Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur doesn’t care about wins and losses in the preseason. He sat 31 players, helping to create a 19-0 loss to the Buffalo Bills in the preseason finale on Saturday. Sean McDermott’s team played starters, so the contest was nothing if not a terrific opportunity for the Packers to evaluate a young quarterback and all the other young players fighting for spots on the 53-man roster.
Jordan Love played into the second half and led three quality drives, but the Packers couldn’t finish with points and the second-year quarterback endured what LaFleur called “teaching moments” on two poor decisions.
Love was the quarterback for 39 plays over four drives. The Packers gained 209 total yards and advanced inside the Bills’ 25-yard line on three of the four possessions but failed to score each time.
The Packers backups on defense got a chance to play against Josh Allen and the Bills starting offense for the majority of the first half and were competitive at times. Allen marched the Bills 80 yards in 12 plays for a touchdown on the opening drive and then went 80 yards in 15 plays on another touchdown drive in the second quarter. Too many times, the defense couldn’t finish on third or fourth down.
The Packers offense nearly matched Allen in the first half. Love took the Packers 74 yards on 12 plays on the opening possession against the Bills starting defense but got stopped short on 4th-and-goal from the 1-yard line. On the team’s next two drives, Love threw an ill-fated interception into the end zone on an awkward play and then nearly threw a second interception on a rushed throw under pressure.
The two mistakes both came on broken plays. On the first, Love got tripped during his dropback and threw the ball up for grabs in the end zone. On the second, left tackle Yosh Nijman got beat immediately and Love made a dangerous throw into traffic while on the run to his right avoiding pressure.
Making good decisions and taking care of the football remain focal points of development for Love, but these were mistakes of situational inexperience more so than mistakes of engrained recklessness.
Overall, Love finished 12 of 18 passing for 149 yards and the interception. He threw strikes to Reggie Begelton for 29 yards and Malik Taylor for 27 yards. He got the Bills to jump into the neutral zone three times. He scrambled three times for 16 yards, including a 10-yard scamper to convert a first down.
At the end of the first drive, Jace Sternberger missed a block on third down, negating what could have been a touchdown run from A.J. Dillon. Love fired incomplete to Begelton on a slant on fourth down.
At the end of the third drive, Mason Crosby missed a chip shot field goal after the dropped interception in the end zone.
Overall, the Packers were 0-for-3 scoring points in the red zone.
LaFleur was happy with the way his team competed – especially against the Bills starters – but bemoaned the lack of finish. The Packers were shut out but had several opportunities to score, especially in the first half.
On defense, the Packers’ decision-makers will have a lot of revealing tape to watch on the young players fighting for roster spots. Allen mostly carved up the second and third stringers, but facing so many of the starters on a great offense will help separate who was ready for primetime and who wasn’t. And several weren’t ready.
It appears LaFleur handled the preseason the right away. The Packers have a great deal of experienced talent at the top of the roster. LaFleur kept it all protected. He sat 30 players in the preseason opener, 32 against the Jets, and 31 on Saturday. The best players on the Packers roster didn’t need a preseason last year and they didn’t need it again this year. LaFleur’s team will be healthy and chomping at the bit come Week 1 in New Orleans. There wasn’t one season-affecting injury during camp or the preseason.
What the Packers did get was a terrific three-game evaluation period for 50 or so young players, which should help LaFleur and general manager Brian Gutekunst figure out the fringes of the team’s roster and the practice squad entering the regular season.
The preseason was ugly in Green Bay, but the games that don’t matter are now in the rear-view mirror. It’s time for football that counts. The Packers will pick the best collection of 53 players on Tuesday and then turn all eyes towards the New Orleans Saints on Sept. 12.
Let the Last Dance begin.
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