GREEN BAY, Wis. — Given the situation at running back, it was always likely that Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur was going to strip the training wheels from his quarterback.
Jordan Love attempted 19 passes in the first half of Sunday’s season-opening divisional clash with the Minnesota Vikings. He completed nine of them for 199 yards and a pair of touchdowns—both of which went to wideout Christian Watson. That includes an 81-yard reception on a crossing route on the Packers’ second possession of the game. For a moment, it appeared that it was going to be called back due to an illegal block from fellow receiver Matthew Golden, but the flag was picked up.
All three of the Packers’ opening drives led to points. Rookie kicker Trey Smack connected on field goals from 59 and 43 yards out.
Kyler Murray exited the game with what was later diagnosed as a concussion following a brutal hit from safety Javon Bullard. He was replaced by Carson Wentz, who started several games for the Vikings last season. J.J. McCarthy, their former first-round pick, is the emergency No. 3 quarterback.
It seemed that every single time Love dropped back to pass, crazed Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores was sending the house on well-scripted blitzes that pushed the pressure into his lap. It didn’t help that the Packers’ interior is the weakest point of their offensive line; Donovan Jennings and Jacob Monk are the two starting guards. They combined for three allowed pressures in the first half.
When asked what factored into the decision to start Jennings, LaFleur attributed it to “time on task” throughout the offseason and training camp.
“He’s done a nice job, so I feel like he earned that opportunity,” he said.
The worst moment of the first half featured an onslaught of penalties. Jennings was called for a false start on first down, followed by Love’s incomplete pass on first-and-15. A four-yard run from Chris Books was negated by a holding penalty on center Sean Rhyan, which made it second-and-25. Love would then fire incomplete passes on second and third down.
For the most part, the Packers’ defense held up well in its first audition under new coordinator Jonathan Gannon. Cornerback Keisean Nixon split a sack with defensive tackle Jonathan Ford to start the Vikings’ sixth drive, but the celebration was short-lived. Wentz completed a pair of third-down passes to Justin Jefferson and T.J. Hockenson to keep the Vikings’ drive alive. He’d then draw Lukas Van Ness offsides and heave a 39-yard deep ball to Jefferson with rookie cornerback Brandon Cisse in coverage.
The Packers’ final drive of the first half couldn’t have been executed better. Thanks to a phenomenal blitz pickup from Brooks, Love was gifted an extra second to find returning tight end Tucker Kraft down the seam for a 23-yard gain. A couple of plays later, Love found Watson downfield for a 32-yard completion with an assist from cornerback Byron Murphy, who was flagged for defensive pass interference. The seven-play, 74-yard drive ate up 1:41 from the clock and concluded with Watson’s second touchdown catch.
Love was 6-of-14 for 155 yards and a touchdown against Flores’ relentless blitzing in the first half. There were several instances where the Packers failed to establish the run on early downs, forcing them to play from behind the sticks.
“I felt that he was getting the ball out of his hands,” LaFleur said after the loss. “That’s a tough defense to go against because they can cause a lot of problems. You can just see it in the fourth quarter especially, when we had to start throwing it—I’d even go back to the first half as well when we got behind the sticks. If we had a negative play, a negative run, it just opens the flood gates, and it’s a guessing game. Are they bringing it or are they bluffing you?
“That’s the game they want to play.”
A perplexing third-and-11 toss from shotgun to Brooks ended the Packers’ opening drive of the second half. LaFleur said that the Vikings’ defense was showing an “all-out,” look, but they bailed out of it at the last second to defend the run.
A quick Vikings possession returned the ball to the Packers, who capitalized this time around. Love found new tight end Jonnu Smith for a 43-yard completion on second-and-8, but the drive faltered in the red zone. Smack converted a 26-yard field goal, his third of the afternoon.
Standout kick returner Myles Price brought Smack’s kickoff back 68 yards, and the Vikings needed just six plays to find pay dirt. Wentz connected with Hockenson for a 16-yard touchdown reception when he easily shook free of coverage from linebacker Zaire Franklin. It appeared that safety Xavier McKinney was a step too late getting to Hockenson.
