The Green Bay Packers improved to 10-4 with a dominant 30-13 win over the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field on Sunday night.
The Packers led 7-0 early and never trailed. Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith exited the game with a leg injury in the third quarter with the Packers leading 20-3, and backup Sam Howell managed only three net passing yards (24 passing yards, -21 yards via sacks) over the final quarter and a half.
The Packers scored 30 points for the fourth straight game, and Jeff Hafley’s defense was disruptive and productive.
Here’s the good, the bad and the ugly coming out of the Packers’ win over the Seahawks:
The Good
The start, and the finish: The Packers jumped out to a 7-0 lead on the game’s first possession, scored again a drive later to make it 14-0 and mostly dominated the first half, taking a 20-3 lead into the break. The Packers gained 235 yards, scored on four straight possessions and got an interception from Carrington Valentine in the end zone to end a scoring threat in the first half. While a lull in the second half allowed the Seahawks to cut the lead to 23-13, the Packers finished with a fury, using an interception from Edgerrin Cooper and a 22-yard touchdown catch from Romeo Doubs to put the game away.
The disruptive defense: The Packers defense finished with seven sacks, 10 tackles for loss, 12 quarterback hits, two interceptions and four pass breakups. Edgerrin Cooper and Kingsley Enagbare combined for three sacks and five tackles for loss, and Cooper’s interception all but sealed the deal. The Seahawks finished with only 208 total yards and 13 points — both the second lowest of the season for Seattle.
The Bad
Missed opportunities in second half: The Packers went up 23-6 in the third quarter but then labored through four missed opportunities to turn the game into a true blowout that stretched into the fourth quarter. The Packers went three-and-out, lost fumble setting up a touchdown, three-and-out and turnover on downs. Among the misses was Jordan Love’s poor throw targeting Romeo Doubs before Josh Jacobs’ fumble, and Jayden Reed slipping down on what would have been an easy third-down conversion before Jacobs got stuffed on fourth down. The 30-13 result feels fitting, but the Packers still squandered too many drives in the second half.
Run game in second half: Josh Jacobs rushed for 73 yards in the first half but could find next to nothing over the final 30 minutes. He finished with only 21 yards in the second half, and his yards per carry ended up at 3.6. The Packers haven’t run blocked consistently enough since the bye. All that said, the Packers still finished with 140 total rushing yards.
The Ugly
A few mismanaged situations? Matt LaFleur admitted he didn’t have enough urgency to end the first half, which resulted in the Packers having to settle for a field goal from the 4-yard line with four seconds left. A little more aggression as the drive entered Seahawks territory could have saved time and set up more chances at a touchdown. Also, LaFleur lost another challenge and is now 0-for-6 challenging calls this season, and he passed on going for it on 4th-and-3 from midfield in the second half. Small things in a 30-13 win, sure. But he’s been uncharacteristically conservative at times this season. To be fair, nothing truly “ugly” stood out from this victory.