Studs, Duds for Cardinals During First Half at Packers

The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers put together an entertaining half of football at Lambeau Field on Friday with the Packers leading 24-20.

Studs and duds from the first two quarters:

Stud: Gardner Minshew

Minshew looked really impressive to finish his preseason, going 7-for-9 for 126 yards and one touchdown in two drives before being pulled for Kedon Slovis. Minshew was able to spread the ball around to a handful of receivers and even made some checks to successful run plays at the line of scrimmage.

Dud: Ihmir Smith-Marsette

Smith-Marsette is battling for a roster spot, though his fumbled punt to start his time in Green Bay didn't quite help those chances. The ball rolled out of bounds, though this isn't the first time he's put the ball on the ground in preseason play. He also failed to keep his feet in-bounds for what would have been a toe-tap catch.

Stud: Jalen Brooks

Brooks continues to produce at high levels, as he shined in the first half to the tune of four receptions for 57 yards. Whether it be Minshew, Carson Beck or Kedon Slovis, Brooks continually has gotten open and will force the Cardinals into an incredibly tough decision this weekend.

Dud: Matt Pryor

Pryor, while the Cardinals were driving, had a Packers defender blow past him for an easy sack on Minshew, which forced Arizona into a 3rd-and-20 that ultimately saw the team kick a field goal instead of scoring a potential touchdown. He then allowed a Packers defensive lineman to get a free rush on Slovis, which led to an interception.

Pryor's already fighting for a roster spot, and the pressure/sack doesn't exactly help.

Stud: Eku Leota

Leota scored a half-sack alongside BJ Ojulari in the second quarter, but has been far more impactful than the guy he's battling with in the outside linebackers room. Leota's logged three other pressures including a blown-up screen play and has looked strong thus far.

Dud: Rivaldo Fairweather

Fairweather was called for multiple penalties on Arizona's last drive of the second quarter, stalling the Cardinals' progress to try and get out of their own half of the field. Both were holding calls.

Other Notable Sightings

We've been critical of Ojulari this camp/preseason but it was nice to see him reach the quarterback alongside Leota.
Both running backs in Corey Kiner and Evan Hull have looked fantastic in Mike LaFleur's rushing attack tonight. Kiner — who started tonight — tallied five rushes for 35 yards (7 YPC) while Hull busted off a 47-yard run for a touchdown in the second quarter.
Simi Fehoko continues to find the end zone for Arizona after catching a 41-yard touchdown pass from Minshew in the first half. However, he dropped a fairly easy pass after running a slant pattern.
There seemed to be a miscommunication between Quinton Newsome and Starling Thomas on a Packers touchdown. It's tough to blame either player in what looked like a soft zone in Cover 3, though there was obviously a slip-up somewhere.
Arizona's punt team took some awfully bad angles on a Packers 81-yard punt return for a touchdown.
OLB Elliot Brown had a nice batted pass during Green Bay's final possession before pressuring the Packers' quarterback on the next play.

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