not beginning any cadence. It went off his facemask and was recovered by the Ravens.

5. How the Packers handle the regular-season finale remains up in the air.

With Chicago now clinching the NFC North title and the conference’s other wild cards already with 11 wins, Green Bay (9-6-1) will be the No. 7 seed in the NFC playoffs, unable to improve its position in next Sunday’s game at Minnesota.

It’s unclear what impact that might have on whether or not Love plays again before the playoffs.

“I don’t want to speak too soon on that,” LaFleur said. “We just want to get him through the protocol and then we’ll have a decision to make.”

Similar discussions could be forthcoming with other banged-up players, and the Packers had five more leave this game with injuries, two of them on a cart (DL Jordon Riley, Achilles; CB Kamal Hadden, ankle), plus three more (S Zayne Anderson, ankle; CB Nate Hobbs, knee; WR Dontayvion Wicks, concussion).

There’s a lot of recovering to do before the playoffs, both on the health front and with the rough three-game losing streak the team is now riding. LaFleur referred to this as “look in the mirror” time.

“I think we’ve got a pretty proud group in there,” he said of the locker room. “I think they’re all disappointed in our performance tonight. These are grown men and I don’t think they’re going to shy away from this.”