Winners, Losers From Packers’ Loss to Broncos

The Green Bay Packers were demolished by the Denver Broncos in Sunday night’s preseason game. In an ugly performance, there were some solid performances.

Denver Broncos running back Tyler Badie (36) gashes the Green Bay Packers defense for a big run. / Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers lost 27-2 to the Denver Broncos in a preseason game on Sunday night. While it’s true the Broncos played their starters and coach Matt LaFleur played his backups, it was 10-0 when it was starters vs. backups and 17-2 when it was backups vs. backups.

Here are the winners and losers from what LaFleur called a “long night” in Denver.

Winners

LB Ty’Ron Hopper

Hopper missed a week of training camp with an ankle injury and watched from the sideline last week at Cleveland. During the practices in Green Bay last week, he was limited to individual drills. So, he probably wasn’t in peak form against the Broncos, which was evident when he was duped on an early bootleg and seemed a bit slow to react in coverage to start.

Nonetheless, in a defense-high 51 snaps, he delivered a game-high 11 tackles.

It’s not just the stats. It’s the play style, which he described as “physical, fast, trying to get to the ball, show up, hit.” On first-and-goal at the 4, for instance, he hit Denver’s back at the 2 and drove him backward.

Hopper’s physicality is obvious. Paired with the athleticism that made him a third-round pick, the Packers have to be encouraged about his future.

“I take a lot from it,” Hopper, who is the backup to Quay Walker at middle linebacker, said of the game. “I was able to learn a lot of things, see a lot of different things that I haven’t seen before. I feel like this will definitely be a plus being able to get those reps. Just learn from my mistakes and learn from the things that I did well, too.”

LB Kristian Welch

Welch, who grew up about an hour from Lambeau Field, would appear to be one of the players on the roster bubble. He plays a position that was fortified this offseason by the additions of Edgerrin Cooper in the second round and Hopper in the third.

His lot in life is special teams; in four NFL seasons, he’s played 1,101 snaps on the kicking units and 44 on defense.

Special teams will be his ticket to the 53 this year, too, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to be a viable backup. He’s delivered a couple of thumping line-of-scrimmage hits on the practice field and played with his typical physicality at Denver. He had six tackles, one tackle for loss and a leaping interception on a pass deflected by James Ester.

“It was pretty high up there for a tip,” he said. “I just tried to high-point it and make the play. I just take it one play at a time and try to take advantage and win that play. That’s really my mindset. I did that the last couple weeks, run to the ball. If you’re around the ball a lot, God usually takes care of you; the football Gods. That’s all I’m trying to do.”

OT Andre Dillard

It appears the Packers have settled on Dillard as their swing tackle. Dillard started at left tackle and played 14 snaps. On a night filled with problems on offense, he was the least of them. After a strong performance at Cleveland, Dillard appears to be the next man up behind Rasheed Walker and Zach Tom.

On the back-to-back deep passes by Sean Clifford on the opening series, Dillard earned decisive wins in one-on-one reps. Last week, offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said pass protection was the priority for the swing tackle.

Here were the snap counts for the starting line: Dillard, 14; left guard Royce Newman, all 59; center Sean Rhyan, 29; right guard Jacob Monk, 42; right tackle Kadeem Telfort, 39.

DE Brenton Cox

Cox’s only statistical contribution in 26 snaps was a third-quarter sack but he applied relatively steady pressure; Pro Football Focus credited him with a team-high five pressures in 17 pass-rushing snaps.

If he can just find the happy medium between being aggressive and overaggressive because the first play any offensive coordinator should run against him is a fake-toss bootleg.

DE Zach Morton

How can you not give a tip-of-the-cap to the leading scorer of the night?

Injuries at defensive end necessitated the signings of Morton and Brevin Allen on Aug. 10. Let’s be blunt: They were signed as camp bodies.

But let’s also be real: They are here because they can play.

Allen, who played in a couple games for the Chargers last year as a rookie, played 15 snaps and had one sack.

Morton, who was released by the Lions at the end of training camp last year and was out of the league for the rest of the season, played seven snaps and also had a sack. Lining up at right defensive end, he looped inside and buried Zach Wilson for a safety.

“As an undrafted guy, the preseason means everything,” Morton said. “I treat it like it’s honestly my Super Bowl. I just try to go out there and do what I can do. I know everybody’s watching. It definitely pays off.”

S Kitan Oladapo

Oladapo suffered a broken toe at the Scouting Combine and was sidelined all the way into training camp. Last week against the Browns, he played nine snaps on special teams but didn’t get a single snap on defense.

Against the Broncos, he played 32 snaps on defense and recorded four tackles (five if you include one nullified by offensive holding). He wasn’t great and he’s not going to challenge Javon Bullard and Evan Williams for a role in the Week 1 defense. But the traits that he showed at Oregon State – size and physicality – were on display. It was a good starting point for the fifth-round pick.

