Packers wide receiver Jordy Nelson made his return to the field after missing all of the previous year, and he wowed in his return – which included hauling in career touchdown number 50 – breathing new life back into a passing attack that was stale and stagnant in 2015. And Jacksonville’s special teams were almost ideal.
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Parts of the offense looked better than expected, especially under the conditions (near 100-degree heat, adjusting to new personnel along the offensive line).
After making a diving catch in the back of the end zone, Jordy Nelson celebrated with teammates and then took a knee. “You’re not going to win a lot of games like that“. The contest gave Green Bay plenty to build on as it prepares for its next opponent.
A pervasive mentality among Green Bay Packers fans (and observers) is that any season with Aaron Rodgers that does not culminate with a Super Bowl win is a season gone to waste. In fact, if they fail to make it to the NFL Playoffs this season, it will be the tenth year in a row that the Jaguars don’t play in the post-season. The best thing to probably do is to keep working the run and pass, and out play-call the Vikings.
“It is tough on the defensive line”, he said of the scheme. I’m going with a low-scoring, defensive battle for this final score prediction, and the Packers should not be favored by much even with the Bridgewater injury. One play later, they had to punt and hope their defense could protect their four-point lead. Without him stretching opposing secondaries, Green Bay found fewer and smaller windows with which to exploit.
The clearest moment came with the Packers near the goal line on fourth down in the fourth quarter, leading 24-20. Rodgers tried to call two timeouts back to back, which resulted in a delay of game penalty, then threw an incomplete pass.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) – Aaron Rodgers was far from impressed with his season opener.
Despite the unexpected situation, the Jaguars were functional on offense, totaling 348 yards of offense to Green Bay’s 294.
The Packers’ defense, in particular, made a series of plays down the stretch against an explosive Jags offense to clinch the victory.
Depth has improved for the Packers secondary, with the ascension of young players such as Rollins and Randall playing well.
However, the defense did feature one major weakness though; it gave up too many big gains on the ground. Without Ivory, the Jaguars averaged just 1.8 yards a carry. The Packers held Jacksonville RB TJ Yeldon to 21 rushes for 39 yards and a touchdown, so they did a good job as well.
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He finished the game with six catches for a team-high 57 yards. It was well over 32 degrees and quite humid and overall, the third-warmest climate Green Bay has ever played in. After a failed attempt by Lacey to run it in, Rogers elected to take care of things himself, getting a 6-yard rushing touchdown on the second down. However, with Adrian Peterson and a Teddy Bridgewater-less Vikings waiting right around the bend, such a dominant performance against the run offers promise for another strong showing in a key divisional matchup.
