It wasn't at all pretty by any means, but the Packers were able to end the Preseason on a high note. Usually there's one thing you want from the final Preseason matchup from your starters. That being get in some work, stay fresh, but get out healthy. If you take that into consideration, the Packers accomplished their goal. 

But regardless of that goal, you still want your starters to look good to give you that confidence boost that you're ready for Week 1. Well, in the case of Saturday's matinee game at Lambeau, things were fairly sloppy for the starting offense at the beginning.  However, they were still able to put in a good drive later on to end on a high note.

The starting defense however, had a pretty good outing from the beginning. It wasn't until Seattle's fourth drive when most starters had been removed that their offense was able to score. So, that's one thing for Joe Barry to hang his hat on.

Nonetheless, some fine-tuning will be needed before kickoff vs the Bears. Let's get to the recap.

First Quarter:

The Packers started off the game from their own 25 and things were sloppy from the start. Two false starts from WR Malik Heath and TE Tucker Kraft sandwiched a 14 yard run by AJ Dillon. If not for that first run by Quadzilla, this drive may have gone south immediately. After an incomplete pass to Christian Watson, a penalty was on called on Seahawks Safety Joey Blount for taunting after he flashed the Aaron Rodgers title belt. I'm not sure Joey has done his research on the fact that Aaron Rodgers is no longer a Packer. Nonetheless that an opposing player doing the title belt never seems to go well for them later on. Other highlights on this drive included an 11-yard Jayden Reed end-around for 9 yards to the Seattle 33 before on 4th and 11 Anders Carlson split the uprights to put Green Bay on top 3-0 with a 43-yard Field Goal.

 Seattle took over with 9:54 remaining in the First Quarter, but outside a 10 yard pass from Drew Lock up the middle to Colby Parkinson, the drive ended in a punt placing the Packers on their own 9-yard line with 6:18 left in the quarter.

The following drive for the Packers unfortunately ended up in a three and out. But it was highlighted, or low-lighted by a Jordan Love pass to himself. That's right, put him in the Hall of Fame now. Jordan Love took a page out of Brett Favre's playbook when he threw a pass batted by a Seahawks defender and then Love caught it himself. Though fun, this unfortunately killed the drive forcing Green Bay to punt. Daniel Whelan then punted a booming 58-yard kick but possibly out-kicked his coverage as it was returned by Seattle for 21 yards to their own 48.

Seattle then took over with 4:07 left in the first. Or did Green Bay's defense take over? This drive was instantly killed as the Seahawks went backwards. Some nice plays by Isaiah McDuffie and Carrington Valentine wrapped up the drive and Seattle was punting again.

On the following drive the Packers offense finally got something going. Three Jordan Love passes and a few runs by Patrick Taylor and AJ Dillon got the Packers to mid-field as time expired on the 1st Quarter. Green Bay was finally cooking to hopefully put together a much better scoring drive than the previous.

Second Quarter:

The Packers started the second quarter from the Seattle 47 where they got into scoring position off two Jordan Love passes. One to Malik Heath for 15, and another to Luke Musgrave for 11 before Jordan Love hit Christian Watson on a shoulder fade for the touchdown. The Packers were up 9-0 before Anders Carlson's extra point was tipped by Seattle corner Michael Jackson and was no good.

Seattle took over with 12:00 left in the half and once again didn't go anywhere. Carrington Valentine made his presence known on a short pass to Colby Parkinson that went for no gain. Seattle set up as if they were going to go for it on 4th down and 1 at their 36, even calling a timeout before running the play. But instead the offense took off for the sidelines and the punt team ran on before the play clock expired and punted it to the GB 27.

Sean Clifford now taking over for the Packers at Quarterback started the drive with 10:13 left in the half. The drive got off to a good start highlighted by a Clifford pass to Tucker Kraft and a 10-yard scramble by the rookie QB leading the Packers to 4th and 2 at the Seatte 40 with 4:47 left in the half. Matt LaFleur elected to go for it but the Packers fell short on an Emanuel Wilson run that lead to a turnover on downs.

Taking over at their own 39 Seattle finally got cooking on Offense. DeeJay Dallas took off up the middle on 2nd and 1 for 27 yards on a run taking the ball down to the Packers 25 yard line. On 3rd and 3 from the GB 18 Drew Lock hit Jake Bobo for an 18 yard touchdown to put the score at 9-7 with 2:46 remaining in the half. 

Running the almost 2 minute offense, Sean Clifford was able to get the Packers to the Seattle 44 highlighted by a 14 yard pass to Samori Toure. But the drive stalled immediately after, forcing the Packers to punt. Or did they? An offsides call on Seattle on the following punt moved the Packers up to Seattle's 39. Matt LaFleur decided to give his young kicker a shot at a 57-yard Field Goal. After Seattle tried to ice Anders Carlson with a time out, he absolutely drilled a 57-yard Field Goal that from my vantage point looked like it could've hit from 60. This gave Seattle the ball back with 0:14 left in the half but they elected to kneel the ball and go to the locker room down 12-7.

