Happy Reunions; Sloppy Game

Old Friends Sharing a Laugh, Photo by Ben Margot, AP

Friday night's game was reminiscent of those "Grandma went to Cancun, and all I got was this T-Shirt" gifts.  Sixty minutes of football, over 3 hours of clock time, and only 1 touchdown to show for it, as the Raiders beat the Packers, 13-6, Friday night.  It was a sloppy game for both teams, and there were more penalties in the game than points scored.

The Raiders have plenty of ex-Packers on their team and staff.  Jared Cook, Jordy Nelson, Edgar Bennett, Reggie McKenzie, and probably others who don't come to mind.  The feel-good part of the night was in warm-ups, with Rodgers throwing a pass to Nelson, and Carr throwing a pass to former college teammate Davante Adams.  But it was mostly downhill, once the game started.

I am not sure what ever happened to the idea that starters play at least a quarter, if not a half, in the third preseason game.  I suppose, at least for the Packers, the specter of Jordy Nelson's preseason injury a couple years ago still looms large.  At any rate, I am glad we decided not to pop for tickets, inflated concession prices, a four hour drive each way, and a hotel room to go to this game.  It was boring on TV and presumably almost as boring in person.  What a shame for the Packers to play so poorly in the same stadium where they played one of the most memorable games in Packers history, the "Irvin Favre" game.

What do we make of the fact that QB Tim Boyle didn't play at all?  Either the Packers plan to cut him and were much more interested in seeing Brett Hundley and DeShone Kizer play, or the Packers have decided that Boyle is good enough to try to sneak him onto the practice squad, and by not playing him, they hope to avoid another Taysom Hill debacle like they had last year.  I suspect the latter. 

The main problem for these QBs was that the backup offensive lineman provided very little protection, and they were running for their lives.  I went back and forth on which QB looked better, as I thought that Kizer looked more poised in the pocket than Hundley.  But Kizer had too many inexcusably bad throws, so I have to give the nod to Hundley.  Still, the Packers have a Damarious Randall trade invested in Kizer, so I wonder if they would really cut him?  I suspect he ends up as the number 2, or the Packers keep three QBs. 

Last year showed that after several years of development, Hundley could not be counted on when he was needed, which makes me think there is more upside with Kizer.  McCarthy has acknowledged that Hundley was not ready last year.  But since McCarthy is supposed to be the quarterback whisperer, is that more the fault of Hundley or the fault of McCarthy himself?  And if he was not ready last year after 2 plus years of preparation, what reason is there to think he would be ready this year?

The defensive backs, meanwhile, may have had the best game Friday night.  While Jaire Alexander gave up a huge pass to Amari Cooper on the first play from scrimmage, he came back to make his first interception of the preseason later in the game.  And Josh Jackson made his second pick-six of the preseason, although this one was unfortunately nullified by a penalty on the other side of the field.  Over the weekend, the Packers traded DB Lenzy Pipkins to the Colts for LB Antonio Morrison.  I know nothing about Morrison, but it is obvious that the Packers have at least a little need for additional depth at LB, having lost Jake Ryan for the year, what with Oren Burks having injured his shoulder in warmups!  But the thing the trade shows me is that the Packers are feeling pretty good about their defensive back situation.

The Packers' final preseason game, this Thursday night in steamy Kansas City, probably will not have many starters playing either, at least on offense.  On defense, the new system under Mike Pettine requires some more playing time by the starters.  If they can just get through this last game without any additional injuries, it will be time for some football that actually counts.