The Green Bay Packers floundered in the season opener for the second-straight year, falling 23-7 to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday after losing 38-3 in Week 1 last season.
Once again, Matt LaFleur’s team will need to dig out of a 0-1 hole.
Here’s the good, the bad and the ugly from the Packers’ Week 1 loss to the Vikings;
The Good
RB A.J. Dillon: His 15 touches gained 91 total yards, and he scored the Packers’ only touchdown. The third-year back ran hard between the tackles and looked increasingly comfortable catching the ball out of the backfield. He actually led the Packers in catches and targets.
The special teams: There wasn’t a massive mistake made by the third group. Coverage on kicks and punts was generally good, and Amari Rodgers has a comfortable day as a returner. In terms of achieving mere competence on special teams in 2022, Week 1 was a good start.
DL Kenny Clark: The Pro Bowler produced a team-high six pressures, including two hits on Kirk Cousins.
The Bad
The passing game. How would the game have unfolded had Christian Watson hauled in the 75-yard touchdown to open the game? Who knows. But it went off the rails early for the Packers passing game and never really recovered. Aaron Rodgers averaged 5.7 yards per attempt, took two sacks and turned the ball over twice. It was a disjointed performance marred by physical and mental mistakes. The four-time MVP wasn’t at al happy with all the mental mistakes, both by perimeter players and the offensive line, and the veteran quarterback held the ball and wasn’t decisive or accurate. Packers receivers caught just 11 passes for 93 yards, including just five catches for 32 yards from veterans Sammy Watkins and Randall Cobb. There’s a lot to clean up here.
Injuries: Linebacker Krys Barnes might have suffered a season-ending ankle injury, and starting left guard Jon Runyan Jr., top pick Quay Walker and No. 4 cornerback Keisean Nixon all left the contest with injuries and didn’t return. While Barnes’ injury was serious, the Packers will hope the other three can return quickly.
Red zone: The Packers failed twice on fourth down in the red zone, including a stop on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line. Late in the game, the offense had a chance to make it a one-score game but couldn’t find the big play to finish the drive. The margin for error is razor thin for an evolving offense early in the season, and the Packers can’t afford to squander scoring opportunities. Seven points from three red-zone trips isn’t good enough.
Right side of offensive line: Right guard Jake Hanson and right tackle Royce Newman were overmatched. Hanson gave up a sack to Za’Darius Smith and struggled in the run game. Newman gave up a sack to Danielle Hunter. The Packers really need the offensive tackles to get healthy.
The Ugly
Coverage on Justin Jefferson. How does the primary focus of a defense end up catching nine passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns? And how does a veteran secondary with good players bust so many coverages? Jefferson is an elite talent, but too much of his production came on uncontested catches without a primary defender in the same zip code. Sure, the Vikings did a nice job moving him around and stressing the coverage. But the Kevin O’Connell didn’t reinvent the wheel in terms of designing route combinations for Jefferson; simple crossers and deep overs gave the Packers fits. Jaire Alexander wanted more opportunities to shadow Jefferson one-on-one but Joe Barry and the Packers stuck to their zone coverages. The result was a career-high in receiving yards for Jefferson to open the 2022 season and a disappointing start for a hyped-up Packers defense.
