Green Bay Packers starting quarterback Jordan Love saw just two series of action in the team’s 36-19 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in its preseason opener on Friday night, rebounding nicely from a missed third-down throw on the first drive with a perfectly finessed nine-yard touchdown pass to Romeo Doubs on the second. Love continued to display the promise that he’s shown this offseason and will need to continue to find the right touch on his deliveries as the regular season draws closer.
It was clear from the start that Packers head coach Matt LaFleur’s offensive gameplan was to get Love some easy throws early, and then let him air it out a bit once the quarterback found a rhythm. Early completions to Aaron Jones and Luke Musgrave were easy play designs that not only moved the chains but also were emblematic of what the foundation of the Green Bay offense should look like this season.
Love’s first chance to show off his arm came on a deep ball down the right sideline to Christian Watson, in which he left just a bit too much air underneath it to allow Bengals safety Dax Hill to race over for an admittedly great pass breakup. However, if Love drives that ball further down the field towards the sideline, Watson likely could outrun the corner and beat Hill to the ball for a long completion.
After that incompletion, the drive ended on what was easily Love’s worst throw of the night. Musgrave found plenty of space on third-and-seven to convert a first down, but Love led Musgrave by too much and Green Bay was forced to punt. A completion in stride to Musgrave allows him to turn up field and gain somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 yards minimum if he doesn’t break a tackle. The play design was there, and Musgrave has the athleticism to work across the middle of the field and turn upwards if the ball is on the mark. These types of misses, where’s it’s largely unforced on Love’s part, are what would be particularly detrimental, especially on third down.
A quick three-and-out by the defense got Love right back into action, taking advantage of good field position to quickly drive into the red zone. On a slow-developing play-action pass, Love took an extra beat on the play to allow Doubs to work his way across the field from right to left. Love set his feet, and put just the right amount of loft on the ball to give Doubs an opportunity to make a play.
If we’re picking nits, the ball could have been a touch higher to allow Doubs to go up with his hands rather than catch it with his body, but the finesse was the right move by Love. The extra half-second that it took for the ball to get there, leading Doubs on the play, allowed the receiver to create the separation needed to come down for six. If that ball is driven, Doubs doesn’t have the extra space to come down it it. The pass was Love’s final one of the night, leaving him a high note to end on in the first preseason game.
Outside of David Bakhtiari, Green Bay’s first-team offense was on the field for the first two drives on Friday night in Cincinnati. What we saw was an example of the balance that a fully-executed Matt LaFleur offense could be:
- Aaron Jones as a weapon out of the backfield
- Luke Musgrave operating in space, AJ Dillon running with power
- Christian Watson stretching the field
- And Romeo Doubs competing for and winning contested catches.
With the infrastructure in place, the biggest variable will continue to be how Jordan Love operates within the offense, and how he can maximize the skillsets of the entirety offense. While yes, it is just the first preseason game, the first two drives on Friday night provided a glimpse onto what that regular season blueprint could look like.
