The Green Bay Packers were expecting a hot and sweaty game in Jacksonville. A close game which came down to the final 30 seconds might have been a surprise.
The Packers and Jaguars engaged in an entertaining back-and-forth game in Week 1, with Green Bay emerging with a 27-23 victory.
Surely, the Packers and their fans were sweating a little heavier by the end of the game, with Jacksonville driving for a game-winning score, but Green Bay made a stop on 4th-and-1 with 23 seconds remaining to preserve the victory.
Green Bay used a balanced -- albeit only semi-productive -- offense and flashed on defense (shall we say bend-but-don't-break?) when needed in winning its opener.
Here's a recap of Sunday's game:
SUNDAY SCHOOL
-- Green Bay quickly stepped up against the run. T.J. Yeldon opened the game with runs of 6 yards and 5 yards. Yeldon had 19 carries after that and gained a total of just 28 yards.
-- In the preseason, head coach Mike McCarthy would go for it on fourth down instead of kicking a field goal, presumably because he knew what Mason Crosby is already capable of. Maybe we had that wrong. On Green Bay's opening drive, after a Joe Thomas interception, the Packers went for it on 4th-and-1 from the 20 instead of having Crosby attempt a very makeable field goal. The end result? Eddie Lacy ripped of a 10-yard run and Green Bay eventually scored on a Rodgers 6-yard run.
-- Speaking of Rodgers and McCarthy, on that same drive we saw McCarthy, after an incompletion, use a challenge because Jacksonville had 12 men on the field (Dante Fowler was running off but didn't get there). McCarthy won the challenge and two plays later Rodgers scored. But one reason the Jaguars had too many men on the field is because Rodgers saw the confusion and snapped the ball quickly. He then knew he had a free play -- or a free 5 yards -- but no one threw a flag. That's when McCarthy stepped in and threw his flag. It worked to perfection. Teamwork.
-- Give credit to Damarious Randall on Jacksonville's final play of the game. On 4th-and-1 with 23 seconds left, the Jaguars called a bubble screen to Allen Hurns. Allen Robinson then went to block Micah Hyde, who was pressing at the line of scrimmage. Randall was playing well off the ball, but he read the play and crashed, helping bottle up Hurns as the Packers gang-tackled him to prevent the first down.
-- Jordy Nelson finally returned to action (and had his first touchdown in over 600 days) but he didn't have his first target until the second quarter. No worries. Nelson would lead the team with nine target and tie Randall Cobb for most receptions with six. However, Nelson averaged just 5.3 yards per catch. The Packers need him to stretch the field more than that.
-- Eddie Lacy had a nice game -- 14 carries for 61 yards -- but don't look for him to be busting out any super-long runs. On his 28-yard carry he was run down by a safety and a linebacker.
-- Game one of the post-Josh Sitton era went OK. The Packers rushed for just 3.8 yards per carry, but Rodgers was sacked only once and Jacksonville was credited with just three quarterback hurries.
-- We can see why Dom Capers wants Clay Matthews at outside linebacker. In back-to-back possessions he had a sack of Blake Bortles on third down to force a punt and blew up a pitch to Yeldon by getting into the backfield quickly, causing a 7-yard loss.
-- This was not a game of big plays. Green Bay had only one play of 30+ yards, a 32-yard pass from Rodgers to Cobb, while Jacksonville had three, with a long of 38.
-- In the fourth quarter, Green Bay had 1st-and-goal from the 6 then ran the ball three straight times (Lacy twice then James Starks) and could get only to the 2. Rodgers wanted to go for it, but with the score 24-20, McCarthy wanted that touchdown lead and went for the easy field goal. That's a lot of trust in your run game, but at some point don't you want the ball in Rodgers' hands there?
-- Something to keep an eye on as the season goes on is Green Bay's coverage of tight ends. The Packers appeared to struggle a bit with that against Jacksonville. Julius Thomas and Marcedes Lewis combined for seven catches on seven targets for 112 yards and a touchdown.
