Green Bay Packers' Week 9 Stock Report

It's time for the weekly Green Bay Packers stock report—but this week, it's following the first loss of the season.

There are many players at whom to point fingers and on whom to place blame for Green Bay's loss to the Denver Broncos, but in truth, this was a team failure, starting all the way up at the top with the game plan and trickling down to player execution. 

The sky is not falling; the Packers are still 6-1 and leading their division. So while we've included three players with falling stock this week, there are also two who, despite the loss, improved slightly from past performances this season.

Let's break down the players whose stocks are rising and falling heading into Week 9. 

Falling: CB Casey Hayward

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Cornerback Casey Hayward was simply in above his head against the Denver Broncos. 

Against top wideout Demaryius Thomas, Hayward allowed four receptions on five targets into his coverage for 109 yards, per Pro Football Focus.

Thomas averaged 21.8 yards per reception, including 40 after the catch. Though a cornerback is supposed to be the one doing the shutting-down, it was all on Thomas. 

Hayward is currently ranked 43rd out of 76 qualifying cornerbacks in coverage by Pro Football Focus, allowing a catch rate of 65.1 percent and two touchdowns this season. Opposing quarterbacks have a 108.6 passer rating when throwing into his coverage. 

Though he's excellent in the slot, Hayward's play so far this season, and especially against Denver, suggests he may not have the speed to start outside.  

Rising: P Tim Masthay

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It's clear the Packers had an underwhelming game when punter Tim Masthay's stock is the one that has risen the most as a result of it. 

In truth, however, Masthay was due for an improvement in his play, which hasn't gotten much better than last season, despite the veteran competing for his starting job in training camp. 

Masthay's 39.2 net punting average puts him at No. 21 among punters this season, but he was much better than that in Week 8, where his net average was 43.8 yards, his highest of the season.

Perhaps it was partially due to the thinner air at Mile High Stadium, but it was an improvement nonetheless.

Only three of Masthay's five punts were returned and for just 12 combined yards. He also landed one punt inside the 20. 

Falling: HC Mike McCarthy

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The coaching staff doesn't often find itself on the weekly stock reports, but head coach Mike McCarthy's game plan against the Denver Broncos was so ineffectual, with so few adjustments, that he finds himself on the list this week.

And yes, it's McCarthy and not play-caller Tom Clements that makes the list, because make no mistake: the game plan is the responsibility of the head coach, regardless of which staff member is verbally communicating it on the field. 

Frustratingly, the offense stubbornly stuck to an isolation-route-based spread offense against Denver, one in which receivers could not beat man coverage to get open. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers didn't like the reads he was seeing and therefore held the ball or continued through his progressions, leaving some plays on the field. 

If McCarthy had adjusted at halftime by perhaps adding more bunch formations and other "man-beater" routes, Rodgers could have found more targets to connect with as the receivers crossed each other on the field. As it was, however, this group of wideouts could not shake Denver's secondary. 

While it's also understandable that McCarthy essentially abandoned the run when the Packers were down by 14 points in the second half, establishing a ground game would have opened up more opportunities for Rodgers in the passing game.  

Rising: RB Eddie Lacy

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Eddie Lacy didn't have anything close to one of his best career performances in Denver, but it was one of his better performances of the season.

Lacy rushed for his first touchdown since Week 1 in the Packers' only trip to the end zone in the matchup. The running back also helped the Packers get into position for that score with an explosive 15-yard run on the drive leading up to it, one of the Packers' only big plays of the night. 

Though Lacy only had 38 total yards, he attempted to make the best of the 11 carries he was given, averaging 3.5 yards per carry. That's his fourth-highest average on the year. 

Eight of Lacy's carries came in the first half, but eventually, the Packers got themselves into such a whole that they were forced to abandon the run game in the hopes of bridging the 14-point deficit. 

Lacy has had a slow start to his season, and it hasn't just been about the opportunities he's been given. He hadn't been hitting the hole particularly hard or gaining yards after contact. 

But he looked better in Week 8, perhaps proving that his lingering ankle injury prior to the bye really was impacting his style. We'll look for Lacy to make a big leap in Week 9 and beyond to get his season back on track.

Falling: RT Bryan Bulaga

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To be fair, the offensive line as a whole didn't stand up well to the Denver Broncos defense, but right tackle Bryan Bulaga gets singled out here for an egregious holding penalty on 3rd-and-4 that took the Packers, then at the Denver 33-yard line, out of field-goal range. 

Though it seems like a small offense, Green Bay was down by just seven points at the time, and even a field goal could have kept the Packers in the game.  

Bulaga also allowed a sack on quarterback Aaron Rodgers, as did tight end Richard Rodgers and guard Josh Sitton. 

Rodgers was under so much duress from the Broncos front that at one point Bulaga even moved to the left side as the tackle outside of David Bakhtiari, but Rodgers still took seven hits in addition to the three sacks. 

Bulaga earned the worst grade of any offensive player in the game: minus-5.9, per Pro Football Focus. 

However, any tackle would have been put to the test against the Broncos defense.