Game overview:
The Packers won, but they had the huge advantage going in -- the Packers played their 1st-string offense for a bit and then brought in a promising rookie QB to handle most of the game. The Bengals countered with Jake Browning starting…a QB who should not even be in this league. And yet the Bengals were kind of hanging around on the scoreboard…then Green Bay launched their secret weapon…secret to themselves and to Cincy, but not secret to FFM. We’ll get to that towards the end of this report.
We’ll take a tour of a lot of other players in this game and then get to the secret weapon…
Scouting Notes from the game:
-- Let’s begin by reviewing the QBs in this game, specifically new starter Jordan Love (7-10 for 46 yards, 1 TD/0 INT).
I thought Love did a solid job here. He didn’t embarrass himself. He looked comfortable and poised. But I think it’s a bit of a head fake, to him and the coaches…and the fans, of sorts.
They ran a lot of passing plays that you would run for a QB you don’t trust…a lot of rollouts and counter play action which got Love out in space with no pressure and he made nice, simple throws. Cincinnati egged this on by not really trying or succeeding at putting any pressure on him either. So, most of Love’s throws he had no real pressure.
The one-time Love had to sit in the pocket, contained/planted, getting some minor heat and having to throw downfield from the pocket -- he sailed a pass 5 yards over the head of a wide-open receiver. Other than that, simple plays designed to keep pressure off, and Love took advantage.
I wouldn’t get too excited about Love’s performance here, but there’s not much to damn him for either. A safe game for Love…and my concerns about him are not allayed but I’m still open/looking to see if he’s found ‘it’. Not convinced yet.
Love was relieved by rookie Sean Clifford (20-26 for 208 yards, 1 TD/2 INT, 2-27-0), who I thought did a terrific job for a rookie debut against a talented group of backup defenders for Cincy. Clifford is a legit prospect. Not going to be a star but can handle himself…he can try to be a Brock Purdy-ish type story if called upon.
I think it is telling that Clifford played most of the game, and Alex McGough (0/0 passing, 3 carries, -3 yds) barely played at the end. Clifford needed the work/exposure, for sure, but McGough really got dismissed here. I’ll wait to dismiss McGough myself until after he gets a shot to play a half or so in a game, which he should next week.
No sense in mentioning the Bengals QBs. My only thought is: how in the world is it that Cincy has Joe Burrow and less than zero behind him on the depth chart? A Super Bowl team that doesn’t have a Plan B at quarterback. But most all the top contenders in 2023 don’t have anything close to a legit backup QB either, so…
-- No Joe Mixon for Cincy here. Samaje Perine is gone. Supposedly Trayveon Williams is the #2 (according to the depth chart), but he is hurt. So, who would the Bengals turn to as their ‘starter’ here?
Chris Evans (7-49-0, 0-0-0/1) was the answer…and he looked good as a runner. Evans is back on the radar, back in the race to be the #2 RB. Evans ‘started’ but split a lot of time with Chase Brown (8-12-0, 3-33-0/3), who didn’t light it up as a runner, but I thought he looked OK running the ball and he did a nice job with screen passes, a specialty of his.
Evans and Brown are very competent #2 RBs for Cincy…ultimately or eventually, I think it will be Brown as the #2 if something happens to Mixon. Or Cincy adds Ezekiel Elliott…which is doubtful, but possible.
But Evans nor Brown were the best RBs who played in this game…we’ll get to that in a moment.
-- Green Bay played all their WRs a bit in this game. I want to comment on a few who stood out in some way…
Watson/Doubs started, as expected, and there were a lot of two-TE, two-WR looks early. When they went three WR set, rookie Jayden Reed (2-20-0/2) came in as a slot WR and he did fine. Again, he looks like all the good/speedy/smaller rookie WRs…Addison, Smith-Njigba, Dell, etc. Reed is good but not likely to have a heavy targeting in this run-first, conservative passing game offense.
Samori Toure (3-56-0/4) definitely improved, as camp reports have said since OTAs. He looked stronger/bigger (added 8+ pounds of muscle) and more confident. He’ll be the GB #4 WR.
Rookie Dontayvion Wicks (3-68-0/4) looked solid. He’s not my favorite of the WR rookie class, for sure…but he did OK. Useful/forgettable, not a future star, to me.
-- The Bengals pushed their rookies in this game…their two main rookie WRs had 16 targets combined.
Andrei Iosivas (4-50-0/10) led all WRs in this game with 10 targets. The problem being the Cincy QB play was so disgustingly bad that the WRs suffered because of misfires and wobblers and underthrows all over. The thing to note here is that Iosivas was the main target of both Cincy QBs. It may have been because he’s the tallest one and they could see him better at least.
Iosivas flashed some of his speed and general abilities. He’s a nice project for Cincy to develop in 2023 to prep for 2024+. A positive showing here. He’s got range/length and speed.
Charlie Jones (2-11-0/6) was a ghost most of this game…I think because he worked the slot/interior, and the weak Cincy QBs would have been too scared to look over the middle. Eventually, Jones was put more outside, and force-fed some targets late.
Both Jones and Iosivas look promising, but they played with such horrific QBs, they’ll both be hidden all preseason most likely.
-- This game changed in the late 3rd-quarter when Emanuel Wilson (6-111-2) entered the game. His first touch, he looked good…his second touch was a nice 11-yard dart through the middle for a TD. When I saw him pop up, I forgot Wilson was even still on the Packers. He began his UDFA journey as a Bronco, and the great and wise Sean Payton cut Wilson from camp quickly…and just as quickly the Packers picked him up. I had not heard a peep about him at all this preseason…and then he has a quick, good-looking TD in his NFL debut.
It would have been a nice debut had Wilson not touched the ball again after his initial TD, but he was going to go on to get a few more touches and on his final touch he would take a simple handoff for an 80-yard rushing TD to cap off the best performance by anyone in this game.
I scouted Wilson out of Fort Valley State in April 2023. I know his work. If you’ve been a subscriber this year, you should know his work/his name rings a bell.
Was Wilson lucky or good here?
Subscribers deserve an extra discussion here. Look for a subscriber only supplement commentary from this game (published hours ago) about what I saw with Wilson here and one other/different topic (on something from this game) that I think is very important for FF and handicapping things.
-- Let’s end this on a defense/IDP discussion…
I have been pining for Bengals DB Tycen Anderson (3 tackles, 2 picks, 1 pick six) for it seems like forever…well, he’s back after missing all of 2022 with a bad hamstring injury and he announced his arrival with a pick-six in this game and had another nice pick later. He was otherwise ‘OK’ at safety, but the two interceptions are a nice start to getting his status/mojo back.
Bengals rookie CB D.J. Turner (4 tackles, 2 TFLs, 1 PD) impressed me on tape at Michigan…impressed me in camp work/tape…and then had a nice showing here. He’s legit…and he may not even start this season.
Bengals rookie SAF Jordan Battle (3 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 PD) looks like he’s ready to be the lead safety now…he could beat out 1st-round pick from 2022 Dax Hill for Week 1 starting alongside Nick Scott…or maybe takes the job 2-6 weeks in.
It was hard to get any real read on the Packers defenders, per se…the Bengals’ QB play was so bad. The only mildly interesting note I had was that UDFA rookie (we like) Carrington Valentine (4 tackles, 3 PDs) looked really promising…3 PDs in the game. How he went undrafted, I have no idea.
