Packers Beat Seahawks In Preseason Finale
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Jordan Love capped a promising preseason with a touchdown pass to Christian Watson and Alex McGough led the game-winning drive as the Green Bay Packers held off the Seattle Seahawks 19-15 in the final game of the preseason on Saturday at Lambeau Field.
Love threw three touchdown passes and zero interceptions in the three exhibition games. Love’s next pass in a game will be one that truly matters, with the Packers kicking off the 2023 NFL season at the Chicago Bears on Sept. 10.
Love ended the preseason with a 109.8 passer rating. For what it’s worth – and it’s worth almost nothing – that’s better than Aaron Rodgers when he replaced Brett Favre in 2008.
In Love’s final game of the summer, he went 9-of-15 for 63 yards with one touchdown and zero interceptions, good for a 91.8 rating. He also ran three times for 21 yards to pick up a couple first downs; he also caught his own pass, which probably gave coach Matt LaFleur a bit of heartburn.
Love started slowly. His first five dropbacks produced three incomplete passes and two runs. But he got rolling on a 15-play touchdown drive. After Jayden Reed dropped a pass and Love missed Christian Watson for what should have been a 49-yard touchdown, Love completed his final four passes. The last of those was a back-shoulder pass to Watson against Michael Jackson for a 6-yard touchdown.
The extra point was blocked, so Green Bay led 9-0.
Drew Lock’s 18-yard touchdown pass to rookie receiver Jake Bobo late in the first half made it 9-7. Anders Carlson’s 57-yard field goal on the final play of the first half gave the Packers a 12-7 lead. For what it’s worth – and it’s worth nothing, again – Mason Crosby’s 56-yard field goal against Minnesota in January was the longest by a Packers kicker in Lambeau Field history.
Photo by Wm. Glasheen/USA Today Sports Images
From there, the second half was filled with some of the ugliest football imaginable before some late and exciting drama.
Finally, after an eight-punt exchange, with 6:38 remaining in the fourth quarter, someone scored. It was Seattle. Drew Lock, who the Packers hosted on a predraft visit in 2019, hit Easop Winston with deep shots for gains of 30 and 33 yards. SaRodorick Thompson scored from the 1 for the touchdown, and Thompson caught the 2-point play.
That gave Alex McGough – a seventh-round draft pick by Seattle in 2018 – a chance to be the hero. On second-and-14, McGough threw a picture-perfect deep ball to undrafted rookie Jadakis Bonds against former Packers cornerback Benjie Franklin for a gain of 52 to the 12.
Moments later, on third-and-7, McGough found undrafted rookie Cody Chrest – a Packers shareholder – open over the middle for 8 yards to the 1 at the 2-minute warning. Nate McCrary powered it in for the score on the next play.
Holton Ahlers replaced Lock for the 2-minute drive. His 25-yard completion to Tyjon Lindsey put Seattle across midfield. On third-and-7 from Green Bay’s 12, undrafted rookie Benny Sapp’s goal-line interception clinched the win.
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