What We Saw: Preseason Week 1

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Packers @ 49ers

Final Score: 49ers 28, Packers 21

Writer: Chuck Steele (@ChuckSteele_T2T on Twitter)

Tis the Preseason for some football and last night we were gifted with an explosive match-up between classic rivals. The Green Bay Packers were visiting the San Francisco 49ers and as usual, it did not disappoint. Sure its only preseason and we didn’t get to see any of Aaron Rodgers‘ magical moments, but there was still plenty on display to which might start to answer some of our off-season and training camp wonders. Lets dive into the game and see what we uncovered.

Green Bay Packers

Quarterback

Jordan Love: 13/24, 176 yards, 2 TDs, 3 INTs | 4 carries, 24 yards

Danny Etling: 6/8, 123 yards, TD, Sack | 4 carries, 18 yards

With Aaron Rodgers sitting this one out, the 2020 first round pick of the Green Bay Packers got the start. Playing for the whole first half, Jordan Love was able to show glimpses of why they spent a first round pick on the QB, while also showing why the Packers are still happy to have Mr. Rodgers in town.

Love showed some inconsistencies with his deep ball, once over shooting an open Romeo Doubs on what would have been a touchdown, but still showed poise and leadership two plays later to hit a wide-open Doubs for a 33 yard touchdown on a 4th and 3. He was able to secure his second touchdown pass of the game after leading the Packers down the field on a 75 yard drive with under two minutes to go before the half, hitting Danny Davis for a 33 yard touchdown.

However with the good came the bad. Some of Love’s placements were costly. Several of his throws were too high, too low, and one was picked off on a throw where Danny Womack was able to undercut the route and get his easy 2nd pick of the game. Though it was Love’s 3rd interception of the game, the first two picks were not fully on him. One tipped into the air after bouncing off an open receiver’s hands, and another fell out of Doubs’ hands and into the defenders in the middle of a tackle before Doubs had complete control of the pass.

Danny Etling took over to start the 3rd quarter, and though he completed a most of his 8 passes, he had over half of his yards early on an a beautiful throw to running back BJ Baylor who was able to turn a 10 yard pass into a 68 yard play. Etling looked good finishing with a touchdown, but there wasn’t much to do throwing it only 8 times in the second half of the game.

Running Back

Tyler Goodson: 12 carries, 37 yards | 3 targets, 2 receptions, 24 yards

Dexter Williams: 3 carries, 29 yards | 1 target

BJ Baylor: 7 carries, 19 yards | 2 targets, 2 receptions, 75 yards

Patrick Taylor: 3 carries 10 yards | 2 targets

Tyler Goodson was the lead back for the Packers with Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon sitting this one out. Goodson showed good speed and agility but lackluster blocking, as Goodson kept finding himself getting popped hard and often. With good blocking, speed, and being able to keep a defender at bay, Goodson was able to take a screen play 22 yards, which was his biggest play of the night. The rest of the Green Bay backfield didn’t fair much better. BJ Baylor did have a nice 75 yard catch and run on the teams first drive in the 2nd half, and recently signed former USFL back Dexter Williams ripped off a 24 yard run in the 4th quarter, but beside that it was tough sledding for the backfield.

Wide Receiver/Tight End

Romeo Doubs: 7 targets, 3 receptions, 45 yards, TD

Amari Rodgers: 2 targets, 1 reception, 22 yards, TD

Danny Davis: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 45 yards, TD

Samori Toure: 4 targets, 3 receptions, 42 yards

Juwann Winfree: 3 targets, 3 receptions, 27 yards

Josiah Deguara: 3 targets, 2 receptions, 12 yards

Rookie wide-out Romeo Doubs has received some recent hype coming out of Packers camp, and you saw parts of that on display Friday night. Doubs was targeted often by his quarterback Jordon Love, at times showing us what the talk in camp is all about, and again at times showing why he was the second wide-out drafted by the team behind currently injured Christian Watson. Doubs was able to get wide open twice, running past the defender for what would be easy scores. Doubs was over thrown on one of them but was able to haul in the other. He did, however, have several drops, and one play not securing the catch the ended up falling into the defenders hands on their way down to the ground. Danny Davis, and Amari Rodgers were also able to record touchdown receptions of their own. The rest of the receivers, Samori Toure, Juwann Winfree, and Josiah Deguara all saw at least 3 targets in their time on the field.

