Holes in field leave hole in preseason preparation

Oh, and the Packers lost 22-21 to Oakland in Winnipeg on Thursday night.

In the latest black eye for NFL preseason football, the Green Bay Packers lost 22-21 to the Oakland Raiders on an 80-yard field in a half-empty stadium in Winnipeg on Thursday.

The game was played at the home of the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers. CFL games are played on a 110-yard field and the goalposts are planted in the end zones. The field was reconfigured for the NFL but, inexplicably, the holes in the end zones were inadequately patched. Thus, due to safety concerns, officials from both teams agreed to play on a short field. Midfield became the 40-yard line and the 10-yard lines became the goal lines.

“I pretty much stayed out of that,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “I was just focused on trying to get our football team ready to go. I said, ‘Hey, just let us know what we’re doing and we’ll adjust.’”

Both teams adjusted by keeping their starters on the bench.

“We were going to have all of our starters play,” LaFleur said. “We certainly have all played on much worse surfaces in our life, but it was just one of those deals where they weren’t playing their starters, and so we just decided to sit them.”

After being held out of the preseason opener against Houston and missing last week’s game at Baltimore due to back tightness, quarterback Aaron Rodgers watched again from the sideline.

“It had nothing to do with the back, I can promise you that. It’s more the field conditions,” Rodgers told John Kuhn of the Packers Television Network.

Because LaFleur kept most of his starters on the bench for the Houston game and almost certainly will keep his key players on the bench for next week’s preseason finale against Kansas City, the first-year coach will roll into his regular-season coaching debut at Chicago on Sept. 5 with his front-line players getting little preseason action. That includes zero snaps for Rodgers.

“I feel confident in our preparation,” LaFleur said. “Hindsight’s 20/20 and I know we’re going to get second-guessed every which way, but I’m not too worried about it. I’m concerned about how we go about our business.”

Nonetheless, the Packers sustained a couple noteworthy injuries. Rookie linebacker Rashan Gary got his neck bent while making a tackle; his agency said on Twitter that Gary is “doing fine.” Receiver Equanimeous St. Brown suffered what appeared to be an injured left ankle when his foot got stuck in the turf following a helmet-to-helmet collision.

With Tim Boyle getting the start at quarterback and playing the entire first half, the Packers took a 21-10 halftime lead. The Packers’ first three possessions ended in punts before Boyle and Co. got rolling. Green Bay took a 7-3 lead on Boyle’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Trevor Davis, a 14-10 lead on Boyle’s 16-yard touchdown pass to Jake Kumerow and a 21-10 lead on Tra Carson’s 2-yard run.

Boyle’s night ended with him going 16-of-25 for 191 yards with two touchdowns and a 113.9 passer rating.

Oakland won the game with nine unanswered points in the fourth quarter. Nathan Peterman’s touchdown pass to De’Mornay Pierson-El pulled the Raiders within 21-19 with 5:53 remaining. The Raiders went for the game-tying two touchdown pass but Peterman’s pass deflected off the hands of the running back and was intercepted by inside linebacker Brady Sheldon.

DeShone Kizer, who started the first two preseason games but performed miserably against the Raiders, couldn’t get the necessary first downs to run out the clock. The Raiders took possession at their 24-yard line with 2:51 remaining. On the first play after the two-minute warning, Sheldon was penalized 15 yards for unnecessary roughness for a big hit on running back Mack Brown. Sheldon had a sack on the next play but a 25-yard completion to Keon Hatcher over Nydair Rouse set up the game-winning field goal.