Five Disappointing Performances From Packers-49ers

Too many mistakes, especially turnovers, doomed the Green Bay Packers in their preseason loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers’ depth chart has some glaring holes that need to be solved before the 2022 NFL season kicks off at the Vikings on Sept 11.

One of those is at tight end until Robert Tonyan is cleared for takeoff following last year’s torn ACL. With Tonyan’s proven pass-catching prowess, the Packers have a tight end for every role with Tonyan has the receiver, Marcedes Lewis as the blocker and Josiah Deguara as the player who really excels in space. Until Tonyan returns, the Packers will be counting on Tyler Davis to fill that pass-catching niche.

At cornerback, there’s a dangerous lack of depth. Of course, with Jaire Alexander, Eric Stokes and Rasul Douglas, the Packers are fortunate that their cornerback conundrum is limited to the next man up. But somebody has to be that fourth corner just in case one of the starters breaks a shoelace or breaks an ankle.

At outside linebacker, the Packers desperately need somebody to step up behind Rashan Gary and Preston Smith. At least at cornerback and safety, with some good fortune, those backups won’t need to play a meaningful snap of defense all season. Because outside linebacker is such a demanding position, that depth will have to play significant snaps every week. Last year, Gary and Smith were off the field for a combined 788 snaps. Two of the players in the mix to be that that third outside linebacker are Tipa Galeai and La’Darius Hamilton. Galeai dropped out with a shoulder injury and Hamilton was inactive with a groin injury.

Here are five disappointing performances from Friday night’s loss at the San Francisco 49ers.

QB Jordan Love

After Love threw three interceptions, Matt LaFleur – like any good coach – went to his defense. From his vantage point, two of the interceptions were drops and the third stemmed from a couple wrong routes. He’s right. But his second interception of the night, the one to Romeo Doubs, should have been an easy completion for a first down. Instead, the throw was high and behind Doubs, which turned a routine play into a disaster. On the third, Amari Rodgers wasn’t open. Period.

“Certainly, I know he’s going to want a couple of the throws back and, certainly, something of the reads,” LaFleur said. “It’s never perfect for a quarterback but I thought it was a smooth operation. I thought he got us in and out of the huddle extremely crisp and with urgency. I thought he made some off-schedule plays, I thought he showed some nice athleticism on a couple of those runs, as well. So, there were a lot of good things out there from Jordan. Just the poise that he showed in the pocket, that’s something we’re looking at. Overall, I thought just the process of everything I thought was a pretty good first step for him.”

It's worth noting that, in his first real action last season, Aaron Rodgers posted the fourth-lowest passer rating of his NFL career in the debacle vs. the Saints. With the game rust knocked off, he threw 37 touchdowns vs. two interceptions the rest of the season en route to winning his fourth MVP. So, let’s see how Love does next week against the Saints.

RB Patrick Taylor

With Kylin Hill rehabbing a torn ACL, the No. 3 running back is a wide-open battle. Patrick Taylor has been that player throughout training camp while undrafted rookie Tyler Goodson’s explosive ability has thrust him into that competition.

Goodson got the start and Taylor, perhaps because he’s coming off a groin injury, didn’t get many opportunities. While Goodson had a 23-yard catch on a screen, fellow undrafted rookie B.J. Baylor had a catch-and-run gain of 68 and Dexter Williams had a 25-yard run just a couple days after re-signing, Taylor rushed three times for 10 yards and didn’t catch of his targets in the passing game. One was an off-target throw by Love but the other was a drop.

TE Tyler Davis

Turnovers lose games. With Green Bay trailing 10-7, Amari Rodgers’ long kickoff return set up the offense at the Niners’ 46. A fourth-down completion from Jordan Love to Josiah Deguara helped move the ball to the 14. On first down, Love’s throw went through tight end Tyler Davis’ hands for an interception that was returned all the way to Green Bay’s 39. On the next play, the 49ers were celebrating a touchdown and a potential 14-point swing.

Coach Matt LaFleur and general manager Brian Gutekunst have spoken highly of Davis since May.

“Tight end’s an interesting position because they have to understand the entire (offense), almost like they’re a quarterback,” Gutekunst said this week “You know the running game, the passing game, so there’s a certain level of intelligence you have to have.

“I think also obviously there’s athletic attributes – size and speed and stuff we’re looking for – but whenever you take guys, whether is a wide receiver that’s coming in as a tight end like Robert and Tyler as quarterbacks/receiver types, there’s a little bit of a level of toughness to play physical on the line of scrimmage that takes time. But there’s got to be a willingness to do it, as well. I think those are some of the things we look for. I think you’ve seen throughout this league for a long time, whether it’s basketball players, that tight end positions you get guys from everywhere.”

LB Ray Wilborn

Behind starters De’Vondre Campbell and rookie Quay Walker, there are openings at inside linebacker. Second-year player Isaiah McDuffie has seized control of one of those spots with a high-quality training camp. With experience as a two-year starter, Krys Barnes probably has a spot, too. Is there room for a fifth?

From a size-speed perspective, former undrafted free agent Ray Wilborn isn’t all that far behind first-round pick Walker. Wilborn had an ugly stat line, though: 30 snaps, one assisted tackle, two penalties.

CB Rico Gafford

The cornerback-turned-receiver-turned cornerback had a rough night in his first game on defense since the 2018 preseason.

He was torched on a 39-yard touchdown. Ray-Ray McCloud cut to the post and Gafford wound up on his back side. “It looked like Rico slipped or something,” LaFleur said. While he made a nice breakup to show why he’s gotten the occasional first-team rep, he was beaten for a gain of 23 moments later.

Gafford intercepted six passes during his final two seasons at Wyoming, then ran a 4.22 in the 40 at pro day. The Raiders moved him to receiver in 2019, and that’s the position at which he was signed by the Packers in January. He’s short; at 5-foot-9 1/2, he wouldn’t even be on Green Bay’s draft board.

“Coming out as a defensive player, we really liked the athlete,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said this week. “When we got him here as we started looking at how the team might shake out [after drafting three receivers], we thought it might be better to move him over. You talk about a guy that’s made a lot of his opportunities. And in his limited opportunities, he’s been a pretty good [special] teams player as well. There’s some mentors of mine who would not be happy from a height perspective, but he’s showing ability to overcome it a little bit.”

On Friday night, however, Gafford was clearly outplayed by Shemar Jean-Charles, Keisean Nixon and even Kiondre Thomas.

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