The Packers’ preseason finale gave Green Bay plenty to like, plenty to worry about, and a 42-38 win over the Cardinals that felt chaotic in all the usual August ways. The offense flashed, a rookie defender popped, and the depth chart at a few key spots looked anything but settled as Week 1 approaches.
One of the biggest bright spots came from rookie defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton, who missed the first two exhibition games before showing exactly why the Packers were intrigued. On one snap, he beat Cardinals right tackle with an inside move and brought down Gardner Minshew for a sack. It was the kind of burst that can stick in a coaching staff’s mind.
The quarterback battle behind Jordan Love may have gotten a little more interesting, too. Kyle McCord opened by missing his first three throws, then settled in and completed seven straight passes.
He finished with four touchdown passes, including a 36-yard score to J. Michael Sturdivant and another pair of TD throws to Kisean Johnson.
One of McCord’s best moments came after Arron Mosby picked off Kedon Slovis, setting up McCord to capitalize. Tyrod Taylor’s place in the pecking order doesn’t look secure.
Not everything on defense held up nearly as well. Arizona had real success attacking Green Bay’s secondary, and cornerback depth remains a clear concern.
Domani Jackson took the brunt of it, especially on a 41-yard touchdown from Minshew to Simi Fehoko that left Jackson beaten badly. The Cardinals, of all teams, put up points in a way that should make Green Bay uneasy.
The issues up front weren’t limited to the back end, either. The Packers may need help on the defensive line, and the bigger need looks to be at defensive tackle rather than on the edge.
Micah Parsons will be back eventually, which makes an edge trade feel more like a luxury move. What Green Bay really seems to need is a run-stuffing interior body.
Arizona ran for 115 yards on its first 13 attempts, and that’s a problem worth addressing.
On offense, the receiver room keeps looking deeper by the week. Will Sheppard, who was an undrafted free agent last year, continued making noise after catching six passes for 47 yards and a touchdown against the Broncos last week.
Against Arizona, he added another touchdown on a 12-yard connection with McCord and later turned in the kind of special-teams play that can change a roster conversation entirely: an 81-yard punt return touchdown. With Savion Wiliams injured and Skyy Moore’s NFL career not exactly trending upward, Sheppard’s stock is soaring.
Trey Smack also kept building his case. The rookie kicker drilled two field goals in the mid-to-late 30-yard range and made all four of his extra points. Drafting a kicker is always a bold move, but Smack keeps validating the Packers’ sixth-round investment.
There was more encouraging news along the offensive line, where Jager Burton looked like a steal. Live PFF grades gave him an 81.3 pass-blocking mark on 16 reps, and he held up well while McCord was dropping back all night.
Sean Rhyan’s contract extension and Burton’s fifth-round status keep him from a Week 1 starting job, but the rookie showed he could be ready if needed. With college experience at both guard spots, he gives Green Bay another possible answer if Jacob Monk or Aaron Banks can’t handle the job.
Even with some promising performances, the game also made clear that the Packers may need to keep working the post-cuts market. The interior offensive line still has questions, the running back room is unsettled because of Josh Jacobs’ legal situation, and the defensive tackle group could use another addition despite the rise of Jonathan Ford and Anthony Campbell. Green Bay got a preseason win, but it also got a fresh reminder that the roster still has some unfinished business.
In Other News...
Packers Bubble Battle Just Got Much Harder To Call
The Packers wrapped up the preseason with a 42-38 win over the Arizona Cardinals, and even with a lot of their top players sitting out, there were still plenty of roster decisions to chew on. Backup quarterback Kyle McCord made a strong case for himself in the finale, throwing for 226 yards and four touchdowns, while rookie defensive player Dani Dennis-Sutton notched a sack in his NFL debut and kicker Trey Smack handled his chances cleanly with two field goals and four extra points.
Green Bays reserve defense, though, gave up plenty of yardage and left a few fringe players with uneven tape at the worst possible time, which is exactly why the bubble is tougher to read now than it was a week ago. A final preseason game is supposed to help sort out the edges of the roster, but for the Packers, it may have only made a few of those decisions more complicated. [Read more 🡒]
Packers Just Got A Tougher Final Receiver Decision Than Expected
Several lower-end Packers wide receivers made a late push in the third preseason game, giving the front office more to weigh as roster cuts approach. J. Michael Sturdivant stood out most on the box score, finishing with six catches for 112 yards and a touchdown, while Isaiah Neyor, Will Sheppard and Kisean Johnson also found ways to help their cases with scoring plays and special teams work.
Still, the problem in Green Bay is simple: there are only so many wide receiver spots to go around. The competition has made the back end of the depth chart a lot less clear than it looked going in, and performances like these only sharpen the question of which receivers have done enough to survive the final trim to 53. [Read more 🡒]
Packers Face Three Tough Roster Calls As Cutdown Day Nears
With roster cutdown day arriving Aug. 30, the Packers are getting close to the part of camp where every snap carries extra weight. Green Bay has to trim from 90 players to 53, and that means a few bubble players are running out of time to make a late push or find a clearer path into the picture.
Darian Kinnard, Drake Dabney and Domani Jackson all appear to be on shaky ground based on how they have looked in preseason and where they sit on the depth chart. The evaluations so far have left each of them fighting an uphill battle, even as the Packers sort through the bigger roster puzzle and determine which fringe players are worth carrying into the regular season. [Read more 🡒]