Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) had a solid night against New England Saturday.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.Earlier this week, a statewide radio clown donned a New York Jets’ No 8 jersey — which is Aaron Rodgers’ new number — and asked Packers coach Matt LaFleur to sign it.
LaFleur reportedly said, “Nobody wants to see that.”
Packer Nation couldn’t agree more.
Before Green Bay hosted New England at Lambeau Field Saturday night, I looked at the name on the first 200 Packers jerseys I saw. Here were the results:
• Jordan Love — 68
• Brett Favre — 36
• Aaron Rodgers — 3
The fan base is clearly giddy about the Love-era. And for the second straight week, there was a lot to get excited about.
After a rough start, Love settled in and led a 93-yard scoring drive in a game New England would eventually win, 21-17.
The game was stopped with 10: 29 left after New England rookie cornerback Isaiah Bolden was carted off the field on a stretcher.
New England’s Green Bay’s win.
THE GOOD THE POWER OF LOVE: Green Bay ranked 17th in passing offense last year and 14th in scoring offense. Love made a pair of throws that should give the Packers hope they can improve those numbers.
Love threw a gorgeous deep ball to second-year wideout Romeo Doubs for a 42-yard completion down the right sideline. Doubs, who beat cornerback Isaiah Bolden, was initially ruled out of bounds. Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur challenged the play, though, and the call was reversed.
On the same drive, Green Bay had a second-and-5 from New England’s 19. Rookie Jayden Reed lined up in the right slot, made a nifty move to get off the line untouched, then came right to left on a crossing route.
The Packers gave Love a clean pocket, which he stepped into and fired a dart to Reed — who had a step on veteran safety Shaun Wade. Reed hauled in the pass at the 5, slipped Wade’s tackle and scored.
Love finished the night 5-of-8 for 83 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. His quarterback rating was 137.0.
In two preseason games, Love is now 12-of-18 for 129 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions for a passer rating of 124.5.
“He’s been doing a lot of good things,” Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said of Love. “I think the thing I’ve been really pleased with, and I think you guys have probably seen it too is his command, his confidence back there and some of the things he’s doing and how he’s leading our football team. I’m very excited for him.”
KING KINGSLEY: The Packers have a plethora of gifted outside linebackers. But second-year man Kingsley Enegbare could be poised to take a big jump in 2023.
On the Patriots’ second possession, Enegbare whipped third string right tackle Sidy Sow and sacked Mac Jones for a 9-yard loss to end that drive.
On New England’s next possession, Enegbare beat reserve left tackle Andrew Stueber, sacked Jones and forced a fumble. Enegbare then beat two Patriots to the loose ball and recovered the fumble.
Enagbare had three sacks, five tackles for loss and tied for fifth on the team with eight quarterback hits in 2022. He’s had a solid summer and was sensational Saturday night.
“I mean his knowledge of the game is a whole lot better,” outside linebacker Preston Smith said of Enagbare. “He knows what he’s doing.
HEATH BAR: Undrafted rookie wide receiver Malik Heath is getting closer to making the team.
Heath made a bevy of big plays throughout and finished with five catches for 75 yards.
“It’s just taking advantage of the opportunities that are presented to him and certainly he’s done that,” Gutekunst said of Heath. “It’s tough for any of these young players, specifically UDFA’s, you may only get so many opportunities per day and when you do you’ve got to capitalize to try to earn more opportunities. And he’s done that and I think that’s why you’ve seen his opportunities increase.”
ANDERS CARLSON: The Packers continue to preach patience with their rookie kicker, who has struggled throughout the summer. On Saturday, though, Carlson showed why Green Bay used a sixth round pick on him.
Carlson made a 52-yard field goal and drilled both extra points, including a 37-yarder.
Carlson had been just 51-of-72 on all of his kicks, a dismal mark of just 70.8%. So Carlson’s successful night should go a long ways to boost everyone’s faith in the young kicker.
“We believe in him,” Gutekunst said of Carlson earlier this week. “He’s got a lot of talent. He’s done some really good things since he’s been here. We’ve seen the leg strength and the power. We like the way the ball elevates off of his foot. You’ve got to find a way to get to a more consistent level.”
THIS AND THAT: Undrafted rookie running back Emanuel Wilson, who ran for 111 yards last week, had another solid night with 15 carries for 63 yards. Wilson, an undrafted free agent out of Division 2 Fort Valley State, began training camp deep down the depth chart. But Wilson continues to impress and is in the mix to be Green Bay’s No. 3 running back. … Patrick Taylor, who’s played in 23 games the last two seasons as Green Bay’s third running back, had a nifty 8-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. Taylor bounced a play around the left edge, got a nice block from rookie tight end Luke Musgrave and scored. … Rookie defensive end Karl Brooks had a tackle for loss.
THE BAD SWING AND A MISS: The Packers had horrendous coverage on Kayshon Boutte’s 42-yard second quarter touchdown. Boutte whipped rookie cornerback Carrington Valentine on a slant, rookie safety Anthony Johnson whiffed on his tackle attempt and Boutte scored.
FROM THE INFIRMARY: Safety Tarvarius Moore (knee), wideout Dontayvion Wicks (hamstring) and offensive lineman Jake Hanson (shin) all left and didn’t return.
THIS AND THAT: New England ran 26 plays in the third quarter to just five for Green Bay and had an edge in time of possession of 12: 25-2: 35. … Several Packers did not suit up including offensive linemen David Bakhtiari, Caleb Jones and Luke Tenuta, cornerbacks Jaire Alexander, Eric Stokes and Corey Ballentine, running backs Tyler Goodson and Lew Nichols, safety Innis Gaines, outside linebacker Rashan Gary, inside linebacker De’Vondre Campbell, wideout Bo Melton and tight end Tyler Davis.
THE UGLY ROUGH START: Green Bay had a third-and-5 on its opening series and Love worked from the shotgun. Love appeared to be barking out the play when center Josh Myers snapped it over Love’s right shoulder.
The ball rolled back to the Packers’ 18-yard line, where New England linebacker Josh Uche recovered. Five plays later, running back Rhamondre Stevenson scored from 1-yard out to give the Patriots an early 7-0 lead.
SHEMAR JEAN-CHARLES: Green Bay’s third-year cornerback is in a fight to make the roster after playing sparingly his first two seasons. Jean-Charles did little to help his cause against New England.
Charles missed a tackle in the second quarter that led to a 23-yard run by Stevenson. Later, Jean-Charles had a pair of defensive holding penalties.
Jean-Charles was active for just six games last year and played just three defensive snaps, so this is his time to impress. Unfortunately for Jean-Charles, that didn’t happen Saturday night.