Without Rodgers, Packers play preseason dud at Baltimore

The offense performed miserably and the defense performed miserably as Baltimore beat Green Bay 26-13 on Thursday night.

Matt LaFleur’s offense will make its debut next week in Winnipeg.

Maybe.

With Aaron Rodgers inactive due to back tightness and running back Aaron Jones kept on the sideline after he returned to practice this week, the Green Bay Packers were down two of their top playmakers. Not surprisingly, the offense was punchless against one of the best defenses in the NFL as Green Bay lost 26-13 at Baltimore on Thursday night.

“I think we’d like to see him” play next week against the Raiders in Canada, coach Matt LaFleur said after the game, “but you’re talking about a veteran quarterback that’s played a lot of football. I don’t think it’s a necessity, but it’s certainly something that we’d like to see.”

With Rodgers and most of the starters not playing last week against Houston, DeShone Kizer got the start at quarterback and played the first half and Tim Boyle played the third quarter. Kizer again got the start but the playing time was weighted toward Boyle. Kizer went 5-of-10 for 70 yards in two series. Boyle played into the fourth quarter and, aside from a touchdown drive in the third quarter, struggled. He finished 12-of-21 for 107 yards and one touchdown.

While Green Bay’s offense couldn’t get going, its defense again missed a boatload of tackles. The Ravens scored on three of their first four drives en route to a 13-6 halftime lead. Green Bay got the ball to start the second half but a Boyle-to-Dexter Williams handoff turned into a fumble. The Ravens recovered at the 6. Two runs by Justice Hill were turned into the necessary 6 yards and six points, thanks to missed tackles by linebacker Curtis Bolton and defensive back Natrell Jamerson on the first run and defensive backs Will Redmond and Mike Tyson on the second run.

That sequence of plays encapsulated the Packers’ night.

“As a whole, it wasn’t good enough,” LaFleur said.

Green Bay’s lone touchdown drive came midway through the third quarter. After the Packers rushed seven times for a pitiful 7 yards in the first half, Darrin Hall blasted through a big hole cleared by left tackle Adam Pankey and left guard Cole Madison for a gain of 28. One play later, Boyle hit receiver Allen Lazard for 25 on play action. A play after that, Boyle found Lazard again for 22 more yards. That made it first-and-goal at the 7, with Boyle lofting a pass over the defensive back and into the hands of undrafted rookie receiver Darrius Shepherd for a touchdown.

At 20-13, the Packers had a chance to make a game of it but got run over by the Ravens’ deep backfield. Nine consecutive runs – including a fourth-and-1 keeper by quarterback Trace McSorley that gained 17 – set up a 41-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter that made it 23-13.

Boyle and Co. couldn’t continue their momentum from the previous drive, with a sack on first down, a botched screen on second down and a checkdown-to-nowhere on third down. The Ravens tacked on an insurance field goal.

Rookie quarterback Manny Wilkins got the final three drives. Four penalties, two negative runs and a sack sabotaged his first two drives, and LaFleur called two let’s-get-the-hell-out-of-here runs on the third series to end the game.

The Packers fell to 1-1 on the preseason. The Ravens have won 15 consecutive preesason games, having gone undefeated in 2016, 2017 and 2018 and 2-0 to start this preseason.