It was Green Bay Packers big and early on Saturday against the Seattle Seahawks. The Packers built up a 20-0 lead by halftime before the team shifted into cruise control and played bottom-of-the-roster players to win 20-7.
Here’s how the first nine Seahawks drives started: punt, fumble, fumble, downs, downs, punt, punt, punt and punt. That doesn’t include a muffed punt return where Seattle lost the football because Corey Ballentine pushed a Seahawk into returnman Jake Bobo. The NFL doesn’t officially
list muffed returns as drives at all. Many people are calling it the drive that never was.
To say the least, the Packers’ defense suffocated Seattle’s offense today. Jalen Milroe, the Day 2 rookie who played every snap of offense for the Seahawks, did manage to get on the board with a touchdown in the fourth quarter, though. Milroe was 13 of 24 on the day for 148 yards. He also took five sacks for a loss of 25 yards and fumbled three times, all of which were recovered by Green Bay.
In total, the Packers forced four turnovers, all fumbles. Linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper, defensive end Deslin Alexandre, defensive end Brenton Cox Jr., linebacker Quay Walker and defensive tackle Devonte O’Malley were all credited with sacks on Milroe.
On the flip side, Green Bay’s offense, mostly made up of backup players due to injury and pitch counts, wasn’t able to do much today with the field position they were afforded by the defense. The one 20-plus-yard gain for the Packers on Saturday was a beautiful catch by first-round rookie receiver Matthew Golden up the right sideline.
Green Bay continued their quarterback rotation of Taylor Elgersma and Sean Clifford in the third spot on the depth chart today, a job that will ultimately lead to a practice squad opportunity. Elgersma was 6 of 8 for 33 yards and a touchdown, along with two sacks, while Clifford was 6 of 9 for 19 yards and two sacks. Malik Willis, the Packers’ second-string passer, was 3 of 6 for 50 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Kicker Brandon McManus continued his strong summer with two field goals and two extra points made. His long today was 52 yards. Punter Daniel Whelan also hit a 67-yard punt with huge hang time. For the first time, Mecole Hardman, who had been working as a punt returner this preseason, also got looks as a kick returner today. He didn’t bring out a kick and only brought out one punt for 10 yards before being shut down for the day for undrafted rookie receiver Will Sheppard.
The Packers were outgained 206 to 253 yards in this one, but being +3 in turnovers, along with forcing the Seahawks to go 3-17 on third and fourth down, was the difference in the win.
