Packers Morning Buzz: Randall Cobb accepts blame for his role in loss

Stu Courtney
Green Bay Press-Gazette
Green Bay Packers wide receiver Randall Cobb (18) runs after a catch against Washington Sunday, September 23, 2018 at FedEx Field in Landover, MD.

Welcome to your Morning Buzz, rounding up news and views regarding the Green Bay Packers from around the web and here at PackersNews.com.

The Packers performed poorly in a dreary 31-17 loss Sunday at Washington, dropping them to 1-1-1 on the season.

We'll start with Tom Silverstein's look at how a hobbled Aaron Rodgers received little help from his mistake-prone teammates.

Tom writes:

Rodgers, playing with a brace on his sprained left knee again, struggled with accuracy early on, which wasn’t a surprise given his only practice was in a modified workout on Saturday.

But his teammates never picked him up.

Other than receiver Geronimo Allison’s 64-yard touchdown catch that cut Washington’s lead to 21-10 late in the second quarter, Rodgers’ receivers were neither getting open very often nor holding onto the ball consistently.

Cobb led the slippery fingers parade with two of the team’s four drops and a fumble. One of his drops came on third down and one on fourth down; both drives had already been established with an earlier first down and were starting to gain momentum.

His fumble came with 5 minutes, 32 seconds left in the game and the Packers needing a touchdown to make it a four-point game.

“My performance, I didn’t give us an opportunity to win,” Cobb said. “Third-down drop on the first drive. Fourth-down drop. Fumble. I played terrible, and I didn’t give us the opportunity to win.”

Asked how much the weather played a factor in his performance, Cobb dismissed it entirely.

“That has nothing to do with it,” he said. “We played in these conditions before. It’s on me.”

It really wasn’t entirely on Cobb if you consider how many other things could have gone right if the Packers wouldn’t have let the weather affect them.

Be sure to read Tom's entire column here:

Pete Dougherty writes that the Packers may have lost much more than a game Sunday, given the injuries to key players:

Pete and Tom analyze the loss and the apparent "hangover" from last week's tie against Minnesota:

It almost defies belief that Packers edge rusher Clay Matthews was hit with yet another roughing-the-passer penalty. Ryan Wood has the story:

Matthews once again found himself afterward having to try to explain the inexplicable:

Perhaps sensing widespread outrage, the NFL didn't even wait till after the game to present its defense of the call:

The Packers' defense was a no-show in the first half, writes Jim Owczarski:

Jim and Tom break it all down on their Packers Podcast:

On a mistake-filled day, Randall Cobb's might have been the most glaring:

Here we go again with the offensive line injuries:

Pete and Ryan fielded questions after the game on Facebook Live:

Washington defensive end Jonathan Allen feels sympathy for Matthews:

Count Bleacher Report's Mike Freeman among the national scribes who are solidly in Matthews' corner:

What they're saying in Minnesota about the Vikings' version of the hangover game:

Khalil Mack is making the expected impact for the Chicago Bears, who at 2-1 are in first place in the NFC North for the first time in five years:

Hmm, that Packers-Patriots match-up set for Nov. 4 seems to be losing some luster:

Former Packers and Wisconsin Badgers linebacker Vince Biegel tasted victory Sunday:

Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre got nudged out of another NFL record:

Former Packers fullback John Kuhn found humor in the Matthews roughing-the-passer controversy: