The Good, Bad And Ugly From The Green Bay Packers’ Win Over The Colts

Improvement. Corrections. And intensity.

Those are the areas Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur emphasized after his Packers were whipped, 30-10, by the New York Jets in their preseason opener.

LaFleur had to be happy after Green Bay checked most of those boxes during a 23-19 win over host Indianapolis Saturday. The Packers rallied from a 13-0 hole and got the game-winner when reserve quarterback Sean Clifford had an 11-yard touchdown run with 1:31 left.

The Packers then survived when Indianapolis’ Jelani Woods appeared to make a 30-yard reception at Green Bay’s 1-yard line with 7 seconds left. The replay official reversed the call, though, to an incomplete pass and Green Bay escaped.

“I think there’s value every time you go out and compete, you’re always striving to win,” LaFleur said. “It always feels good to win. I mean, that’s the name of the game. So you’ve got to find a way to do it and sometimes it’s not as pretty as others. But bottom line is, you got to find ways to do it.”

Here’s the good, bad and ugly from the Packers’ win.

THE GOOD

TAYLOR ELGERSMA: The Packers will almost certainly keep just two quarterbacks — Jordan Love and Malik Willis. They also traditionally keep one quarterback on the practice squad.

That player could be Elgersma.

Elgersma, a Canadian quarterback from the University of Wilfrid Laurier, came to Green Bay’s rookie mini-camp in May as a tryout player and impressed. Elgersma, who played 12-man football in Canada, certainly faced long odds to stick around then — and now.

But Elgersma had a solid day against the Colts, completing 7-of-11 passes for 109 yards, posting a 96.4 passer rating and leading all three of Green Bay’s scoring drives. Now, Elgersma could be a better option for the practice squad than holdover Sean Clifford.

“Yeah, I thought, I thought there was a lot of good things that he did,” LaFleur said of Elgersma. “Obviously led us on a couple of scoring drives.

“I do think there were a couple times where he put the ball in jeopardy in some tough situations, and we got bailed out by a penalty on the defense. So I think there’s a lot to like, but also a lot to learn from.”

SEAN CLIFFORD: Clifford was Green Bay’s No. 2 quarterback in 2023 and was on the practice squad last year.

Clifford was in for just one series Saturday, but made it count.

Clifford led a 13-play, 68-yard drive and capped it with an 11-yard touchdown run that gave the Packers their first lead of the game at 23-19 with 1:31 remaining,

“It’s fun to have a two-minute drill,” Clifford said. “I think that’s always been one of my M.O.s is to come out strong and be able to close games. I believe I’m a winner and when I’m given the opportunity, I’ll take the most of it. It was fun to able to go out there and win the game with the boys.”

Clifford and Elgersma will likely be battling for a spot on the practice squad when Green Bay hosts Seattle in its final preseason game on Aug. 23.

FOURTH DOWN FUN: The Packers picked up a pair of fourth downs on their first series, which ended with rookie Mark McNamee missing a 39-yard field goal.

On a fourth-and-1, running back Chris Brooks gained four yards on a run up the middle. Then on a fourth-and-5, Willis avoided the rush and found tight end John FitzPatrick for nine yards to keep the drive alive.

Although the Packers came away with nothing after McNamee’s miss, their fourth down execution was impressive.

GETTING DEFENSIVE: The Packers’ No. 2 defense went head to head with the Colts’ No. 1 offense and allowed just three points in two series.

Indianapolis had 116 total yards in those series, highlighted by 101 passing yards from quarterback Daniel Jones. But Green Bay’s defense never broke, forcing a punt and then holding the Colts to a field goal.

THIS AND THAT: Undrafted rookie running back Amar Johnson had his second touchdown run in as many weeks. Johnson had a nine-yard TD run, one week after ripping off a 39-yard scoring run against the Jets. … Second year running back MarShawn Lloyd, who played in just one game last year due to injury, had a 33-yard reception. … Defensive lineman Deslin Alexandre ran a stunt up the middle and sacked quarterback Anthony Richardson. … Linebacker Kristian Welch stuffed running back Ulysses Bentley for no gain on a third-and-2 to kill the Colts’ first drive of the third quarter. Welch later broke up a pass and showed that he’ll be a hard player to release in 10 days. … The Packers’ No. 1 offensive line (from left) was Jordan Morgan, Donovan Jennings, Sean Rhyan, Jacob Monk, Anthony Belton. … Mecole Hardman had a 21-yard reception from Willis on a third-and-6. … Defensive end Arron Mosby drew a holding penalty that helped kill an Indianapolis drive and force the Colts to settle for a field goal. … Bo Melton broke up slant route for wideout Ashton Dulin.

THE BAD

COSTLY FUMBLE: Packers backup running back Emanuel Wilson, fighting for a roster spot, had a critical fumble that led to an Indianapolis field goal.

Wilson ran for 502 yards last season, averaged 4.9 yards per carry and had five total touchdowns. But with Josh Jacobs and MarShawn Lloyd locks to stick around, Wilson and Chris Brooks are fighting for what’s likely the third and final running back job.

Wilson did rush for 33 yards on six carries (5.5), but his fumble is the last thing he wanted to put on film.

BAD MEMORIES: Rookie kicker Mark McNamee reminded everyone in Packer Nation how fortunate they are to have Brandon McManus as their kicker.

McNamee, a rookie kicker from Ireland, missed a 39-yard field goal on Green Bay’s opening drive. He later missed an extra point with the game tied, 16-16.

The misses brought back bad memories of Anders Carlson and Brayden Narveson, who both flopped in the last two seasons.

Fortunately for the Packers, McManus — who made 50-of-51 kicks (98.0%) in the regular season last year — isn’t going anywhere.

THIS AND THAT: Rookie defensive end Barryn Sorrell left the game with a left knee injury. … Safety Omar Brown left on a cart with a chest injury. … Colts rookie tight end Tyler Warren was five yards behind Green Bay’s defense on their first series, but quarterback Daniel Jones overthrew him. … Guard Donovan Jennings was called for a holding penalty that wiped out an eye-popping, one-handed 31-yard reception by wideout Julian Hicks. … Kamal Hadden had a holding penalty on a kickoff. … Johnathan Baldwin was called for a holding penalty on a third-and-9 that gave the Colts a first down.

THE UGLY

FOLLOW THE COLLEGE BLUEPRINT: Year after year, fewer and fewer teams play their starters many meaningful snaps. Aside from a few players, Green Bay’s first teamers didn’t play at all Saturday.

The paying customers have lost all interest, as well.

Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium, which holds 70,000, was about half filled Saturday. In the Packers’ first preseason game, the crowd was announced at 71,000, even though historic Lambeau Field was no more than half full.

In college football, there are no preseason games. Teams go right from training camp to the regular season.

It’s time the NFL adopts a similar model.

NFL teams know how 80-90% of their 53-man roster will look when they finish mini-camps in June. It’s rare when more than a player or two comes out of nowhere in training camp.

The best solution is for the NFL to add an 18^th regular season game, eliminate the preseason contests, and put an end to these exhibition contests once and for all.

ROOKIE WOES: Packers rookie second round draft pick Anthony Belton had a solid debut last week. Things didn’t go as well this week, as Belton was tagged with five penalties — one that cost the Packers a touchdown.

Belton was called for a holding penalty early in the second quarter. On that same drive, Belton was hit with a 15-yard, unnecessary roughness penalty that killed that drive.

Later, Belton was hit with another 15-yard penalty for a facemask. Belton also had two illegal formation penalties, including one that wiped out a Green Bay touchdown.

“They all bother me, but you can’t be getting personal fouls because that really hurts the team, puts you in a really tough position to try to convert first down,” LaFleur said. “So that is completely unacceptable in my mind.

“I love the effort. It’s just you got to be smart in those situations. We’ve got to clean that up.”

FLAG FOOTBALL: The Packers finished with 12 penalties for 95 yards. The Colts had 11 penalties for 103 yards.