Joe Barry again proves Packers' ceiling limited without DC change

In 2021 and '22, the Packers hit their ceiling with Joe Barry as DC well short of the Super Bowl. They hit that ceiling again Monday night in New York.

Entering Monday night, the Green Bay Packers sat in prime position to steer themselves ever closer to a playoff berth and perhaps even claw back into the NFC North race. The Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks dropped further behind in the wild-card standings while the Detroit Lions almost literally handed over a win to the Chicago Bears. With the Packers drawing a 4-8 New York Giants team starting a third-string, undrafted rookie under center, the chessboard could hardly have played out more favorably.

However, instead of taking care of business against a markedly inferior opponent, Green Bay failed to meet the moment. The now 6-7 club short-circuited in all three phases, though some more glaringly than others.

After a red-hot string of games, Jordan Love came crashing down to earth at MetLife Stadium. In the opening quarter, he missed badly on third-down throws to Dontayvion Wicks and AJ Dillon in back-to-back series. Two drives later, Love fumbled while trying to scramble toward the first-down marker, turning over the ball just inside the Giants' 30-yard line.

Love's troublesome first half didn't end there, however. On the Packers' next possession, he threw deep and outside to a well-covered Wicks, hanging the ball in the air long enough for New York safety Jason Pinnock to pick it off and take it nearly to midfield.

"It was a bad read," Love said of the interception. "It kind of got hung up too long, just held my eyes kind of to the left a little too long. The safety was able to play over the top and had a good read. Not a good ball."