The Green Bay Packers won a close game against the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday. Of course, win, lose, or draw in preseason, it doesn’t matter. What matters most is the product on the field. And for the players, it could be the difference between making a 53-man roster with the Green and Gold, earning a spot on the practice squad, or having your NFL dreams end.
One can’t say these games don’t matter – or they shouldn’t anyway, because they do. They matter for the players and that’s what makes these preseason games so interesting.
That being said, preseason games can be ugly and tough to watch. Sometimes games can be ugly and fun to watch. This game was a mix of both tough to watch and fun to watch – separated by the two halves.
Packers Positives
MarShawn Lloyd
Lloyd was able to play in this one after getting back from injury earlier this week. Interesting note: Lloyd played in just one regular season game last season. Can you guess how many attempts and rushing yards he had? Six carries for 15 yards. Now, can you guess how many he had in Saturday’s preseason game? Six carries for 15 yards. Oh – and both games were against the Colts.
But Lloyd did more than just rush the ball; he also worked in the passing game and was able to have an explosive play on a wheel route that gained 33 yards. Lloyd did get injured on the play, but Lloyd still has the capacity of being everything the Packers want him to be.
Brandon McManus
McManus actually didn’t play in this game. The Packers let Mark McNamee do the kicking in this one. And like a throwback to last year’s preseason, it wasn’t too pretty. I can’t completely blame McNamee as he is still getting use to kicking in American Football, but his kicking wasn’t the best. McNamee missed his first field goal attempt this game and then went on to miss an extra point.
It really just made me thankful for Brandon McManus.
Packers Bo Melton and Julian Hicks
First of all, Bo Melton. It’s crazy to me that he was just a wide receiver not that long ago. Now, Melton is likely going to make the team as a cornerback and rightfully so. At this point, Melton might be the fourth best corner on this team.
Julian Hicks is for sure a NFL wide receiver and needs to be on a team somewhere. And the way things are going, he just might make it on the Packers. Hicks stats only say one catch for fourteen yards but he had not one but two fantastic catches for huge gains called back by holding penalties. His one-handed grab was an absolute thing of beauty!
Packers Negatives
Injuries
The Packers had three bad injuries in this one. I mentioned one earlier, but once again MarShawn Lloyd received another injury. It actually came on his great catch on the wheel route that I mentioned earlier. Matt LaFleur, when asked if Lloyd was injured, said, “We’ll see.” According to Tom Silverstein, the injury was hamstring tightness.
Barryn Sorrell left the game with a knee injury.
And finally, Omar Brown is staying the night in Indianapolis after receiving a chest contusion. LaFleur called it a “scary deal.”
O-Line
The starting offensive line is great. I would go so far as to say that one through seven on the offensive line is set and are ready to go for the regular season. That being said, everybody after the top seven is not doing well. At this point, I don’t know who will make the roster as the eighth or ninth offensive line. Maybe none of them at this point. Maybe it’s Mr. Outside Our Current Roster.
Friendly Reminder
This is just a preseason game. The Packers have never been known to run any of their schemes in preseason. It’s all very vanilla.
In other words, perspective matters here. You can’t expect the Packers to look fantastic! It’s not going to be pretty.
That being said, the end of this game was a fun one and Sean Clifford may have just saved his position as the team’s third quarterback.
Can’t wait for the next one.
And as always,
Go Pack Go!
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Damon is a diehard, fully-immersed cheesehead who currently lives in southern Missouri. He teaches at a local high school and has a family YouTube channel about all things Packers. You can follow him on twitter at @packersfamily and on YouTube at The Packers Family.
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