Well, the Green Bay Packers did accomplish one thing in their second preseason game.  They got their starters another week closer to opening day without any new injuries.  That’s because all of them watched from the sidelines.  Assuming they could bear to watch.  Because what took place on the field was a total waste of time. 

Minutes before kickoff, the Packers released a list of 31 players who would not take part in this game.  That list consisted basically of the team Green Bay will put on the field this season.  The unit that remained to actually play this game would have been beaten by many college teams. 

Matt LaFleur never expected to win this game.  He knew Denver would be playing their starters for a good portion of the contest.  But he surely hoped his deep reserves could at least play competitively enough to enable some meaningful evaluation.  Unfortunately, they were hopelessly overmatched.  So much so that it’s difficult to see what can be gleaned from the tape.  Even when the Broncos mercifully unloaded their own reserves on to the field, they remained dominant.   

OFFENSE 

It really wasn’t a fair fight for either Sean Clifford nor Michael Pratt.  Playing behind an offensive line that offered no running game and porous pass protection, they had no chance.  Still, you would like to have seen them overcome the adversity and find a way to make a few big plays, but they simply weren’t able.  I don’t recall a single player breaking a single tackle.  The futility of the offensive line was most obviously exposed on three different fourth and short plays, all of which failed.   

This might have been the most important game of Clifford’s pro football career.   But he did little to convince the coaching staff he can be a viable back-up quarterback.  He fumbled the very first snap, threw a drive-killing interception, and finished with a quarterback rating of 30.4.  With a chance to seize the day, Pratt looked nervous and unsure.  Given a golden opportunity to put points on the board after a turnover in Denver territory, Pratt missed Grant DuBose on a 4th and 1 pass to kill the drive.  On another, he took a sack and fumbled the ball away inside his own 20.  Settling down a bit, he finally led the offense to the Bronco 29 yard line, only to see a missed field goal spoil the effort.  Green Bay ended up with just 80 passing yards and 88 rushing yards.   

DEFENSE 

Whatever Jeff Hafley’s vanilla defensive strategy was supposed to be for this game, his reserves did not comprehend it, and certainly could not execute it.   They made a Denver team that will be lucky to win seven games this year look like the greatest show on turf.  With a few spotty exceptions, there was no pass rush and sloppy coverage on the back end.   

It was somehow fitting that the only two big defensive plays of the second half were made by players most fans didn’t even know were on the team.  Zach Morton found himself unblocked and blew into the backfield for a safety, providing Green Bay’s only points.  On the next series Brevin Allen had a sack.  Neither guy is likely to make the final cut. 

There was a pass batted in the air by James Ester and picked off by Kristian Welch.  Brenton Cox had a powerful sack.  Lukas van Ness had a pressure that forced an incompletion.  Kingsley Enagbare and Colby Wooden forced Bo Nix to scramble for no gain.  But those infrequent bright spots were more than negated by failures, such as Kalen King’s complete whiff on a 3rd and 17 checkdown, allowing the play to rupture for 19 yards.  Ralen Goforth then made it an even bigger play by getting a penalty for a helmet to helmet hit. 

SPECIAL TEAMS 

Daniel Whelan failed to down two first half punts inside the opponent’s twenty yard line, booming both into the end zone.  Little was accomplished in the kicker competition because the offense couldn’t get the ball close enough for a field goal try until the fourth quarter.  When Greg Joseph finally had the chance to try from 47 yards, he missed it wide right.  The snap looked high.  Dmitri Stanley muffed a punt.  Emanuel Wilson had a decent kickoff return to the thirty.  On a night when the Packers surely could have used some sort of big play from the special teams to shake them out of the funk, it never came. 

Unnoticed – Rookie Tyron Hopper led the team with eleven tackles.  Almost twice as many as the next highest defender.  Six of the stops were solo. 

Unimpressive – Emanuel Wilson showed little of the burst and vision he displayed the previous week against Cleveland.  Granted, there were few holes cleared for him, but he also failed to break any tackles and went down easily.  He did not take advantage of an opportunity to surpass the inactive AJ Dillon for the number two running back slot. 

Unexpected – Receiver Grant DuBose, one of the hottest players in this training camp, was only targeted twice and caught neither of them. 

AFTERTHOUGHTS 

“We’re gonna have to regroup, take a long, hard look in the mirror.  We’ve gotta get better.  We need that urgency from everybody.  I thought there was more resiliency, more fight in the second half, especially from the defense.  All in all, offensively, just want to see more fight from our guys.  That was frustrating.”  -- Matt LaFleur 

JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS 

-- If nothing else, this game casts legitimate doubt on the perception that the Packers have a lot of quality depth.  This is particularly true on the offensive line.  The weakening of the unit from the collective loss of David Bakhtiari, Yosh Nijman and Jonathan Runyan is now being exposed.  This team needs first round pick Jordan Morgan to develop sooner than later. 

-- Can the Packers really go into the season with Clifford and Pratt as their back-ups?  Brian Gutekunst must take a serious look at what’s out there on the street.   

-- The fact that the Packers held AJ Dillon out of this game along with Josh Jacobs indicates that Dillon is still solidly in possession of the number two running back job.  So much so, that LaFleur didn’t want to risk an injury to him. 

-- Sometimes getting your butt handed to you can be turned into a positive motivational tool.  It will be a good test for this coaching staff to see if they can make that happen.