LaFleur at a loss for answers to Packers' offensive woes

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The problem for the Green Bay Packers isn't just that they couldn't run the ball anywhere close to how the Atlanta Falcons did Thursday night or keep quarterback Jordan Love from getting pressured play after play. It's that through three games, they have no idea what they're good at on offense.

As a result, the Packers (1-2) are off to their worst start in coach Matt LaFleur's eight seasons after they were booed off Lambeau Field during their 35-14 loss in the home opener.

"I think we've got to continue to work with these guys and try to figure out what we do well," LaFleur said. "Because right now I don't know what we're doing well offensively."

It isn't their running game. The Packers rushed for 17 yards -- 225 yards fewer than the Falcons. They were so ineffective that they ran the ball only nine times, four each by running backs MarShawn Lloyd and Kaleb Johnson and one scramble by Love. Their 17 rushing yards were tied for the third fewest by the Packers in more than 90 years.

The Packers don't have their leading rusher from the past two seasons, Josh Jacobs, who is on the commissioner exempt list, and they entered Week 3 averaging a league-worst 64.5 rushing yards per game. That number now stands at 48.7. Falcons running back Bijan Robinson had more rushing yards (194) on Thursday than the Packers have had all season (146, which is the fewest by any team through three games since the 2019 season).

"I do believe we can run the ball well," Lloyd said. "But I can't say that because we're not doing it."

The offensive line is in shambles. Right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele sustained a season-ending knee injury in Week 2, and when rookie Jager Burton started at left guard, it was the Packers' third different starter at that position in as many games.

While this wasn't the 15-hit battering that Love took in the Week 1 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, it was close. The Falcons were credited with 12 quarterback hits even though they sacked Love only once.

Love has completed just 52% of his passes this season, the second-lowest percentage through his team's first three games in the past 20 seasons and the lowest in the NFL since Sam Bradford in 2011 among quarterbacks with at least 100 attempts, according to ESPN Research.

The epitome of the offensive struggles came on the opening drive of the second half. Trailing 17-7, the Packers got to the Falcons' 7-yard line, where they had fourth-and-1. LaFleur went for it, but the play was doomed from the start. Love had no time and nowhere to go with the ball. His throw to the end zone was not close to Christian Watson.

"We're very frustrated tonight with the performance," said Love, who was 28-for-53 passing for 312 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. "But I think the positive is knowing that there's still a lot of ball out there for us, and I think as a unit, we've all got to stick together. I think we always look back to the 2023 season, my first year starting, it didn't start well that season as well. And we started figuring stuff out, started getting rolling, and we got hot. So there's still a lot of ball out there in front of us. No one's throwing in the towel at all. It's just, we've got a lot of work to do to get better as a team and as an offense. So, it's just about continuing to find the positives of what we're doing."

The worst home loss in the LaFleur era did not go over well with the Lambeau Field crowd, which in turn did not sit well with tight end Tucker Kraft.

"Yeah, that's pretty tough," said Kraft, who had just four catches for 26 yards. "Like everyone pictures Lambeau Field and not boos. I don't picture boos. I picture my home stadium. That's tough. It's pretty disappointing. Especially for a home opener. It's pretty disappointing. It's not going to help us win. Like, I don't know what people think that's going to rally us or something like that. But that's -- we're grown men. We're mentally strong enough, capable enough to get back on the field and play ball. But it'd probably be much easier with the 70,000 people behind us rather than opposing us."

Watson, however, said he understood the reaction.

"It's tough," said Watson, who had seven catches for 96 yards and a touchdown. "But at the end of the day, it's an entertainment business, so we have to put a better product out on the field if we want to have the fans have our back. Obviously, we like to think that the fans will be there through the ups and downs, but we've got to put out a better performance than that."