![\"Packers](\"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-2246100529_324d1e-e1762978844366.jpg\")
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For the\u00a0Packers, Monday night\u2019s 10-7 loss to the\u00a0Eagles\u00a0was rough enough on the face of it, but it is the kind of defeat that seems to get worse with age. There were ample opportunities to win, or at least tie, the game, but faith in the team\u2019s offense has dwindled to the point that there was not much expectation in critical moments that Green Bay could pull off the victory.<\/p>\n
While skill players like quarterback\u00a0Jordan Love\u00a0and running back\u00a0Josh Jacobs\u00a0are usually first up for criticism in those situations, the real culprit appears to be the one unit the Packers usually have fairly squared away: the offensive line.<\/p>\n
The Packers had the No. 3 offensive line, by Pro Football Focus\u2019 rankings, in 2022, and dropped to No. 11 in 2023. That bounced back to No. 6 in 2024.<\/p>\n
This year?\u00a0They\u2019re No. 17\u00a0entering Sunday\u2019s game against the\u00a0Giants, dropping seven slots after the disaster against the Eagles.<\/p>\n
Worse, according to\u00a0ESPN\u2019s Jeremy Fowler, the Eagles came in with very little regard for the Packers offensive line, and left with much the same opinion. Losing\u00a0Elgton Jenkins, who had been struggling to adjust to a new role as the team\u2019s center, won\u2019t help much, either.<\/p>\n
Writes Fowler:\u00a0 \u201cOne issue with the Packers after\u00a0Monday night\u2019s struggles\u00a0is the offensive line. The Eagles and others have noticed a lack of physicality with that group of late, causing\u00a0Jordan Love to rush. The Eagles felt as if they could impose their will and were spotting tendencies with play-calls late, jumping on plays early. \u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Packers have plenty of time to rebound, which a very good defense can help them do \u2014 but they have to get back to moving people up front. Elgton Jenkins\u2019 stint on IR with a\u00a0leg fracture\u00a0could be a lengthy one, though. I\u2019m told there\u2019s a possibility he misses the rest of the season (while hoping to be back for the playoffs). He\u2019s scheduled to undergo surgery soon.\u2019<\/p>\n
The Packers will get something of a break when they face the 2-8 Giants on Sunday. They will need to go on the road to end their two-game losing streak, but that might not be a bad thing, seeing as they scored a combined 20 points in those two losses, both at Lambeau Field.<\/p>\n
The Giants should be something of a test for the offensive line, which has already dealt with a wave of injuries before the Jenkins news. New York has one of the league\u2019s better pass rushes.<\/p>\n
The Giants will be without rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart, who is in concussion protocol and will be replaced by veteran Jameis Winston.<\/p>\n
The Capitals\u2019 roster this season is providing a unique challenge for\u00a0Spencer Carbery\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0coaching staff, as the next generation of the organization\u2019s forwards is beginning their ascent to the NHL.<\/p>\n The team\u2019s core that helped the Caps finish atop the Eastern Conference last year \u2014 including Alex Ovechkin, John Carlson, Tom Wilson, Dylan Strome, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Nic Dowd, and Jakob Chychrun \u2014 is assimilating with prospects like Ryan Leonard, Hendrix Lapierre, Justin Sourdif, and Ethen Frank.<\/p>\n While the Capitals\u2019 slow start has the team sitting outside of a playoff spot, it has had other ramifications as well. Carbery has had to lean more heavily on his veterans than the team\u2019s youth at the start of the year. The sacrifice, at times, is fewer minutes for a first-round talent like Leonard, and the faster he develops, the better off the team will be in the long run.<\/p>\n \u201cLeno is someone that I\u2019m always in the back of my mind trying to get him in certain situations,\u201d Carbery\u00a0said Wednesday. \u201cOne, because he can excel in those situations, and he can score a goal in the shootout or use his skill set and provide quality minutes for us on the power play or playing in a top-six role. And then, the other part in the back of my mind is the experience part of it, which is important. Giving him the opportunity and knowing that there\u2019s going to be some failure there.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s part of being a young player in this league. He needs to go through those growing pains and fail in some of those circumstances, learn from it, and come back. And you hope that he learns from all those situations and comes back better prepared the next time he goes through it.\u201d<\/p>\n Carbery\u2019s comments come after Leonard played just 9:19 of ice time against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night, the lowest single-game total of his 25-game NHL career. The Capitals closely battled their division rival, not going up more than two goals until Ovechkin iced the game into an empty net with 31 seconds left in regulation.<\/p>\n Leonard, who grabbed an assist on Chychrun\u2019s power play goal, was not the only young forward on the team impacted by the context of the game, as his two linemates, Sourdif and Lapierre, suffered more than he did. Sourdif, the center of the third line, played just 7:18 of the game, and Lapierre played just 6:28, neither getting any special teams time.<\/p>\n \u201cLast night, him and his line don\u2019t play as much as I would like,\u201d Carbery said. \u201cI think that\u2019s a one-off from a standpoint of the circumstances of the game on the road, the special teams, us being in the spot we are, where we\u2019re protecting a lead. I thought they were really unlucky with the goal against they get dinged with. It\u2019s just unfortunate, they\u2019re on the ice for it.\u201d<\/p>\n To Leonard\u2019s credit, he has made great use of the ice time he has received from Carbery this season, as among the 434 players in the league with at least 200 minutes of total ice time, Leonard ranks 111th in points per 60 minutes (2.34). He is placed ahead of names like Auston Matthews (2.32), Nikolaj Ehlers (2.31), Robert Thomas (2.29), Anze Kopitar (2.23), Matvei Michkov (2.16), and Artemi Panarin (2.03).<\/p>\n In 16 games this year, Leonard has recorded eight points (3g, 5a). He had just one point, an empty-net goal, in nine games last season.<\/p>\n Carbery elaborated further on how he balances giving Leonard and other young players those moments of experience versus relying heavily on his veterans to try to win games. The Capitals\u00a0are playing exceptionally well analytically this season, but don\u2019t yet have the record (8-7-1) that puts them in a playoff spot.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not an exact science,\u201d Carbery said. \u201cIt\u2019s why it\u2019s hard in this league to have a plethora of young players when you\u2019re expecting to win every night. It\u2019s not an easy position to be thrust in, not only from the coaches trying to manage it and the minutes part of it but also for the players themselves because there\u2019s an expectation that goes with the coaching staff and then also their teammates that you have to be able to make this play, this read, or decision in this moment because we need it to be done right in order to win the game.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a challenge, but I think our young guys are doing a good job with it, and it\u2019s my job to sort of put them in positions to be successful and manage their minutes and make sure that I\u2019m looking after the whole group and them individually. Then it\u2019s on them to continue to just improve and learn and continue to get a little bit better with each and every game and each and every moment that they\u2019re in, so that they earn that trust, and then they can be successful in those situations.\u201d<\/p>\n Carbery and the Capitals will have to approach even more of the same situations in the coming years as players like Ovechkin, Carlson, and Dowd approach the end of their NHL careers. Highly-touted prospect names like Ivan Miroshnichenko, Cole Hutson, Ilya Protas, Andrew Cristall, and Lynden Lakovic will be looking to join Leonard in the big leagues very soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For the\u00a0Packers, Monday night\u2019s 10-7 loss to the\u00a0Eagles\u00a0was rough enough on the face of it, but it is the kind of defeat that seems to get worse with age. There were ample…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4805,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hot-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t