'Fed up' Tucker Kraft takes Packers offense to task ahead of Week 4 vs Cowboys

For his part, tight end Tucker Kraft has had it with the snafus on the offense, which he said owes it to the Green Bay defense to get its act together and provide some support this week against the Cowboys.

Defense deserves better than what the offense gave them last week

Endowed with weapons at all levels of the field, the Packers defense ranks third in yards allowed and third in EPA per play. The addition of Micah Parsons addressed one of the roster’s main weaknesses and has made the entire pass rush exponentially better even with his limited snap count in the first two games.

“That’s remarkable. Not a lot of defenses are doing that,” Kraft said of Green Bay’s near shutout against the Browns. “We have the best defense in the NFL. We have to help them out. We’re beating ourselves up, getting behind the sticks with pre-snap penalties. We’re fed up with our own mistakes.”

On the offensive line, Jordan Morgan and Rasheed Walker were flagged for two false starts each. Walker’s second directly preceded McManus’s blocked kick with 27 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Every one seemed to come at the worst possible time – in the red zone, on third and short. Walker was also penalized for being ineligible downfield. Those five-yard penalties loom large in hindsight.

Packers receivers were not inculpable either. Malik Heath also committed a false start and Romeo Doubs killed Green Bay’s field goal chances with an illegal block in the back on third and 15.

As good as the Browns’ defense is, that the Packers scored 10 points all day says enough about their own ineffectiveness and blunders. The penalties. Love’s interception. The offensive line created little daylight for Josh Jacobs, who turned in his worst rushing performance (16 carries, 30 yards) as a Packer.

The Packers did not even find the end zone until the third quarter. That’s not how the offense must play to reciprocate the contributions of the defense.

“We did great, Week 1, Week 2, coming out and trying to put points on the board. We’ve just got to stick to that,” Kraft said. “Doesn’t matter if we’re home or away, we’re going to come out on the first drive and try to get points on the board. That is the demand of our offense. The defense needs us to play like that so we can play complementary to them.”