All the positivity the Green Bay Packers had coming out of their win last week in New England was completely destroyed in Pittsburgh today. The Packers lost a key part of their offense when Jordy Nelson went down on the opening drive with a reported torn ACL. Whether it was the news of Nelson’s injury or something else, the Packers did not play well on either side of the ball.
Last week in New England the Packers’ reserves played very well following the starters quick work, but that was totally opposite today. The Steelers roared back from a 10-point deficit when the Packers offense stalled and the defense couldn’t stop a third string quarterback.
The topic of the week will obviously be the loss of Nelson. Jordy’s uncanny ability to get open on crucial plays will be sorely missed. Davante Adams will now be the starter while guys like Jeff Janis, Ty Montgomery and Myles White will have to pick up the slack. It won’t be easy, that’s 21 touchdowns the last two years that has just been taken from the offense.
Elsewhere the Packers were equally bad in all areas. Outside of the opening drive the offensive line was a sieve, both with the starters and without. The secondary that looked so promising last week showed its youth today. And the problems stopping the run reared its ugly head again.
One really scary part of the game was the Packers horrible play once again on special teams. Penalties and muffs, punts too long and way too short, poor kick coverage, it looked pretty much like the same unit that cost the Packers the NFC Championship last year. Why head coach Mike McCarthy stayed in house to replace Shawn Slocum is beyond me.
In the Packers defense, the preseason schedule didn’t do them any favors with a 10-day layoff after their first game. Why they would agree to that makes no sense. Now they will have a long stretch at home with six of their next eight games being in the friendly confines of Lambeau Field.
Next Saturday the Philadelphia Eagles bring their high-powered offense to town in what is traditionally the preseason’s “trial run” game where starters play into the second half. It could be a real shootout and we’ll find out how the Packers adapt to the loss of Nelson.
Hopefully on defense Clay Matthews can return so we get a chance to see how they move him around against a quality offense like Chip Kelly’s Eagles. If the Packers want to get off to a fast start this season they can’t be waiting eight weeks for the defense to come around.
The final preseason game against the Saints on September 3 won’t answer any questions because none of the starters play. Next week is your 2015 Packers’ preview.