GREEN BAY, Wis. — It’s not often you can say a preseason finale was a memorable evening, but the Green Bay Packers and Arizona Cardinals made Friday night an exception.
The well-documented brother-against-brother matchup between Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur and his older sibling, Matt, came down to the wire. Both teams combined for 80 points—the most for any pair of teams this summer—and the contest ended on a last-second Hail Mary attempt from Cardinals quarterback Kedon Slovis.
“Was that not the most entertaining preseason game you’ve ever seen in your life?” LaFleur asked to open his post-game press conference.
37 players didn’t suit up for the Packers, who rested the majority of their starting lineup and players who figure to play significant roles this season. That left the bulk of Friday night’s workload up to the team’s reserves, with Kyle McCord starting at quarterback and playing the entirety of the game. Tyrod Taylor was in uniform, but he was the Packers’ emergency quarterback if McCord suffered an injury.
It wasn’t that kind of night for McCord. In fact, quite the opposite—it was the kind of night that boosted McCord’s chances of securing the Packers’ No. 2 quarterback job.
McCord shined, completing 22 of his 35 passing attempts for 226 yards and four touchdowns with a passer rating of 119.5. At one point, the Packers trailed by multiple scores, but McCord’s arm—and his unstoppable connection with second-year undrafted wideout Kisean Johnson—ensured that they were never out of it. McCord threw for 79 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter, both of which were to Johnson. Johnson, who was claimed off waivers by the Packers on Aug. 9, had four receptions for 52 yards and the two scores in the fourth quarter alone.
“Kyle did a heck of a job, man,” LaFleur said. “He was so poised in his ability to operate and function. I think he definitely has the demeanor, no doubt about it. He’s in total control out there, and he’s willing to stand in the pocket, deliver in the face of pressure. I thought he did an outstanding job.”
The game opened with McCord behind an offensive line that consisted of John Williams at left tackle, Donovan Jennings at left guard, Jager Burton at center, Travis Glover at right guard, and Anthony Belton at right tackle. On the Packers’ fourth offensive possession of the game, Glover shifted to right tackle in place of Belton, while veteran Darian Kinnard entered at right guard.
It wasn’t the best night for Kinnard, who is on the roster bubble. He was called for a penalty and even surrendered a sack on McCord on the same drive. The second half opened with Kinnard moving to right tackle, Josh Gesky entering at right guard, Dylan Barrett stepping in at center, Dillon Wade at left guard, and Dalton Cooper at left tackle. Kinnard exited the game late in the third quarter, being replaced by Brant Banks.
The Cardinals started Gardnew Minshew at quarterback, and a veteran such as Minshew going against a platoon of backup players went about how you’d expect. He completed seven of his nine passing attempts for 126 yards and a touchdown before being relieved for Slovis. The Packers deployed Domani Jackson and Jaylin Simpson as their starting cornerbacks, with Kitan Oladapo as their nickelback. Arron Mosby and fourth-round rookie Dani Dennis-Sutton, seeing his first preseason action after missing the first two games with a heat-related illness, started on the edge. Ty’Ron Hopper and Nick Niemann opened the game at middle linebacker before Hopper was replaced by Kristian Welch, who finished the game.
Brandon Cisse, Keisean Nixon, Benjamin St-Juste, and Carrington Valentine all were held out of the game. That’s the top of the Packers’ depth chart at cornerback, and if anything can be learned from that, it’s that Jackson and Simpson have a long way to go if push comes to shove and they’re thrust into action.
Jackson was picked on for much of the time that he was on the field. He was targeted seven times, surrendering five receptions for 97 yards, and a 41-yard touchdown to Simi Fehoko. Simpson wasn’t much better, but he was on the field for 30 more snaps in coverage (49) than Jackson (19). He allowed seven receptions on 10 targets into his coverage for 66 yards, but he did have a pass breakup. For Jackson, it was his first extensive action since returning from an offseason core-muscle injury that kept him shelved for most of training camp; he played just 10 snaps in last week’s game against the Denver Broncos.
Kamal Hadden’s first snaps of the summer came last week in Denver, too. It was his first time back on the field since suffering a season-ending lower-leg injury on Dec. 27 and undergoing surgery. Against the Cardinals, he played 29 snaps—22 of which were in the slot. He wasn’t targeted a single time in coverage.
The Packers transitioned Hadden from an outside corner to the slot roughly two weeks ago during training camp, and so far, it’s been a successful experiment. Not only has he played well, but he offers flexibility to play both inside and outside if the Packers need to get creative with their alignment; that kind of value has almost undoubtedly earned him a roster spot.
It was a monumental night for receivers fighting for a roster spot in Green Bay. J. Michael Sturdivant, Will Sheppard, and Johnson all shined, giving the Packers some difficult decisions to make ahead of Sunday’s cut-down deadline.
Sturdivant hauled in six receptions for 112 yards and a 29-yard touchdown catch for McCord in the second quarter. The score capped off a two-play drive that was made up of both major completions to Sturdivant. Sheppard, meanwhile, caught three passes for 26 yards and a touchdown, but that wasn’t the only time he found the end zone. He also had an 81-yard punt return in the second quarter that was made possible by exceptional blocking.
Dennis-Sutton led the way for the Packers on the defensive side of the ball in the pressure department. In addition to sacking Minshew on the seventh defensive play of the game, Dennis-Sutton’s team-high of four pressures was followed closely by edge rusher Nyjalik Kelly’s three. Kelly, an undrafted rookie, also had a sack, an interception, and a tackle for a loss as he states his case for a potential roster spot.
“He’s made tremendous progress,” LaFleur said of Kelly. “I saw multiple other times late when they converted on third down where he’s hitting the quarterback just as he’s releasing the ball.”
Both of the Packers’ interceptions were the result of interior pressure created by defensive tackles. Jaden Crumedy assisted with the pressure that led to Kelly’s interception, while Nazir Stackhouse pushed the pocket into Slovis’ lap to force an errant throw that would wind up in the hands of edge rusher Arron Mosby.
The Packers have to trim their roster down to 53 players by Sunday at 5 p.m. CST. Afterward, they’ll be able to begin assembling their practice squad. Several of Friday night’s impact players will be listed in a flurry of transactions over the coming days, for better or for worse.