Unpacking the Game: Packers vs 49ers

The first preseason game of the year always provides a window into the development of key players. Today I’m going to unpack the development of Jordan Love, the offensive line, defensive line, and special teams. It is worth noting that with preseason games, it is not worth overanalyzing the box score or individual statistics. There are many factors that play out through each game, and it’s always important to remember that the schemes that are being run are pretty simple. Despite losing by a score of 21-28, there were many key takeaways to unpack.

Jordan Love

With starting QB Aaron Rodgers not suiting up for the first preseason game, all eyes were on backup QB Jordan Love. Going into year three, many are eager to see what he is capable of, and how he would play after an up and down training camp. His showing was pretty consistent with what we have been seeing — he is not always consistent with his throws. Love finished the night with a stat line of 13-24 (54% completion), 176 yards, 2 TDs, and 3 INTs. If you look purely at the numbers, you will not have a complete picture of his progression.

📷 Evan Siegle | packers.com

The Good

He looked significantly more poised standing in the pocket and was able to deliver some really beautiful passes. In the first quarter when faced with a 4th and 3, WR Romeo Doubs was able to get behind DB Tarvarius Moore and Love hit him in stride for a 33 yard touchdown.

In the second quarter, Love hit UDFA WR Danny Davis for a 33 yard touchdown as well. Upon securing the catch, Davis cut upfield and was able to burst into the end zone. He is making some nice plays and may make it difficult for the Packers when deciding how many WRs to keep on the 53-man roster. At this point, he is most likely a practice squad candidate.

The Bad

Looking at the box score, the 3 interceptions that Love threw may seem daunting. However, there were two catchable passes that were deflected and resulted in interceptions. On the first one, TE Tyler Davis had the ball bounce off his hands and it was caught by the defender. On the second INT, WR Romeo Doubs was making a contested catch when the defender, Samuel Womack, was able to wrestle the ball away from him. However, on the third interception, Love threw across the field to WR Amari Rodgers, but it was plucked away by Womack. After the game, Coach LaFleur absolved Love of the first two interceptions, assigning blame to the receivers. On the third, Love had made the correct read but some of the receivers were not running the correct route. It is unclear at this time if that was Amari Rodgers or not, as LaFleur stated "Basically two were drops and on the other one we had two receivers run the wrong routes." There were some "easy throws" that Love should have been able to make but was unable to. The only way that he will continue to improve is through getting meaningful reps in live-action games. Therefore, the next two preseason games will be crucial to getting a better idea of his development.

Offensive Line

If the season were to start today, this was the player grouping that we would have seen. Starting (left to right) was Yosh Nijman, Jon Runyan Jr., Josh Myers, Jake Hanson, and Royce Newman. On the whole, the offensive line held up pretty well. They allowed a few pressures but only one sack. Of the group, Runyan and Myers played the best. Newman struggled off the line and allowed a pressure. It seemed as though his footwork was not quick enough to counteract the power of the defenders. It sounds hopeful that Bakhtiari and Jenkins could be back at some point this season, so the O-line should only get stronger.

In the meantime, it is nice to get a better idea of what kind of depth the Packers may have along the O-line as they continue to develop the backups.

Defensive Line

The strength of the D-line has been the talk of training camp. After continuously pressuring the O-line nearly every practice, many debated whether that was indicative of the strength of the D-line or weakness of the O-line. Last night's game really settled this debate. The D-line looks to be for real and could have some serious depth.

The D-line was able to help the OLBs get some good pressure up front, and three players were each able to net one sack — OLB Kobe Jones, OLB Kingsley Enagbare, and OLB Tipa Galeai. Each of these three players are vying for the one, possibly two, available backup OLB roles. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next two preseason games.

Special Teams

The special teams unit always had 11 players on the field against the 49ers, so that was a good thing. The punt and kick coverage units did well at not letting anyone through to block, while the gunners were able to get downfield and contain the returners. In fact, KR Amari Rodgers was able field a kick and cut upfield for a 50 yard return.

Rookie kicker Gabe Brkic did not have a good showing. On kickoffs, he struggled to kick the ball into the end zone. He also shanked what should have been a chip-in 32 yard field goal. It nearly traveled as far left as it went up the field.

Brkic later redeemed himself with an successful extra point attempt. It is pretty clear that he is not a viable option as K Mason Crosby rehabs from injury. I would expect the Packers to call back a tryout kicker from last week or bring someone new in soon.

Trending Up 📈

QB Jordan Love

RB Tyler Goodson

WR Danny Davis

C Josh Myers

G Jon Runyan Jr.

OT Zach Tom

DE Jack Heflin

Trending Down 📉

TE Tyler Davis

CB Rico Gafford

DE Chris Slayton

S Dallin Leavitt

K Gabe Brkic (*update: released Sunday)

This Tuesday, August 16th at 3pm CDT marks the first deadline for roster cuts. Every NFL club needs to cut their roster down from 90 to 85 players. From there, clubs must get their roster to 80 players on August 23rd and finally, down to 53 players on August 30th. The next two weeks will be critical for players on the roster bubble trying to make it onto the initial 53 player roster. *Further complicating this is the return of TE Robert Tonyan, OL Elgton Jenkins, and rookie WR Christian Watson from the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list.

*Article was updated on Sunday, August 14th to reflect roster moves.