The Packers Took a Big Step Back In Preseason Play

Derek Lofland, NFL director at Fantasy Football Maniaxs

Lost in the Aaron Rodgers vs. Brett Favre story is that both players play with 50 other players. 

The story out of this game has been that Aaron Rodgers took a step back. Aaron Rodgers is not the only story on this team. In terms of preseason losses this is about as bad as it gets and Rodgers was not the only concern.

The Brown’s first team at least got thumped by the defending champions. The Patriots lost to a playoff team without Brady.  Granted, the Packers didn’t have some key players, mainly Grant and Jennings, but San Fran is a bad football team.

The first problem is the offense did nothing to move the ball. The Packers gained 46 yards of total offense in the first half.  Their two scoring drives for field goals featured a four-play drive for minus six yards.  The other drive was four plays for two yards.

Rodgers was sacked four times in the game. He had several passes that were dropped, including a sure touchdown grab by Donald Lee. The Packers managed only 101 yards rushing against a team that gave up 248 yards rushing to Oakland just a week ago.   They also lost three fumbles.

Then there was the defense. The Packers allowed the 49ers offense to go 15 plays for 87 yards and take off 9:15 of game clock in the second quarter. They allowed O’Sullivan to go 8 for 17 for 154 yards and one touchdown with an interception. The touchdown pass to Morgan was a 59-yard strike.

I’m not one to hit the panic button because of a bad preseason game.  Al Harris and Charles Woodson weren’t playing on that 87-yard drive. Ryan Grant and Greg Jennings weren’t on the field. Those are big factors.
Again, what I didn’t like is that I don’t think San Francisco is a very good football team, regardless of preseason. 

They ranked 32nd in scoring, 32nd in offensive yards, and 32nd in first downs in 2007.  They scored six points against the Raiders last week.  Their defense ranked 20th in points allowed and 25th in yards allowed last year.  This is a defense that should be scored on.  It is not a team that should have beat the Packers 34-6.

The Packers have a big test in front of them.  Not only Rodgers, but the entire team is going to receive more scrutiny because of the Favre situation than possibly any team in the history of the NFL. They played okay in a 20-17 loss to Cincinnati.  Then they took a terrible step back to a mediocre football team. They need to play a good game and establish a rhythm against Denver.  They need to get Jennings and Grant on the field to get reps with Rodgers.

Denver, their next opponent, is historically as tough of a venue as any in the NFL.  It will be good to see how they handle that atmosphere.  It’s difficult to know what to take out of Saturday’s game, but hopefully for the Packers it was just a case of a flat preseason performance.