A major turning point in the game took place on the Packers’ following possession. The third quarter would end with Love being sacked for the first time; remarkably, it took that long for the Vikings’ rush to finally bring him to the turf. He’d respond with a 42-yard bullet to Golden that brought the Packers to the doorstep of the red zone. On third-and-6, the Packers failed to pick up the first down and were going to opt for another field goal from Smack, but Vikings edge rusher Dallas Turner jumped offsides, setting up a fourth-and-1.
LaFleur decided to take the points off the board and go for it, but Love’s quarterback sneak failed. The quarterback said after the game that he had two plays ready to be called at the line of scrimmage, but the Vikings were presenting a favorable look for a sneak.
“They did a good job stopping it,” Love said. “I think there’s some stuff I could’ve done better with my operation, and even with the play call. We had two plays called there—one was a quarterback sneak. I thought we could get it, and we didn’t.”
Sporting a 22-17 lead, the Packers’ defense had multiple missed opportunities to get off the field. Edgerrin Cooper would’ve had back-to-back sacks, but his second was negated by an illegal contact flag on Bullard at the top of Jauan Jennings’ route. Shortly after, rookie defensive tackle Chris McClellan was flagged for roughing the passer when he landed on top of Wentz.
Later in the drive, Wentz threw an interception to safety Evan Williams, but that, too, was wiped away by a holding penalty on McKinney. Aaron Jones would ultimately scamper in for a touchdown, giving the Vikings their first lead of the game.
With a chance to answer, the Packers didn’t even have an opportunity to get their drive off the ground. MarShawn Lloyd lost yardage on a first-down carry, and then Love was sacked on back-to-back dropbacks. Right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele was beaten badly on the first, and then right guard Jacob Monk followed suit. Love fumbled, with the Vikings recovering and setting up a first-and-goal.
“It’s really hard, but that’s what they want,” said LaFleur. “They want you to play 11 personnel and get behind the sticks, and now it opens up Pandora’s Box. They’re just lining up everybody on the line of scrimmage, and that’s tough to deal with.
“We had some good answers early, but ultimately, coaching, playing—it’s all of us. We have to do a better job of putting plays in position, and when we are in position, we have to execute. We have to play cleaner football. Far too many penalties tonight.”
The Vikings were only flagged thrice on Sunday. The Packers were flagged four times as much (12).
Any hope of a comeback after trailing 32-22 was cut short after Love threw a tipped interception on the ensuing drive. Three plays later, Wentz found Jefferson for their second scoring connection of the afternoon.
The Vikings scored 29 unanswered points to win 39-22, including 22 points in the fourth quarter alone. It’s eerily reminiscent of the Wild Card loss to the Chicago Bears in January when the Packers allowed them to go on a 28-6 run, including a 25-point fourth quarter. They were also much more efficient at cashing in on their red-zone trips, where the Vikings were 4-for-4. The Packers, meanwhile, were 1-for-4.
The Packers ran the ball (21) half as many times as they passed (42) and averaged just north of three yards per carry. Lloyd led the team with 13 carries for 37 yards, but whether it was him or Brooks, the ground game just never consistently found success.
For now, the Packers will have to once again sit with the bitter taste of a choked lead. Except this time, they don’t have the luxury of a full offseason to process it and move forward. They have a date in New York against the Jets next Sunday—time won’t wait. Dating back to last season, the Packers have now lost six consecutive games.
“We gotta keep getting better, keep working, keep going back to the drawing board and finding what went wrong and where we can improve,” Love said.
Zachary Jacobson is the author of The Packer Dispatch. He is entering his 12th season covering the Green Bay Packers after spending seven as the Editor-in-Chief of Packer Report. He is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America. Follow him on Twitter @zachjacobson or contact him via email at itszachariahj@gmail.com.