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It was an absolutely brutal day in Denver for the Green Bay Packers, who are now the 7th seed in the NFC playoff race after a 34-26 loss to the Broncos. The game was a great one, until it wasn’t. The Packers now look to be at risk of missing the playoffs altogether, after what appear to be serious injuries for both Christian Watson and Micah Parsons. Let’s dive into the winners and losers from an absolutely cursed day.
Early in the second half of the game, Christian Watson went down, and everyone’s hearts collectively sank (don’t worry, they could and DID sink lower!) as he was helped off the field. Watson left the stadium in an ambulance, and his injury was officially ruled as a chest injury. We saw the offense before Watson returned from his torn ACL in October—it lost its spark. With him appearing set to miss some time again (for how long, we don’t know), Matthew Golden is back to being their only speed threat.
He was targeted 4 times on Sunday, bringing in 3 of them for a team-high 55 yards. He ran some great routes, which led to some big gains, including two on crucial third downs. It wasn’t the breakout game we’ve been waiting for, but the extra attention towards Golden on Sunday allowed us to see that some special play is brewing. With 3 games left in the regular season, will we get to see the big one soon?
After being listed as questionable for Sunday’s game due to a lingering knee injury, Jacobs played on a pitch count in Denver, splitting snaps with the sickly Emanuel Wilson. On 14 total touches, Jacobs grabbed his second-ever receiving touchdown and also scored his longest rushing touchdown of the season. His touchdown catch was one of the better catches you’ll see all week, by any player.
To start off the second half, he had all the room in the world and brought it in for an explosive 40-yard score. He simply can’t be stopped (unless the offense is running the ball on 2nd and long). Jacobs finished the day with 12 carries for 73 yards and a TD, and 2 catches for an additional 19 yards and a TD.
I know this seems impossible and highly unlikely, but the special teams unit blew it on Sunday. As Denver received the ball for their second drive of the game, the Packers gave up a 37-yard return, giving the Broncos the ball at their own 40-yard line. After the Broncos punted at the end of this very drive, Kingsley Enagbare was flagged for unnecessary roughness after running into the punter, who was quite literally just existing.
Just before halftime, Emanuel Wilson muffed a kick return in the end zone, which resulted in just a 14-yard return as the Packers were trying to get some points before they got the ball back for the second...
