Malike Heath and the Green Bay Packers defeated Seattle, 19-15, in their preseason finale.
Bring on the Bears.
The Green Bay Packers wrapped up their preseason with a 19-15 win over Seattle on Saturday afternoon. Benny Sapp clinched the victory with an interception in the final seconds.
It was Green Bay’s first noon preseason game since 1995, and was about as exciting as sitting in traffic or junk mail for most of the afternoon.
Green Bay finished the preseason 2-1 and outscored its foes, 72-55.
The Packers will now turn their attention to Chicago, their Week 1 opponent. Green Bay has won eight in a row against its longest rival and 23 of the last 26.
Of course, the Packers did that damage with Aaron Rodgers under center. And when they head to Chicago in 15 days, they’ll do so with Jordan Love as their preferred starting quarterback for the first time.
In Dec., 2021, Rodgers scored a game-clinching touchdown at Chicago’s Soldier Field, raced to the right corner of the endzone and hollered, “I’ve owned you all my (bleeping) life! I own you! I still own you!”
Rodgers went a remarkable 25-5 against Chicago, a ridiculous .833 winning percentage. Brett Favre was a terrific 22-10 (.688) against Chicago.
Now, all eyes will be on Love to see if he can continue the Packers’ three-decade dominance of the NFL’s oldest rivalry.
Here’s the good, bad and ugly from Green Bay’s win over Seattle.
THE GOOD
WHOLE LOTTA LOVE: Jordan Love, the Packers’ first-year starting quarterback, had another solid day. Love led the Packers to 10 points on three drives, going 9-of-15 for 63 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.
Granted, the Packers played their starters for three series, while the Seahawks were playing their reserves. But Love couldn’t control what Seattle coach Pete Carroll did. Instead, he simply did his job as he has all summer — and did it well.
Love finished the preseason 21-of-33 for 193 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions for a passer rating of 109.8.
“I think the biggest thing for me is just being able to go out there and execute,” Love said. “I just try and focus on me and my job and be the best person I can be, the best player I can be and that just comes from knowing what I need to be doing, knowing my reads and putting the ball where I need to put it. so that’s the biggest thing for me, is just trying to make sure I execute every day.”
Love did that most of the summer, which has to have the Packers feeling pretty good.
GETTING HIS KICKS: Rookie kicker Anders Carlson wasn’t in danger of missing the 53-man roster. The Packers invested a sixth round draft pick on Carlson in April, and despite an up-and-down summer, love his potential.
Just in case there was a modicum of doubt about Carlson’s future, though, the rookie ended those thoughts. Carlson made both of his field goals, including a 57-yarder that would have been the second-longest in team history had this been a regular season game. Mason Crosby holds the record with a 58-yarder in 2011 at Minnesota.
Carlson had an extra point blocked, but that wasn’t his fault. Tucker Kraft whiffed on his block, allowing Michael Jackson to race off the edge and get Carlson’s kick.
“Definitely some growth to go, but I think I’m where I need to be mentally and physically,” Carlson said. “I think I can perform when I need to. I think practice, I need to clean up a little bit sometimes but I like where I’m at.”
ALEX MCGOUGH: McGough, who led Birmingham to the USFL Championship before signing with Green Bay on July 18, is unlikely to make the final cut. If these were McGough’s last moments in Green Bay, though, they were impressive ones.
McGough led a 75-yard touchdown drive in the game’s final minutes to power the Packers to the win. McGough hit Jadakis Bonds for 52 yards on the march, setting up a 1-yard, game-winning touchdown run by Nate McCrary.
THIS AND THAT:. Undrafted rookie free agent Malik Heath seems a good bet to make the 53-man roster. Heath had a team-high four catches for 35 yards. … The Packers didn’t allow a sack. … Green Bay had 164 rushing yards. … No. 3 inside linebacker Isaiah McDuffie was extremely active in two quarters of work, finishing with a team-high five tackles. … Rookie cornerback Carrington Valentine jumped a route that would have been a pick-six if he had been able to hold onto the ball.
THE BAD
TUCKER KRAFT: The Packers’ rookie tight end has been quiet in practice in recent days, and had a rough outing against the Seahawks.
Kraft, Green Bay’s third round draft pick, had a false start on the Packers’ opening possession. Later, Kraft missed his block which allowed Seattle’s Michael Jackson to block a Carlson extra point.
THIS AND THAT: Tariq Carpenter missed a tackle in the hole, which led to an 11-yard run by SaRodorick Thompson Jr. … Elijah Hamilton allowed a 33-yard reception by Easop Winston Jr. … The Packers averaged just 4.3 yards per punt return.
THE UGLY
PUNT-A-THON: There’s a reason preseason ticket prices cost about 50% of what fans pay for regular season games.
The football is often ugly and is played by several guys that won’t be on NFL rosters by the end of the month.
That was certainly the case Saturday, as Green Bay and Seattle had a stretch in the second half in which there were seven consecutive series that ended in punts. The teams combined for just two first downs and 43 total yards in that time.
The majority of the 72,105 fans didn’t go anywhere. But those paying customers also didn’t have a lot to cheer about.