The Green Bay Packers fell to a third straight loss in their final game at Lambeau Field of the 2025 season, as the Baltimore Ravens thrashed them 41-24 mostly thanks to a dominant run game.
Here are some takeaways from a disappointing night for the Packers:
Biggest play
It quickly became apparent the Packers offense was going to need to keep up in a shootout to win this game, based on how the Ravens were dominating on the ground early on.
Malik Willis and company were moving the ball at will when they did not get in their own way, and some crucial early errors put Green Bay in a hole they could not dig out of, best exemplified by Sean Rhyan snapping the ball into his quarterback’s face as Willis tried to “can” the play. Baltimore pounced on the loose ball and never looked back, scoring at will and not allowing Green Bay to mount much of a comeback attempt.
Standout player
Willis had a career night despite the heavy defeat, going 18 of 21 for 288 yards, another 60 on the ground on nine rush attempts, and three total touchdowns.
Of all the things that let the Packers down on Saturday night, the backup quarterback was not one of them. Willis needed more help from his teammates, especially on defense but also from his fellow offensive players, who committed too many unforced errors especially early in the contest.
It was a significant night for Willis in terms of helping to improve what his free agent market will look like in the offseason. His performance will certainly have caught the attention of QB-needy teams.
Cause for concern
Charting a path through the postseason was always going to be tough after losing Micah Parsons, but last week’s performance against the Bears showed the Packers are still capable of outplaying a playoff caliber team, even if the result did not go their way.
But Saturday night’s humbling loss to the Ravens revealed a fatal flaw. If opponents load up with heavy personnel and have a powerful back, they can run the ball at will against this Packers team. Jeff Hafley’s unit had no answers for Derrick Henry, and frankly, the injuries to Green Bay’s defensive front just look like too much to overcome at this stage.
It is difficult to assign much blame to anyone for that, and it is more a case of bad fortune, but it looks like a problem they will not be able to overcome.
Reason for optimism
The only silver lining in the loss is that Week 18 is now meaningless for the Packers, who are locked into the seven-seed in the NFC playoffs. Given all their injuries, it will at least be beneficial to not have to force ailing players into action against the Vikings next week.
However, Matt LaFleur faces a dilemma over how to handle the matchup with Minnesota, as he will not want to limp into the playoffs on a four-game losing streak.
Injuries
Adding injury to insult, the Packers also suffered another slew of injuries on Saturday night.
Zayne Anderson left the game early, going to the locker room on a cart. Within 10 minutes of Green Bay announcing he had an ankle injury, the safety and core special teamer was ruled out, which would not appear to be a positive sign for his availability moving forward.
Jordan Riley seemed to sustain a serious injury, also leaving on a cart and quickly being ruled out with an Achilles.
Later, cornerbacks Kamal Hadden and Nate Hobbs were ruled out of the game, the former with an ankle and the latter with a knee. Dontayvion Wicks also left and was later ruled out after being evaluated for a concussion.
Malik Willis aggravated the shoulder injury he picked up in Chicago last week, but LaFleur said postgame the quarterback could have returned to the game if needed.
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Takeaways from Packers’ 41-24 loss to Ravens: Green Bay’s fatal flaw revealed
Reporting by Mark Oldacres, Packers Wire / Packers Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