-- Green Bay had a delay of game on the first play of the second half -- how does this happen? -- and also had a delay of game following a timeout (Rodgers tried to call timeout but you can't call back-to-back TOs). Certainly need to clean up this part of game management going forward.
DULY NOTED
-- Jacksonville was without Chris Ivory, who was hospitalized before the game. He had been expected to split time with Yeldon.
-- Both teams tried plays with a fake handoff then a fake end around with the idea of going for a deep pass ... and neither worked.
-- Green Bay's top-three wide receivers (Cobb, Nelson, Davante Adams) all had 7+ targets. No one else had more than three.
-- Jacksonville's Robinson was targeted 15 times but had only six catches. The six other Jaguars receivers were targeted 24 times with 18 catches.
-- The Packers had 294 yards of offense. Green Bay has had 350 or less yards in each of its last four regular-season games and under 300 in three of the four.
WHAT IT MEANT
-- Maybe some didn't expect this game to be close, but you can never underestimate an opponent in the NFL. Plus, it was a Week 1 win. Maybe you don't think that is ultra-important, but since 1978 (when the NFL went to a 16-game schedule) only 134 of the 555 teams (24.1 percent) which lost in Week 1 made the postseason. (Sorry, Bears.)
PLAYER OF THE GAME
It was hardly the best game of Aaron Rodgers' career (20-of-34 passing for 199 yards with two touchdowns and a QB rating of 95.1), but it is hard to imagine Green Bay winning this game with another quarterback. Some of the things Rodgers did in the pocket were just quite simply amazing, whether it was buying time, throwing while being pulled down or scrambling into the end zone, Rodgers was the man (as usual) for the Packers.
DON'T FORGET ABOUT ME
The Packers' defense had some issues, but one of them wasn't the way it played against the run. Jacksonville could never get anything going on the ground and quickly became one-dimensional. The longest run of the day for the Jaguars? Seven yards. Overall, Jacksonville rushed 26 times for 48 yards, a 1.8 average.
THAT MOMENT
Jacksonville took a 17-14 lead with 1:09 left in the first half, but the Packers drove right down the field to the Jaguars 29, thanks to a pass interference penalty and two short passes. After a spike to stop the clock and an incompletion to Jared Cook, on 3rd-and-10, Rodgers somehow got away a pass while his jersey was being pulled by Jalen Ramsey. Davante Adams, who was just in the end zone but well covered, then dove and made a fantastic catch for a touchdown. I didn't do it justice here, but the play surely will be included in any 2016 NFL highlight reel.
THIS NUMBER
0 -- Number of turnovers for Green Bay. While the Packers didn't play error-free football, of course, if you don't give up the football, your chances of winning increase. It is especially good to have turnover-free football on the road. Jacksonville only had one turnover, the interception on the opening drive. With good field position, Green Bay scored. There's one of your keys to victory right there.
THEY SAID IT
"It really came down to fundamentals, just the way those guys pursued and finished on the football." -- McCarthy on Green Bay's final defensive play, a stop on 4th-and-1.
"It feels great having Jordy back. He does so many things well out there. He had a great second and third reaction on the TD catch." -- Rodgers on Nelson.
"Eddie is a big guy. I'm glad on this side of the ball and not the other." -- Lane Taylor, who started in the place of the departed Sitton, on running back Eddie Lacy.
WHAT'S NEXT
Green Bay travels to Minnesota for a Sunday night game. Not only will this be the Packers' initial division game but also it will be the first regular-season game in the Vikings' new $1 billon stadium. Minnesota won its opener, 22-10 in Tennessee. However, the Vikings didn't score on offensive touchdown -- getting two scores from their defense -- as Adrian Peterson was held to 31 yards on 19 carries. Shaun Hill (18 of 33, 236 yards) started for Minnesota, but Sam Bradford could get the call.
Dave Heller is the author of the upcoming book Ken Williams: A Slugger in Ruth's Shadow as well as Facing Ted Williams Players From the Golden Age of Baseball Recall the Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived and As Good As It Got: The 1944 St. Louis Browns