Third Quarter:

The third quarter was when it seemed like everyone decided to take a nap. It was starting to look like both sides were content to just play conservatively and let the clock run out. In four drives, the Seahawks mustered 24 yards of total offense. The Packers only mustered 20 yards on three drives before their drive to wind out the quarter started with 3:20 remaining on the clock at their own 36.

The drive started out with a nice 17 yard run by Emanuel Wilson still making his case for a roster spot. It was followed up with a few more runs taking the Packers to the Seattle 38 before the clock ran out on a yawn-filled 3rd Quarter.

Fourth Quarter:

Sean Clifford had exited the game with an arm bruise and Alex McGough had taken over at Quarterback for the Packers. There's a chance he hurt it on his 1-yard sneak that ended the Quarter but nonetheless, the Packers had a QB change. After a few runs and a defensive pass interference, the Packers had the ball down to the Seattle 12 when they decided to go for it on 4th and 2. Unfortunately yet again they fell short turning it over on downs on an Emanuel Wilson run.

Seattle then came out firing still with Drew Lock under center since the start of the game. His first pass was a deep shot for 30 yards to Easop Winston. This connection wasn't over as Lock and Winston connected twice more for a combined 44 yards before SaRodorick Thompson punched in the touchdown. Eager to insure a Field Goal only tied the game if managed, Seattle went for a two-point try and converted putting the score at 15-12 in Seattle's favor with 6:38 left in the game.

Green Bay took over in effort to respond, and they absolutely did. After a few runs, Alex McGough hit Jadakis Bonds on a beauty of a 52 yard pass down the sidelines down to the Seattle 12 yard line with 3:23 left on the clock. After the 2 minute warning Nate McCrary was able to pound the ball into the end-zone for the Green and Gold putting the score at 19-15 with under two minutes remaining.

Seattle then sent a new QB in the game to win it in under 2 minutes, and he nearly did. Holton Ahlers came in and off of five completions for 55 yards was able to drive Seattle down to the Packers 12-yard line with 0:19 left in the game. Ahlers on 3rd and 7 threw a pass up the middle that was intercepted by Benny Sapp III to close out the game for the Packers giving them the 19-15 victory.

Offensive Player of the Game:

Malik Heath is making this team. Four catches for 35 yards may not look like much but they were some big catches. Heath has shown up in practice and has shown up in all three preseason games. This guy has earned himself a spot on the roster in my opinion. How can you not? He has been the definition of going out there and getting it, and if he doesn't make it, I think that sends a bad message to your locker room. He deserves every bit of his place on the roster.

Defensive Player of the Game:

I'm giving this a tie between Brenton Cox Jr. and Benny Sapp III. Cox didn't necessarily show a lot on the stat sheet but he made some good plays. He had a tipped pass that could've been a walk into the endzone if someone was able to locate it in time, and he just seemed to be around the ball carrier often. Benny Sapp III is obvious. He may not be making this roster, but he showed up in crunch time with a big INT and that'll at least earn him some looks for the Practice Squad.

What Went Well:

The starting defense looked stout. I get it, no Geno Smith, Seattle wasn't exactly playing starters all over, but they looked pretty good. For them to hold Seattle to just 30 yards their first three drives was pretty decent.

Alex McGough. I debated putting him in Offensive Player of the Game, cause he deserved that too. But look at McGough in his only extended preseason action. He made the most of it going 4/5 for 69 yards through the air. That beautiful throw to Jadakis Bonds was outstanding in a time that mattered. I think McGough earned his spot on the Practice Squad today. Before today's game, I debated it, but he might be a nice player to stash and improve.

What Went Wrong:

The false starts and stale start from the 1st-team offense. You can't start a game at home with two false starts your first three plays. That's just terrible. I know they were missing a few weapons like Aaron Jones, Romeo Doubs, perhaps David Bakhtiari makes a difference, but the offense needs to come out hot. We're going to face a lot of adversity this season and there's no better way to deal with it than just firing right through it. Hopefully they get off to a better start week 1 vs Chicago.

Conclusion:

Your game recap this week is a bit later than normal as I attended the game in-person and it was a long traffic-filled journey home on top of then getting the kids situated. My wife and I took our son to his first game at Lambeau and it couldn't have turned out better. I'll have to forever remember a 19-15 win was his first outing in the Holy Land of Green Bay. Though this game got off to a rough start and almost hit a dead stop in the third quarter, it became very exciting at the end. I think I've seen what I need to see from this team to get in to week 1 vs the Bears. The Offensive Line is going to be a huge strong-hold for Jordan Love. He was practically un-touched all preseason in the backfield. Looking forward to kicking off the regular season. Go Pack Go.