The Good, Bad And Ugly From The Green Bay Packers’ Devastating Loss To The Denver Broncos

Rocky Mountain Low.

The Green Bay Packers carried a four-game winning streak to Denver Sunday. Green Bay also began the day atop the NFC North and was the No. 2 seed in the NFC.

Green Bay left battered, bruised and with its promising season suddenly on life support.

The Packers fell to the host Broncos, 34-26, and dropped to second place in the NFC North.

More damaging than the loss itself was that three of Green Bay’s top players — defensive end Micah Parsons, wideout Christian Watson and right tackle Zach Tom — left the game and didn’t return.

Green Bay fell to 9-4-1 and is now ½-game behind Chicago (10-4) in the NFC North.

Here’s the ‘Good, Bad and Ugly’ from the Packers’ loss, beginning with the Ugly.

THE UGLY

SAY IT ISN’T SO: It was a brutal day for the Packers from an injury standpoint.

The biggest injury came when star defensive end Micah Parsons suffered a non-contact knee injury late in the third quarter. Parsons went to the ground while chasing quarterback Bo Nix and clutched his left knee.

Parsons eventually walked to the locker room, but didn’t return and the severity of the injury isn’t known.

Right tackle Zach Tom — the Packers’ best offensive lineman — and wideout Christian Watson also left with injuries and didn’t return.

Tom suffered a second quarter knee injury and was replaced by Darian Kinnard.

Watson, who’s been Green Bay’s best wide receiver since returning in Week 8 from a 2024 knee injury, suffered a chest injury in the third quarter and also didn’t return.

Packer Nation will be holding its collective breath until more information is known.

KEISEAN NIXON: The Packers cornerback is one of the most up-and-down, inconsistent players in the league.

Nixon has delivered a handful of solid performances this season. He’s also had stinkers, like his Week 8 disaster in Pittsburgh.

Last week against Chicago, Nixon had a pair of boneheaded penalties, then made a game-saving interception.

This week, it was all ugly for Nixon.

The Broncos picked on Nixon early and often with Courtland Sutton doing much of the damage.

Sutton whipped Nixon for a 42-yard reception early in the game. Later, Sutton had a 14-yard TD reception with Nixon in coverage.

It was all part of a day where Denver quarterback Bo Nix threw for 303 yards and four touchdowns.

Nixon likes to fancy himself a No. 1 cornerback. That’s a stretch on a good day. On Sunday, he barely looked like an NFL corner.

FLAG FEST: The Packers had 10 penalties for 72 yards, including six in the first half for 48 yards.

Left tackle Rasheed Walker was flagged four times (three accepted). Defensive end Kingsley Enagbare was flagged for unnecessary roughness after hitting punter Jeremy Crawshaw, then was penalized for being the 12^th man on the field — a play that kept alive a drive in which Denver scored a touchdown and took a 34-26 lead.

Javon Bullard was hit with a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty against Denver wideout Troy Franklin. And tight end John FitzPatrick was hit for an illegal shift penalty that wiped out a 9-yard TD run by Josh Jacobs.

Undisciplined behavior like this might be common in Week 1. It’s inexcusable on Week 15.

THE BAD

OFFENSE SPUTTERS: Green Bay’s offense was humming against the NFL’s No. 1 defense much of the game.

The Packers scored on their first five drives as they built a 23-14 lead early in the third quarter.

After Watson left, though, the offense simply wasn’t the same.

Green Bay managed just three points on in its final six drives and turned the ball over twice on Love interceptions.

THIS AND THAT: The Packers gave up a 37-yard kick return to Marvin Mims midway through the first quarter. … … Backup tight end Josh Whyle suffered a concussion in the first quarter and didn’t return. … Emanuel Wilson muffed a kickoff in the endzone just before half, then made the ill-fated decision to take the ball out. Wilson only made it to the Denver 14.

THE GOOD

JOSH JACOBS: The Packers’ running back was questionable all week with knee swelling. Not only did Jacobs play, he was one of the best players on the field.

Jacobs had 12 carries for 73 yards and a touchdown. He also had two receptions for 19 yards and a TD.

Jacobs had a sensational 14-yard touchdown reception late in the second quarter when he got one-on-one coverage from Dre Greenlaw, then made a leaping catch over the Broncos linebacker and somehow got both feet down in the right corner of the endzone to give Green Bay a 13-7 lead. That was just the second receiving touchdown of Jacobs’ seven-year career.

Then on the Packers’ opening drive of the second half, Jacobs ripped off a 40-yard touchdown run in which he ran with tremendous patience and took advantage of a terrific downfield block by Bo Melton. That was longest run of the year for Jacobs, and his second-longest since becoming a Packer in 2024.

WELCOME BACK: Green Bay kicker Brandon McManus spent nine years in Denver from 2014-2022 and was part of the Broncos’ Super Bowl 50 championship team.

On Sunday, McManus went 4-for-4 on field goals with a long of 53. McManus also made field goals of 26, 35 and 37 yards.

“I said to him that this is, you know, this is your field,” Packers special teams coach Rich Bisaccia said of McManus.

On this day it certainly was.

PREGAME SHENAIGANS: You know it’s a big game when a fight breaks out before the ball is even kicked.

That’s what happened Sunday when the Packers ran onto the field and Denver linebacker Alex Singleton shoved Green Bay defensive end Rashan Gary. That started a skirmish between the two teams that set the stage for one of the biggest games of the weekend.

IT’S ABOUT TIME: Denver offensive tackle Garett Bolles was called for holding Packers defensive end Micah Parsons. That marked the first time Parsons — one of the elite pass rushers in football — drew a holding call since Week 3 against Cleveland.

“I’m immune. I just gotta keep fighting through,” Parsons said last week. “I mean, that’s been the definition of my career.

“The rule book is they gotta be in the chest area and I’m just not getting grabbed in the chest area, there’s nothing I can do about it and just keep fighting.”

THIS AND THAT: Luke Musgrave had a diving 26-yard reception to get the Packers out of the shadow of their own goal line late in the first quarter. … Edgerrin Cooper dumped running back R.J. Harvey for a 3-yard loss. … Cooper also stopped fullback Adam Prentice on a fourth-and-1 play with just more than a minute left to give the Packers the ball back one final time. … Rookie wideout Matthew Golden made his presence felt for the first time in several weeks, finishing with three catches for 55 yards.