Packers close out preseason with 27-20 win over visiting Chiefs
-- At long last, the preseason finale has concluded and the Green Bay Packers have emerged unscathed without any major injuries.
Of course, there were some bumps and bruises along the way. Linebackers Oren Burks and Curtis Bolton dropped out of their respective contests with injuries, rookie tight end Jace Sternberger wasn't able to see the field until Thursday night's finale -- in which he left with another injury -- and a multitude of players were held out of practice along the way.
But for now, the focus shifts to the Chicago Bears for next week's regular-season opener. That can't officially happen, however, until we dive into the 27-20 win over the Kansas City Chiefs and break down some of the good and some of the bad that transpired at Lambeau Field.
Over 1,000 players will lose their jobs this Saturday when teams across the league must trim their rosters down to the 53-man roster limit. That includes some of the stand-outs who have made their mark for the Packers this preseason.
What we learned: The backup quarterback battle is still a complete mystery
I mean, what are you supposed to make of DeShone Kizer and Tim Boyle after what we saw Thursday night? Tim Boyle went three-of-six for 18 yards and a touchdown in the red zone to a wide-open Sternberger. He looked sloppy, indecisive and couldn't operate under immense pressure.
Kizer, meanwhile, finished eight-of-15 and matched his touchdown with an interception. Not spectacular play by any means, but considering the reserve offensive line he was playing behind that didn't provide him time to do much of anything. His lone interception came on a throw where J'Mon Moore stopped running his route, but there may have been some confusion as to where he was supposed to stop in zone coverage.
Yeah, that’s not on Kizer. pic.twitter.com/wKXojjUm5Q
— Zachary Jacobson (@ZachAJacobson) August 30, 2019
There's absolutely no indication on which way the Packers will lean in for who they want backing up Aaron Rodgers this season. The hope was that the preseason finale would clear up some of the fog, but that wasn't the case.
What went right: The running game
It didn't seem to matter who was operating out of the backfield. Whether it was rookie draft pick Dexter Williams, Tra Carson or Keith Ford, the Packers were having their way on the ground against the Chiefs' defense. Williams may have ran himself right into the Packers' backup running back plans with nine carries for 34 yards and a touchdown, as well as a 21-yard run on a screen reception. Carson mustered 25 yards on six carries and Ford 21 on the same amount.
.@DexterW_22 picks up 21 yards on the screen! #KCvsGB #GoPackGo pic.twitter.com/0oZAHueXu9
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) August 30, 2019
For a backfield that, outside of Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams, remains undecided, these performances left general manager Brian Gutekunst with even more difficult decisions to make this Saturday. Carson has received praise for his work, but Williams' upside as a runner seems to supersede that.
What went wrong: Pretty much anything about the inside linebacker position
Head coach Matt LaFleur said after the win that he thinks the Packers will "be okay" at linebacker despite Ty Summers, a seventh-round pick, being one of two healthy bodies they have there outside of Blake Martinez. The other being Brady Sheldon -- you could safely say that position might be an issue.
Special teams demon and defensive liability James Crawford dropped out of the game against the Chiefs with an injury, but he wasn't proving to be much of a factor regardless. The only acquisition the Packers made at inside linebacker since being stricken with a barrage of injuries was acquiring Nicholas Grigsby off of waivers from the Baltimore Ravens -- and he failed his physical, so it never happened.
...but, there was this:
74-yard PICK SIX by @summerTYme42!#KCvsGB #GoPackGo pic.twitter.com/YcUmzRatY5
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) August 30, 2019
Offensive MVP: Teo Redding
Look, Teo Redding isn't making the 53-man roster. Not a chance. But he quietly pieced together an impressive performance in the finale when he needed it the most. Four catches for 49 yards and a couple of forced defensive pass interference calls that went the Packers' way -- this creates a concoction that could very well land Redding on the team's practice squad.
Redding had a couple of drops as well -- one of them on a beautifully-thrown deep ball from Kizer -- but he's the ideal practice squad candidate that the Packers could stash away for future usage.
Defensive MVP: Tray Matthews
Tray Matthews has pieced together a couple of good games now, both in consecutive weeks. He showed up in Winnipeg last week and balled out, now he carried that momentum over into the finale and possibly played himself onto the Packers' roster. Six tackles and a sack, as well as solid coverage throughout the game -- there's no reason why the Packers wouldn't want to add another talented safety to a position that was lacking in that department a season ago.
Next week. Thursday. Packers. Bears. Soldier Field. NFL's 100th season kickoff. Be there.
__________________________
Zachary Jacobson is a staff writer/reporter for Cheesehead TV. He's the voice of The Leap on iTunes and can be heard on The Scoop KLGR 1490 AM every Saturday morning. He's also a contributor on the Pack-A-Day Podcast. He can be found on Twitter via @ZachAJacobson or contacted through email at [email protected].
Comments (13)
PackFan2005
August 29, 2019 at 10:56 pm
Now it’s onto Chicago. Go Pack Go!
JonathanSpader
August 30, 2019 at 12:36 am
I like de Beer's name. He's looked bad this preseason.
