The Packers bounced back from their Week 1 preseason loss vs the 49ers with a resounding 20-10 victory against the New Orleans Saints on Friday night at Lambeau Field.
Again it’s preseason, but here are some observations from the Packers Week 2 victory.
After throwing three interceptions last week against the 49ers, Jordan Love had a rebound performance of sorts. Love went 12/24 for 113 yards, 1 touchdown and no interceptions. I saw a third-year quarterback who looked like he was in command of the offense and his decision making was better than it was last week. Love on Friday night, showcased his arm talent by hitting guys right between the numbers.
This throw might have been Love’s best of the night despite it falling incomplete.
Love rebounded on the next drive to hit rookie WR Romeo Doubs on a 4-yard touchdown grab.
Overall, Love played a solid game. I know the stats aren’t earth shattering, but his receivers didn’t help him out there were some plays that could have been made such as this one.
Amari Rodgers has to catch this ball. I understand the ball is behind him, but this isn’t a difficult catch for the second-year WR. Rodgers hasn’t proven to earn himself a role as a WR thus far.
And these:
Two of those in the video are simply rookie mistakes: Doubs turned over the wrong shoulder causing the ball to fall incomplete. The last one, Samori Toure simply dropped the ball with the safety coming in to disrupt the play but still this catch has to be made because it was a perfect throw along the sideline.
After receiving praise last offseason for his blocking ability, Tyler Davis hasn’t had a good preseason thus far. Davis had a ball bounce off his shoulder pads leading to an interception against the 49ers last week. This week, Davis was guilty of a holding penalty early in the first quarter and fumbled the ball near the end of the half leading to a Saints touchdown. If Davis kept costing the Packers like this, he won’t be on the team much longer.
– Safety Micah Abernathy made a solid case on Friday that the third safety spot should be his. Abernathy picked up two tackles and one interception.
Abernathy is a first-year player out of Tennessee was signed by the Packers on August 10, Abernathy recently played for the Houston Gamblers of the USFL.
Other than that, the Packers didn’t have many of their starters playing in Friday’s game but it’ll be interesting to see if the Packers decide to play some defensive starters against the Chiefs on Thursday night.
Another battle to watch is the third running spot back behind Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon. Tyler Goodson has outperformed Patrick Taylor thus far in the preseason. Goodson an undrafted rookie out of Iowa has had some hard-nosed runs and his explosiveness has been evident in the preseason. At this point, Goodson has the inside track to make the 53-man roster.
Danny Etling is an elite athlete.
Etling is not likely to make the 53-man roster, but this has to be the top moment in Packers’ preseason history.
Packers briefly solved their kicking situation. Last week, Green Bay signed Ramiz Ahmed who recently kicked for the Pittsburgh Maulers of the USFL. How did he do? Pretty well. Ahmed hit his first field of the day a 25-yarder to give the Packers a 3-0 lead. Later in the game, Ahmed drilled a 45-yarder to give Green Bay a 13-3 advantage. I’m not saying the kicking situation is solved by any means, but it is a great start.
OTHER NEWS:
David Bakhtiari was activated off the PUP list on Sunday and according to head coach Matt Lafleur would be eased back into practice. Bakhtiari has been rehabbing from a torn ACL and has had three surgeries on that knee (the most recent of which coming this offseason) since suffering the injury on December 31, 2020 during a practice session. Bakhtiari played only 27 snaps, all in the 2021 regular season finale against the Detroit Lions.
Packers released C Ty Clary and LB Chauncey Manac on Sunday. The roster currently stands at 83 players with teams needing to trim the roster to 80 by Tuesday’s afternoon deadline.
Clary an undrafted rookie out of Arkansas earlier this year appeared in both the preseason games. He started at both guard and center while playing for the Razorbacks.
Manac was also an undrafted rookie this year. He played at Louisiana and notched a tackle against the Saints on Friday.