San Francisco 49ers

Quarterback

Trey Lance: 4/5, 92 yards, TD, 2 Sacks | 1 carry, 7 yards

Nate Sudfeld: 8/11, 103 yards, TD, 2 Sacks, Fumble | 1 carry

Brock Purdy: 3/6, 36 yards, TD | 3 carries, 4 yards

We finally get a season where Trey Lance will be the starting the quarterback of an NFL team, and if his first two drives were anything to predict the future, I’d be all in on Trey Lance. On his first drive of the game he was able to feel the heat early on, moving up in the pocket and taking off while having the awareness to slide to avoid the hit, right before the first down marker.

After the drive ended in a field goal, the coaching staff decided to roll out Lance for one more drive, with a much more successful outcome. Lance hit Danny Gray with a bomb, starting at the 24 yard line down wide open to the 46. Gray turned on the jets and took it the rest of the way for a 76 yard 49ers touchdown.

Trey Lance: QB1pic.twitter.com/441q02a4zB

— PFF (@PFF) August 13, 2022

Nate Sudfeld took over after, and to start the second quarter, threw a 39 yard touchdown to Ray-Ray McCloud who sprinted alone to the en dzone. Sudfeld didn’t impress much more after that.

Brock Purdy did contribute, showing off his athleticisim on his only drive, moving around in the pocket, extending plays and keeping the drive alive. He finished off throwing a touchdown to reclaim the lead for the 49ers, who never looked back after.

Running Back

JaMycal Hasty: 5 carries, 36 yards | 1 target, 1 reception, 11 yards

Trey Sermon: 6 carries, 11 yards | 1 targets, 1 receptions, 5 yards

Tyrion Davis-Price: 10 carries, 36 yards | 1 target

Jordan Mason: 6 carries, 30 yards

Trey Sermon got the start out of the backfield with Elijah Mitchell nursing a hamstring injury. With a chance to show he’s ready for more playing time, he didn’t do much with his opportunities. With no help from his offensive line, he was blown up several times either right at the line of scrimmage or in the backfield. He did receive one reception, which he only managed for 5 yards.

The other 3 backs for the 49ers, however, all managed to get to at least 30 yards rushing. JaMycal Hasty was the most effective, while also adding a reception for additional 7 yards. No running backs were able to score a touchdown.

Wide Receiver/Tight End

Danny Gray: 4 targets, 2 receptions, 99 yards, TD

Ray-Ray McCloud III: 4 targets, 4 receptions, 63 yards, TD, 1 Fumble (Lost)

Tanner Hudson: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 27 yards, TD

Austin Mack: 3 targets, 1 reception, 9 yards

Malik Turner: 2 targets, 1 reception, 8 yards

Josh Hokit: 2 targets, 1 reception, 4 yards

There is some big yardage for the 49ers receivers, however a lot of them came on a few big chunks. Danny Gray saw a beautiful deep ball from Trey Lance on the second drive of the game. Gray turned on the jets, showing off his speed he raced up field for a 76 yard score making up almost off his production on the night.

Ray-Ray McCloud had the most overall production, but also the biggest blunder. After the first quarter, McCloud was able to get wide open in the end zone to record a 39 yard score.

Check what Ray-Ray McCloud III does to the corner on this TD pic.twitter.com/n2NLMMEYqd

— Brandon Thorn (@BrandonThornNFL) August 14, 2022

He did, however, fumble the ball right before half time on a catch across the middle. Behind that in the receiving department there was nothing worth mentioning besides tight end Tanner Hudson‘s 5 yard, game clinching catch inside the end zone near the pylon.