Losers

No. 2 Defensive Line

Yes, it was starters vs. backups to start the game, but the Packers’ No. 2 defensive line of ends Lukas Van Ness and Kingsley Enagbare and tackles Colby Wooden and Karl Brooks are going to be key players.

With the demands being placed on the linemen in this attack-style defense, gone are the days of Kenny Clark and Co. playing 45 or 50 snaps a game. So, this group is going to play. A lot. Against starting offensive linemen.

Sunday was terrible. While they applied a few pressures, they generally were pushed around. Denver’s top running backs, Javonte Williams and Jaleel McLaughlin, each averaged 5.7 yards per carry and Bo Nix had time to carve up the secondary. If not for Nix stepping just beyond the line of scrimmage, the Broncos’ No. 1 offense would have scored touchdowns on both possessions.

Brooks did draw a holding penalty in the second quarter.

QBs Sean Clifford, Michael Pratt

The Packers had reason to feel good about their backup quarterbacks. As a rookie last year, Clifford had a strong preseason and a knack for coming through in 2-minute situations at practice. In this year’s draft, the touted Pratt somehow fell into their laps in the seventh round.

Clifford has failed to take a Year 2 jump this summer, though, which opened the door for Pratt to steal the No. 2 role.

With two of his four possessions coming against Denver’s starters, Clifford went 6-of-10 for 43 yards. He was part of a botched snap to start the game, took a horrible sack on his third possession and threw an interception on his final pass of the night; LaFleur seemed to blame that more on tight end Joel Wilson than Clifford.

Pratt went 10-of-16 for 52 yards when it was backups vs. backups. He did his receivers no favors on a couple slants that could have picked up first downs.

“I think the production kind of speaks for it,” LaFleur said. “It wasn’t just on them. It’s everybody. It’s all 11. We’ve got to block better up front. We’ve got to finish runs better. We had a couple of drops. I think it’s just collectively all 11 have got to be better in order for us to have any success offensively.”

WR Grant DuBose

DuBose was targeted three times (one nullified by a penalty) and didn’t catch any. After a roughing-the-punter penalty gave the Packers a fresh set of downs in the second quarter, he dropped Clifford’s on-the-money pass on first down. On fourth-and-1 in the third quarter, Pratt’s fastball went through his hands. A more catchable pass certainly would have helped but the coaches will charge DuBose with a drop.

He did have a big-time hustle tackle on a fourth-quarter punt in which he was double-teamed, knocked down, got up and limited the return to 6 yards.

TEs Tyler Davis, Ben Sims, Joel Wilson

Playing in his first game since suffering a torn ACL, Davis’ only statistical contribution was offensive holding.

Sims, who had a tremendous week of practice, missed a block on a punt, which resulted in roughing the kicker. Later, he wound up on the ground in pass protection and his assignment put Clifford on the ground.

Wilson, who had had a good stretch of practices, as well, was at least partially to blame for the interception.

“I think we’ve got to flatten that route a little bit, a little bit more, try to show up in that window quicker,” LaFleur said.

K Greg Joseph

If GM Brian Gutekunst had to pick his roster after the Cleveland game, he might have gone with Joseph over Anders Carlson at kicker. However, Joseph missed four field-goal attempts at practice in Green Bay and shanked a 47-yard field goal against the Broncos.

At this point, the Packers Kicker Power Rankings might go Carlson, Veteran To Be Named Later, Joseph and Alex Hale.

OT Travis Glover

One of the big mismatches of the night had Glover, a sixth-round pick in this year’s draft, lining up at right tackle across from third-year Broncos pass rusher Nik Bonitto, who had eight sacks last year as a backup.

Officially, Bonitto had two tackles, one quarterback hit and zero sacks, but he was one of Denver’s most impactful players.

Glover’s got some skill that’s worthy of developing but he’s not ready for prime time.

Really, most of the linemen could be lumped into this note. One of the “big” offensive plays of the night was an 11-yard run by Clifford in which Glover and Telfort were beaten on the outside and the interior failed to pick up a stunt.

It’s certainly not a good sign that Newman, who started 24 games and played 1,718 snaps from scrimmage in his first three seasons, played every snap in a preseason game.

CB Kalen King

First, let’s make this clear: King is going to be a good player. His instincts and trigger are excellent, and he’s a better athlete than his Scouting Combine times would indicate.

Against the Broncos, he was in coverage on Denver’s opening touchdown, though that would have been a tough play for any corner to navigate through the traffic to stick with Tim Patrick. 

On a third-and-17 in the second quarter, he missed a tackle on Grant Duclich that allowed the tight end to turn a gain of 8 into a gain of 18 and a first down. He missed another tackle later in the game. Slot probably is King’s best position. Because of his proximity to the action, a slot defender has to be a good tackler.

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The #Packers lost 27-2 at the Broncos, and all the excuses are just that.

Excuses.

The Packers have some real problems. If you don't want to take my word for it, then take Matt LaFleur's word for it. ⬇️https://t.co/aYLMTjNf9X

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 19, 2024

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