GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers’ only move at the 2024 NFL trade deadline was to trade Preston Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Here are Tuesday’s winners and losers.

Winner: DE Preston Smith

Preston Smith certainly wasn’t upset about being dealt to the Steelers.

Smith, who turns 32 on Nov. 17, played 21 snaps and received 37 percent of playing time in Sunday’s loss to the Detroit Lions. Aside from one game where he was injured in 2021, this is his lowest playing time since the middle of his rookie season in 2015.

Even though Rashan Gary was incredibly unproductive and Kingsley Enagbare and Lukas Van Ness also posted meager numbers, the Packers were phasing out Smith, who had zero sacks and two pressures in his last four games.

“There are players we want to see. I think the trend of snaps was only going to continue that way,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said Tuesday.

Luckily for Smith, he landed another playoff contender with the Steelers. It went from good defense to great, with Pittsburgh ranking second in points allowed.

Winner: DE Arron Mosby

Someone has to play Smith’s shots. While Gutekunst mentioned Mosby and Brenton Cox, Mosby has played in each of the last eight games while Cox has been inactive all season.

Mosby received a spontaneous shout-out from Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp before last week’s game. After playing two defensive snaps all season, Mosby played five against the Lions and shared a sack with Gary.

“Really, it’s a blessing to have something that one day you can look back on and say you accomplished in the NFL,” Mosby said after striking out Jared Goff. “I made the P team and came back to special teams. So I wouldn’t say it’s a breakthrough, but it’s a start. This is the start of something moving forward. »

Loser: QB Jordan Love

The Lions, after losing superstar defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, acquired Za’Darius Smith from the Browns.

Smith, who plays opposite Browns superstar Myles Garrett, has five sacks this season. According to Pro Football Focus, Smith has 27 pressures. For context, Preston Smith (10), Kingsley Enagbare (10) and Lukas Van Ness (six) have a total of 26 pressures.

The Washington Commanders, who took over the NFC East lead behind electric rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, took a big step forward on defense by acquiring cornerback Marshon Lattimore from the Saints. Washington is 28th in opponent passer rating and 24th in opponent completion percentage.

It’s obviously too early to worry about the playoffs. But if the season ended today, the Packers would be playing their wild card game at the Commanders. If the Packers won this game, their divisional game would be against the Lions.

The deal deadline increased the potential challenge for Love.

Winner: Opposing Quarterbacks

Green Bay’s pass defense showed serious flaws against Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars and Jared Goff and the Lions in the last two games.

The pass rush was weak with one sack in each game. Even with Jaire Alexander on the field, Lawrence had a huge game. Without Alexander, Green Bay’s depth proved insufficient against Goff.

After deeming Lattimore’s price too rich, Gutekunst expressed confidence in the cornerbacks and praised the play of second-round pick Javon Bullard and veteran Keisean Nixon, who moved to perimeter cornerback after holding the position the most. last year.

“These guys have done a great job this year,” he said. “Bull, for a rookie, he did a great job when he put in five cents. The ability for him to play safety and nickel and what’s put on this guy for a young player to do what he’s done is really exciting, what he’s already done, where he’s about to go. So it was good for us.

“Keisean hasn’t played a lot of outside corner for us, and he’s kind of been put in that position and I think he’s done a really good job for us. He’s got great instincts, he can recover the ball So I’m also very happy with him there.

Loser: Super Bowl hopefuls

The Lions and Commanders caused a sensation. The Packers did not.

“This is not a store you can walk into and choose“, Gutekunst said. “Those guys have to be available and there just weren’t a ton of them this year.”

The Packers are 6-3. Their losses came against arguably the best teams they faced: the Eagles in Brazil and the Vikings and Lions at home. Green Bay will have another chance against Minnesota and Detroit in the regular season, and all three teams could be playoff opponents.

Improving to beat these teams will have to come from within.

While Detroit and Washington were buyers and the Packers were sellers, Gutekunst sees a Super Bowl caliber team.

“I do. I think a lot of the moves you saw today were reactions to injuries and things like that where you’re missing things,” Gutekunst said. “But I really like our group. Obviously, we do a lot of work before the season to try to make sure that we are a strong team that can last a whole season and, if we have injuries, not have to come out of the building to do that, and I think we did it and I feel really good about our football team.

“I like our depth,” Gutekunst continued as he knocked on the wooden podium. “This can change quickly. Anytime you take out a player like Preston Smith, you’re a few injuries away from, “Man, maybe that wasn’t the best thing.” But at the same time, I really like our depth. We have to continue to come together as a football team and play better football at times, but we’re 6-3, I think we’re in a good place. I’m excited for the second half of the season and seeing how these guys grow together.

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