The Law of the 5 P's goes as follows, "Proper preparation prevents poor performance." The Packers play against the Denver Broncos Sunday night reflected how their practice went this week of poor performance. With Love and a majority of the Packers' first team not playing, this gave ample opportunity for certain players to prove themselves that they belong on the roster. The Packers' offense seemed to have suffered from a power outage as nothing clicked for them the entire game. Even when the offense's sloppy play was bailed out by Denver penalties, the Packers could not capitalize and consistently failed to move the chains. 

The Packers have real concerns at quarterback depth

All eyes were on Sean Clifford as he got the nod to start, however his play was so underwhelming he did not even finish the final drive of the first half. Clifford came out aggressive, attempting two long bombs on the first drive, both incompletions. One was just out of the reach of Malik Heath as he had a step on his defender and the other was on a 4th down attempt intended for Bo Melton, but was broken up. One could argue that the refs missed a pass interference call, but the turnover on downs was not an ideal start. For Denver, rookie quarterback Bo Nix looked completely confident and poised leading the Broncos down to the redzone in the first drive only to get a touchdown called back because of an illegal forward pass to Javonte Williams and they settled for a field goal.

On the Packers' 2nd drive, running back Emmanuel Wilson continued to have positive yard gains with the run game and had a nice one-handed completion off a running back screen. However, the Packers were forced to punt and the ramifications lead to Nix torching the Packers defense, resulting in a second drive touchdown pass to Patrick Sutton. Clifford responded with a frustrating 3 and out drive as he showed inexperience holding the ball for too long which lead to a sack losing 10 yards.. The Packers were bailed out by a roughing the kicker penalty, but again went three and out resulting in a punt. Rough waters for Clifford. 

There was a chance to put points on the board before halftime with a two-minute drill. Clifford completed a momentum gaining 3rd and 4 to Heath. The Broncos bailed out the Packers again giving them a first down on a roughing the passer call putting them in a prime position at midfield for at least a field goal attempt. In momentum killing fashion, Clifford threw an interception that was run back deep into Packers territory setting a Jarrett Stidham QB sneak touchdown for the Broncos. A nightmare way to end the first half as the score was 17-0 at halftime. Clifford finished 6-of-10 with 43 yards passing, 1 interception and a QBR of 30.4. Ouch!

The Packers did not have much better luck with quarterback Michael Pratt running the offense for the remainder of the game. Pratt finished 10-16 for 52 yards resulting in 0 points for drives scored. Other offensive starter stats for the Packers were leading rusher Wilson who finished with 41 yards on 13 carries and leading receiver Heath who had three receptions for 22 yards. The Packers were able to get a safety by DL Zach Morton for points, but the icing on the cake was Greg Joseph missing a 47-yard field goal as the competition for starting kicker still is unanswered. It's never a good thing when the defense scores more points than the offense as the final score was 27-2.

Positive Takeaways

Packers' DB Luke Van Ness was a monster. Nix's only incompletion of the game was caused by Van Ness making his presence felt, pressuring the Broncos rookie QB to force a bad pass. Look for Van Ness to elevate this season and be an impactfull player for the Packers. Rookie LB Ty'Ron Hopper lead the team in tackles with 11 including 6 solo tackles and LB Kristian Welch finished with 6 tackles and an interception. Punter Daniel Whelan, who was playing the XFL last year, continues to impress with his booming kicks.

Unfortunately for the offense, there were not any real positive takeaways. Although the defense had its moments of give up 3rd downs over the middle (where have we seen that before) the Packers inefficient offense deserves the focus of criticism and concern. They will need a solid practice this week as players look to bounce back and prove they belong on the 53-man roster. 

Five Fascinating Stats of the Game:

1st down from penalties- GB 3 Den 1
Penalties- GB 4-40 Den 13-120
3rd down efficiency- GB 3-13 Den 7-13
Passing Yards- GB 80 Den 154
Yards Per Pass- GB 2.9 Den 5.3