I liked Jamerson as a Badger. He's been picked on continuously as a Packer. I don't see a place on the roster for hm.
At TE Bayless had a good night. I expected more from Sternberger.
At WR I wanted to see Davis have another good performance he didn't show up. Redding balled out.
Bayless and Redding both made a case for the PS.
On defense Marcus Jones showed up. Will Redding made some plays. TY Summers showed off his athleticism with his run that led to the pick 6.
BoCallahan
August 30, 2019 at 04:28 am
I wasn’t that impressed with Nijman last night. He appeared slow and indecisive. How will he do when the D is running stunts? Also, Crawford appeared to overrun multiple tackles. He used his speed and explosiveness but one little juke by the offensive player and he would come up empty handed. J’Mon May have sealed the deal by giving up on that route. That is an example of a trust issue that AR was complaining about last year. A QB has to trust his WR to be in an exact position at a precise moment. I sure hope Jace is ok. Shake it off big guy. Matthews impressed on D.
Turophile
August 30, 2019 at 04:46 am
When Redding was strutting his stuff, my first reaction was, "Oh no, not ANOTHER WR looking good on this team" which is not really fair to Teo.
Some good splashy moments had by Markus Jones, Randy Ramsey, Ka'dar Hollman, Chandon Sullivan, Tray Matthews, though I doubt more than two at most make the final 53 (with a chance at the PS, for others).
WR Shepherd has been too good in camp for his one fumble (a good defensive play to punch the ball out of his grasp) to kill his chances - on the whole he has played a very nice preseason.
Lphill
August 30, 2019 at 05:42 am
I have a feeling King will be gone , why let him keep a roster spot when it might mean cutting someone who deserves a spot and who can contribute, maybe an injury settlement or something but I’m tired of hearing how talented King is . Time to move on.
KnockTheSnotOutOfYou
August 30, 2019 at 07:07 am
LP,
If King was cut not only would that be a HUGE surprise but he would be snapped up immediately. Way to talented to cut him. I do think this is a big year for him and hope he stays healthy to show off his talents.
Lphill
August 30, 2019 at 08:24 am
I don’t know if it’s better to keep him and cut someone who can help now, when is King going to be ready? Nobody knows.
flackcatcher
August 30, 2019 at 07:47 am
Well, we had a football game yesterday. YAY!!!! To be honest I'm not looking at the players. Who the Packers keep will be, as Gute keeps telling us, a decision who can best fit what the Packers need. Interesting to see how the Packers run their version of the pro set against a team that see that system and the scheming in their division all the time. Fun watching Petinne's defense even working a vanilla scheme against the Chiefs core and 2 team backups. This defense is going to be hard to play against, and scheme for in this league. As usual health and player growth will determine how this team does in this season. Looking forward to it. Bring on the Bears. (Bonk Bonk Bonk BONK!! Never gets old....-:)
blacke00
August 30, 2019 at 08:27 am
Zak! You are dreaming! Boyle did not look indecisive. The O line was horrible. This was the same o line last week when they couldn't sore in the second half. Was he perfect no but not bad and plus he only played a short time.
Kiser's interception was not the cause of Moore's route running. It was a wobbly over thrown pass. It was just a poorly thrown ball. Kizer was also victim of a crappy O line so his poor play can not be blamed for how he looked.
Leatherhead
August 30, 2019 at 12:08 pm
Most QBs aren't going to look very impressive and decisive when they're under "immense pressure", (those are the author's words)
I think that if we ran the ball a lot, and our defense is as good as many of us hope it is, that we could win games with Boyle. When he's taking the snaps, the offense seems to move the ball and score points in a way that they don't with Kizer.
And yes, Kizer's poor play can be blamed for how he looked. He's not the guy. I don't understand what the pro-Kizerites see in this guy....he doesn't have it.
Since'61
August 30, 2019 at 09:17 am
Made to the season without major injuries. Nice job by Gute and MLF. We’re moving up from the minor leagues into the majors, games that count with the real players.
Time to start chucking the chooches and keeping the players. The developmental league is done. Bring on the Bears. Go Pack Go! Thanks, Since ‘61
PatrickGB
August 30, 2019 at 12:36 pm
Looking at the backups at offensive line I began to miss Campy. Our starters are ok but pretty much all the backups look bad. But the good news is that I don’t expect that we keep many of them anyway. The outside linebacker group looks good but inside...not so much. I expect a lot of safety help until some players get healthy.
I don’t think that we have yet to really see our offense until Aaron plays. But the backup running backs group look promising esp with the new offensive scheme.
4thand10
August 30, 2019 at 10:06 pm
Markus Jones showed up immediately with limited snaps, Sullivan has been pretty consistent ( fairly good) Redman plays like a vet...because he is one, made some plays lost some plays. Summers is a high effort guy...is it enough?
All that, but I thought throughout the night the packers defense was good but couldn’t understand why they were doing a great job on the edge but were getting pushed back 2-3 yards smack in the middle of the D line. They were running 2 DLs in the middle, but the DLs were getting pushed around all night it seemed like. Did anyone else notice this?