In a game the Green Bay Packers never led until the 1:31 mark in the fourth quarter, third string quarterback Sean Clifford (8-13, 97 yards, 1 rushing TD) led a comeback drive that was capped off with an 11-yard keeper for the go-ahead score, putting the Packers finally on top, and it would stay that way, 23-19.
Erasing deficits is nothing new to Green Bay, as they started behind against the New York Jets last week as well with a similar story line, a lot of penalties, and few explosive plays. However, without their starting QB Jordan Love and RB Josh Jacobs, the offense was focused on spreading out the ball and seeing what young guys could do.
A spark came in the second half from Canadian QB Taylor Elgersma (6-10, 74 yards, 1 TD), who is competing with Clifford for the third-string position. He led the Green Bay offense to their first possession inside the red zone midway through the third quarter. Elgersma, with the support of tailbacks Israel Abanikanda (9 carries, 38 yards) and Amar Johnson (6 carries, 24 yards, 1 TD), completed two scoring drives including an impressive 18-yard crossing route to Cornelius Johnson (3 catches, 41 yards) on fourth-and-3 early in the fourth quarter, which set up Johnson's score later in the drive.
No starters played, and most didn't warm up for Green Bay due to an extensive injury list already, and it got longer after Saturday's game. Safety Omar Brown, who had a standout game last week against the Jets, sustained a chest injury that LaFleur called "scary," and will stay in Indianapolis for at least one night. Additionally, rookie Barryn Sorrell left the game with a knee injury, and Marshawn Llyod was slow to recover after a big hit on the sidelines following a long run-after-catch in the first half.
Overall, it was a much better performance than last week's game against New York, but there is still much improvement to be made, especially getting out of the gates early and not holding themselves back with penalties. One more preseason game awaits before every game holds a purpose towards the chase of another trophy in Titletown.
