Well it isn’t the best way to start the preseason by losing your preseason opener.
The Packers put out a less than spectacular showing against the Jets last Saturday losing 30-10.
While it is understandable it is the first preseason game, the Packers looked like the same team that lost 3 straight games to end the year.
While there were a lot of things that need to be worked on, there was some positives to take away from Saturdays game.
With that here is the good, bad and ugly of the Packers loss in the preseason opener against the Jets.
The Bad
Yes, we are getting this out of the way.
Why?
Because if you were a Packer fan who watch the game Saturday, it was already painful enough to watch.
The Packers as a team played very sloppy football during the preseason opener.
Yes, it’s preseason and the points and wins don’t count, but from the start the Packers struggled.
The first team offense got the ball first and from there it went down hill.
Instead immediately you saw what flawed the Packers offense last year.
Dropped passes from the WR’s and mental errors with penalties from the offensive line.
Unlike last year when the Packers first team offense scored on their first drive, the Packers went three and out.
This continued all game, with dropped passes from Romeo Doubs, Malik Heath and company.
In fact, combined the Packers QBs had 10 completions all game.
The starting defense wasn’t any better.
They surrendered a 10 play, 79 yard touchdown drive ended by a Justin Fields TD run.
The Packers special teams did good for the most part.
Except for the one muffed punt by Mecole Hardman that gave the Jets the ball back.
Again, overall not the best performance by the Packers to start the 2025 preseason.
The Ugly
As I mention earlier , the Packers kept making mental error in terms of penalties.
On the offensive line, second year lineman Jacob Monk had a rough night.
Overall Monk had 3 holding calls called on him.
And if it wasn’t Monk getting called for holding, it was a WR getting called for holding.
As you saw during the game, those penalties cost the Packers and kept stalling drives.
Head coach Matt LaFleur wasn’t very happy with the penalties ether.
“Too many penalties, drops, missed tackles, bad decision making, and it really showed up in every phase of football.”
LeFleur also said “Definitely not what we want to put out there. I don’t care preseason, regular season, it doesn’t matter to me. It was just sloppy football.”
The Good
There is some good that came out of the preseason opener for the Packers.
Lets start with the player that probably contributed the most for the Packers Saturday.
Daniel Whelan continues to show that he is a star punter in the making.
Whelan had 6 punts with his longest being a 63 yard punt and had 1 punt downed inside the 20.
Brandon McManus was able to put the Packers on the board scoring the first points of the Preseason with a 46 yard field goal.
Amar Johnson was a bright spot for the Packers offense.
Johnson rushed for 67 yards on 7 carries with his highlight being a 39 yard touchdown run.
Head Coach Matt LaFleur has some praise for Johnson after the game.
“I thought he ran hard and obviously flashed some playmaking ability, so he’ll probably earn some more opportunities next week.”
Other bright spots include:
Colby Wooden, who had six tackles, including one for a loss, and one tipped pass.
Barryn Sorrell, who got some pressure on the QB and recorded two QB hits.
