Packers rally past Cardinals, close preseason 2-1
Kyle McCord's four-touchdown rally beat Arizona 42-38 to close preseason at 2-1, but the backup quarterback job and Josh Jacobs' unresolved case give this weekend's cuts more stakes than the score.
McCord's four-touchdown night just complicated the backup job
Kyle McCord played every snap of Friday's finale while Jordan Love and Tyrod Taylor both sat, and he made it count: 22 of 35 for 226 yards and four touchdowns, the last two to Kisean Johnson in the final three-and-a-half minutes to erase an 11-point deficit, the Associated Press reported. "It's out of my control at this point," McCord said afterward. "I did everything that I could've to make a case for myself." Even without taking a snap, Love ran the second-half play-calling himself, ProFootballTalk reported — the team's own "JLove was really driving the bus" post is a reminder of how much of the finale still ran through a QB room that wasn't technically on the field.
JLove was really driving the bus t.co/wNNgC6wNu0
The job left to sort out is what happens behind Love. Taylor was signed to be the No. 2, but McCord has clearly outplayed him through camp and the preseason slate, according to Acme Packing Company's breakdown of the competition, leaving Green Bay to decide between carrying three quarterbacks into the season or cutting Taylor loose outright before Tuesday's deadline. LaFleur's praise for McCord after the game — "He did a heck of a job, man. He was so just poised in his ability to operate and function" — sounded less like a compliment for a man on the bubble and more like a coach making his front office's decision harder.
Just put the fries in the bag 🍟: t.co/PdCoEiZZkr
Packers survive Arizona 42-38 to close preseason at 2-1
Lambeau got its money's worth Friday night. Green Bay trailed by 11 points in the fourth quarter before rallying past Arizona 42-38, closing the exhibition slate 2-1 after a blowout at Denver on August 22 and a lopsided loss at Pittsburgh on August 13. LaFleur wasn't shy about it afterward, calling it "the most entertaining preseason game you've ever seen in your life," and the box score backs him up: UDFA receiver J. Michael Sturdivant caught six of seven targets for 112 yards and a touchdown, the kind of night that turned his own words — "all the hay's in the barn at this point" — into an argument he'd already won.
Cardinals42-38
Broncos33-13
Steelers9-28"I kept telling myself, I gotta play in Lambeau. I don't care if I'm with the Packers or not. I gotta play in Lambeau." On Friday night, Kisean Johnson scored the game winner in Lambeau. @kwiktrip
The finishing touch belonged to Kisean Johnson, who caught the game-winner and explained afterward exactly why it mattered: "I kept telling myself, I gotta play in Lambeau. I don't care if I'm with the Packers or not. I gotta play in Lambeau," he said, via the team's own account. Not every reserve left with that kind of headline — Bo Melton was held without a catch on two targets — but for a roster that gets cut to 53 by Tuesday, a walk-off in front of the home crowd is the sort of thing that gets remembered long after the final score does.
Jacobs charged, but Green Bay is already planning around it
The Brown County District Attorney formally charged Josh Jacobs on Thursday with misdemeanor battery and misdemeanor criminal damage to property, a sharp reduction from the felony strangulation charge he was booked on after his May arrest, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports — both charges carry maximum sentences of nine months and a $10,000 fine. Jacobs is due for an initial court appearance on November 17, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com, which means the legal process runs well into the season no matter what Green Bay decides about his workload in the meantime.
The Brown County District Attorney has formally charged Packers RB Josh Jacobs with two misdemeanors related to his May arrest. Originally booked on five charges, including felony strangulation, Jacobs now faces reduced charges of misdemeanor battery and criminal damage to property. The NFL has been monitoring all developments in the matter, which remains under review.
Green Bay isn't waiting to find out how it ends. LaFleur said he "fully anticipate[s]" Jacobs stays on the roster, per Schefter and Demovsky's reporting, and GM Brian Gutekunst went further this week, acknowledging the team has "obviously prepared" for the possibility of an NFL suspension under the personal conduct policy — which carries a baseline six-game ban for battery or domestic violence findings — and could even carry an extra running back on the 53-man roster if it comes to that, CBS Sports reported. It isn't a resolution, but for a back nursing a groin injury with a felony charge now off the table, a plan is worth something.
A division rematch opens the season that actually counts
Green Bay opens the real season the way it enters plenty of these NFC North trips: Sunday afternoon in Minnesota, at U.S. Bank Stadium, on September 13. The Vikings finished their own preseason 1-2, including a 6-34 loss at Denver, and the line still opened with Minnesota favored by just 1.5 points at home — not the kind of number that suggests a mismatch, just a division game a coin flip decided before either team took the field. The total opened at 45.5, a middling figure for a rivalry that has trended toward defense the last few years.
The health note that actually matters for that date belongs to Tucker Kraft. He's been limited through camp with a knee issue but is expected to be "full go" for the opener, Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com reports — which is as much a piece of Vikings-week news as anything about Minnesota itself. That's the version of Green Bay set to show up at U.S. Bank Stadium: a tight end room back at full strength, a backup quarterback job about to be decided, and Jacobs' situation still unresolved as the games start to count.