Four-game winning streak snapped, but injuries are the story

Mike Spofford

DENVER The Packers let a nine-point lead in the second half get away and fell to the Broncos, 34-26, on Sunday at Empower Field at Mile High.

Here are five takeaways from the defeat that dropped Green Bay to 9-4-1 with three regular-season games left:

Initially, the Packers lost right tackleZach Tomto a knee injury in the first half, but they overcame that to stay in control of the game into the early stages of the third quarter, asJosh Jacobsripped off a 40-yard TD run for a 23-14 lead.

But after a defensive stop, everything changed. A deep shot forChristian Watsonwas picked off by Pat Surtain II, and Watson didn't get up after crashing to the turf under Surtain. He left with a chest injury and was taken to a local hospital for a CT scan. He did travel home with the team.

The turnover seemingly flipped the game, as the Broncos rallied and took control. Making matters worse, the Packers then lost defensive starMicah Parsonsto a knee injury, as he went down without contact while trying to make a cut as he chased Denver QB Bo Nix.

Last but not least, safetyEvan Williamsalso exited with a knee injury late.

"That's obviously a really tough night in a lot of ways," Head Coach Matt LaFleur said.

"It was a dogfight for most of the game and they kind of ran away with it in the second half. Also a double whammy for us losing some pieces critical to our success."

Asked whether Parsons tore his ACL, which would be a season-ending injury, LaFleur said "it doesn't look good" but didn't elaborate.

He didn't have any further update on Watson and said the injuries to Tom and Williams don't appear to be long-term, but there's no telling how long they might be sidelined.

"I told the guys nobody's going to feel sorry for us and we have to rally around each other," LaFleur said.

From the point of the Watson injury and interception, the Broncos outscored the Packers 20-3 the rest of the way in winning their 11th straight game to improve to 12-2. Nix was the biggest reason.

The rising star at QB finished 23-of-34 for 302 yards with four TDs and a 134.7 passer rating. His TDs went to four different targets, and the downfield scores to Courtland Sutton (seven catches, 113 yards) and Troy Franklin (6-85) were pinpoint passes.

Nix was both patient and elusive in the pocket, and once he got command of the game he never really let up.

"He's a great athlete, number one," LaFleur said. "The guy made a ton of plays. He made plays in rhythm, he made plays off-schedule. That's what the great ones do and he played great tonight."

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The Packers had a lot working offensively early, rolling up 251 yards on the Broncos' vaunted defense in the first half.

But Green Bay had to settle for too many field goals, Denver's defense held the Packers to just over 100 yards in the second half, and that pass rush ultimately wore down Green Bay's front.

Jacobs had his long scoring run and a great TD catch in compiling 92 yards from scrimmage (73 rushing, 19 receiving), but he touched the ball only 14 times coming off a knee injury that kept him out of practice for two days this past week.

"I probably should've given him more opportunities when you look back in hindsight," LaFleur said.

"We knew this was one of the best pass rushes in the league, and you could feel it at the end of the game. We had plenty of opportunities and didn't get it done."

Green Bay's pass protection and quick throwing game held up well until late, when the last three possessions ended in an interception, fourth-down sack, and fourth-down incompletion under pressure. QBJordan Lovewas sacked three times in all and wound up with just a 68.3 passer rating (24-of-40, 276 yards, one TD, two INTs).

"The second half we had the two turnovers, which are drive-killers," Love said. "Give them credit, they got their pass rush going, tightened up some coverages."

Having limited their penalties over the past month, the Packers reverted to their struggles from earlier in the year in getting flagged 10 times for 72 yards, with a handful of infractions declined.

A combination of pre-snap penalties on offense and personal fouls on defense and special teams hurt the cause. A defensive offside on third down in the red zone in the fourth quarter also cost points, as the Packers thought the officials were going to hold up play for a substitution but didn't, andKingsley Enagbarewas still on the wrong side of the line of scrimmage as he came off the sideline.

"Some of those are inexcusable, totally within our control," LaFleur said of the penalties. "That was obviously a contributing factor in not having the success we'd like to have.

"There were a lot of them out there. You can't have that many penalties, especially against a really good football team."

While the Packers had their four-game winning streak halted and fell back to second place in the NFC North behind the 10-4 Bears, the Rams and Seahawks each got their 11th victories, and the 49ers got their 10th.

The rematch with Chicago is next Saturday night at Soldier Field, and while the Packers are still in good shape to make the playoffs, they are once again looking up at a lot of teams in the NFC rankings.

"There's still so much more out in front of us," Love said. "Just that mindset we have to stay together, go into this next week, a big game against the Bears in Chicago, get everybody ready for that.

"We've been there before in these tough games, and we have to stay together and keep going."