The Green Bay Packers didn’t have the best opening night in Brazil.
The Green and Gold had some external struggles between questionable field conditions and officiating, but they can’t blame most of their offensive misses on anyone else.
Dropped passes and missed opportunities made a winnable game much more difficult than needed. It looked like a Week 1 contest between teams that didn’t play their starters much in the preseason.
But despite the loss, it wasn’t all doom and gloom, even with Jordan Love‘s late injury. There were plenty of reasons to be optimistic, and their issues against the Eagles are fixable.
Jordan Love and the No. 1 offense played just a handful of preseason snaps, scoring quickly in the first preseason game against the Cleveland Browns. Matt LaFleur saw enough and decided not to risk his starters.
Similarly, the Eagles didn’t play much of their starting core, so this was effectively a preseason showing for both quarterbacks.
As a result, both offenses were sloppy.
Green Bay’s offense accounted for nine of its 10 penalties, an abysmal ratio that prevented the offense from rolling along.
It wasn’t just penalties, either. Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, and Dontayvion Wicks, the young stars expected to take a leap, all had critical drops.
Jordan Love, the newly paid franchise quarterback, wasn’t blameless either. He made questionable throws and didn’t play with the usual poise we’ve grown accustomed to.
Particularly noteworthy was Green Bay’s inability to capitalize on two early turnovers, which forced the team to settle for two red-zone field goals.
Speaking of field goals, new kicker Brayden Narveson had his first miss on a crucial FG in the final quarter.
Ultimately, a plethora of self-inflicted mistakes led to a loss.
Still, we saw plenty of good in the mix.
Despite all these mistakes, the Green Bay offense still put up 414 yards against a defense with a stout defensive front. Love made some big plays, connecting with Jayden Reed on his longest passing touchdown of his career. Tucker Kraft emerged as TE1 with some key plays and impressive blocking.
It’s fair to wonder how much of this game was just shaking off the rust. Playing starters in the preseason is a risk, especially with Love on signing a new contract. LaFleur said he put more stock in joint practices with the Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens than in those preseason games, and the team got plenty of practice this summer. They’ve played together and should gel better than we saw on Friday.
But there’s something about having those reps in live games. For better or worse, not playing starters in preseason will lead to a sloppy Week 1.
“I think Week 1 is always — you don’t know what you’re going to get,” LaFleur said following the game. “It’s kind of a slopfest, and tonight was certainly that.”
With more live reps in meaningful games, some of these issues should work themselves out. Even with Love Missing time, the offensive line should play more as a unit and minimize their penalties, and the pass catchers should run crisper routes.
It’s worth noting the conditions of the field clearly affected the team. The stadium tried to use the types of grass common at Lambeau Field and Lincoln Financial Field but didn’t appear to get everything squared away. I’m no grassologist, but that field clearly wasn’t up to safety standards. Players were slipping all night, and it’s fair to believe that some of the wonkiness in Love’s play was from being in his head and worrying about the field. Ditto with some of the receivers’ issues.
Being unprepared for the playing field isn’t a great excuse. You don’t see sympathy when teams arrive at Lambeau and slip around. But this game was in completely unfamiliar territory, and the field was not ready for an NFL game. It clearly affected both teams and won’t be a factor in the team’s remaining games.
Throw in the fatigue from a long trip and the unfamiliar environment, and it makes sense why both teams had issues.
Still, the Packers need to do more to prepare. LaFleur’s teams have consistently had issues getting ready for Week 1, and the team didn’t look completely ready to deal with the unknown in both of his international games. He’ll need to increase discipline to minimize penalties moving forward.
Nonetheless, the team still scored 29 points and put up 414 yards of offense against an NFC contender. Even on a day they didn’t play particularly well, they still found ways to move the ball. Matt LaFleur’s scheming was great overall, but the players didn’t execute it well.
Love’s injury complicated things for the next few weeks. Malik Willis will have his own growing pains as he adjusts to his version of the offense. We’re sure to see some more mistakes.
But it isn’t just a cope. There are reasons to believe that after shaking off some of the rust and moving past the wonkiness of the Brazilian field, the Packers can solidify their footing on offense.
