GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – The Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots played 49 minutes and 31 seconds of football Saturday night at Lambeau Field. With 10:29 remaining in the 4th quarter, Malik Heath caught a pass that he thought picked up a big first down on what might have been a go ahead scoring drive. He celebrated a bit, which angered the New England sideline, but he was unaware Patriot rookie defensive Isaiah Bolden was still down on the field. He stayed down and was immediately surrounded by the New England medical staff. It took several minutes to make sure he was stabilized before a backboard was brought on to the field and Bolden was placed on a cart and led off and taken to a hospital. During the medical attention, the two Head Coaches, Matt LaFleur and Bill Belichick talked on the field, brought in referee John Hussey to the conversation and a few minutes later, Hussey opened his referee microphone and told the crowd and the television audience that after speaking to the coaches and other team leaders, the game was called.
The Patriots won the scoreboard 21-17 but all the thoughts were with Bolden, a rookie from Jackson State.
LaFleur spent the first two minutes of his press conference discussing the sobering finish to the night:
From the media room next to the New England locker room, Belichick did the same:
The teams headed to their respective locker rooms and the 71,650 fans exited as if they were leaving church. It was an emotional ending to an overly emotional week with the Patriots. Two joint practices were held and Thursday’s session was marred by several fights. There was even a brief dustup before the kickoff and a couple of unsportsmanlike penalties were assessed during the contest. One occurred when Jordan Love scrambled and after sliding, was hit hard from behind by defensive tackle Sam Roberts. Zach Tom was also given a warning following an after the whistle foul.
As for the contest, it got off to a very rocky start for the Green Bay offense. On the first snap of the game, Love had to improvise a play call with the play clock nearly hit zero. The fifth snap of the game was a wild shotgun delivery from center Josh Myers who thought he saw a defensive end enter the neutral zone. Love wasn’t ready for it and it sailed well behind him with New England recovering at the Packer 18 yard line.
Rhamondre Stevenson cashed in the turnover with a one yard touchdown run with 10:19 left in the first quarter.
Love’s second series died a midfield but a Kingsley Enegbare sack of Mac Jones forced a New England punt and unlike the Cincinnati opener, Love came back out for one more series. It paid off thanks to an incredible over the shoulder catch from Romeo Doubs who wrestled the ball away from Bolden before falling out of bounds. Initially called incomplete, LaFleur challenged the call and it was overturned with Doubs barely getting both feet in on a 42 yard hookup. After Love’s scramble and personal foul penalty pushed the ball to the 24, A.J. Dillon ran for five yards and then picked up a middle blitz that allowed Love to find Jayden Reed crossing the field to his left, away from defensive back Shaun Wade. Love delivered a strike and Reed finished off the 19 yard touchdown to tie the game at 7. Love finished the night completing five of 8 passes for 84 yards and the score, good for a passer rating of 137.5.
Enegbare came up with another huge play early in the second quarter, earning a hat trick with a sack of Jones that knocked the ball loose and he recovered the fumble.
With Sean Clifford at the controls, the Packers moved 62 yards in 8 plays to take the lead. Free agent rookie Emmanuel Wilson, off a 111 yard, 2 touchdown performance against the Bengals, caught an 11 yard flare and had runs of 9, 4 and 11 yards in succession. It was Patrick Taylor who finished the drive but taking a handoff headed for the middle which was clogged, bounced it off the left end and finished the 8 yard score untouched.
New England then hit a a big play as backup Bailey Zappe found Kayshon Boutte on a slant that beat William Hooper and with the middle opened up, covered 42 yards for a touchdown.
Heath then drew a 23 yard pass interference call and made an 18 yard grab on the two minute drive, setting up Anders Carlson for a field goal. Despite some shaky moments in camp, Carlson connected on a 52 yarder into a stiff south breeze with :01 left in the half for a 17-14 lead at the break.
Zappe then led the Pats on a 17 play, 88 yard drive consuming the last 8:49 of the third quarter and he finished it himself, breaking away from pressure and finding open field to the right on an easy six yard touchdown run.
Clifford found Heath for 25 yards into New England territory and they got as far as the Patriot 25 when one more slant led to the impact that injured Bolden and subsequently ended the game.
The Packers put up 340 yards of offense on the night, Clifford threw for 137 yards, completing 13 of 19 passes for a rating of 89.1. Heath caught all five of his targets for a team high 75 yards. Wilson again led the ground attack with 63 yards of 15 carries. He’s gained 174 yards on 21 carries over the first two pre-season games.
The Patriots finished with 245 yards. Zappe was 10 of 22 for 117 yards while Jones was 6 of 9 for 52. Kevin Harris was the top runner with 31 yards on 10 carries.
Aside from the early snafus, LaFleur also lamented the penalties, the Packers were flagged 11 times for 85 yards.
A handful of Packers had to leave the game with injuries, all minor compared to what New England endured. Fullback Henry Pearson left with a knee injury as did safety Tarvarious Moore. Guard Jake Hanson limped off with a shin injury and receiver Dontayvion Wicks pulled a hamstring.
Several front line players were healthy scratches, including David Bakhtiari, Jaire Alexander and Kenny Clark. Others who didn’t dress included Eric Stokes, Lew Nichols, Corey Ballentine, Innis Gaines, Tyler Goodson, Rashan Gary, De’Vondre Campbell, Caleb Jones, Luke Tenuta, Bo Melton and Tyler Davis.
Rasheed Walker got the start at left tackle for Bakhtiari, a reward for putting in a solid week of work on the practice field. Rudy Ford opened at safety alongside Darnell Savage.
Other players who impressed were Karl Brooks, who applied a lot of pressure and had his first pro sack negated by a penalty. Heath has had an impressive summer and is making a very strong case for a roster spot.
Afterwards, Love declared himself ready for the regular season and he still would like to see action in the Pre-Season finale next Saturday afternoon against Seattle. That will be discussed between LaFleur and General Manager Brian Gutekunst who are both well aware of the risk and reward of playing in August. The danger is inherent with this sport and the lasting image of Lambeau’s opening night was a somber reminder.
