Following are takeaways from the Green Bay Packers’ 28-9 loss to the host Pittsburgh Steelers in both teams’ preseason opener:
Young Packers defensive backs make plays
The Packers got three good plays from three young defensive backs that kept the Steelers off the scoreboard early in their preseason opener.
Brandon Cisse, their second-round draft pick this year, only helped his cause for being a starter as a rookie when he made a big tackle in the red zone that was sure to draw the notice of defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon.
And then on the next two plays, two young safeties fighting for a roster or practice-squad spot, Murvin Kenion and Mark Perry, made plays that caused the Steelers to turn over the ball on downs.
Cisse made his tackle on the first play of the second quarter when on second-and-goal from the 9, Steelers running back Lew Nichols started a run to his right, found traffic and cut back the run all the way to a big open space on the left. It looked like he might score, but Cisse had stayed home as an edge defender, closed hard and tackled Nichols at the 3.
On the next play, quarterback Mason Rudolph escaped a sack attempt by Warren Brinson and, as he scrambled forward, just got off a throw to Germie Bernard in the back of the end zone. Bernard made the catch, but Kenion was there to push him out of bounds for an incompletion before Bernard got his second foot down.
Then on fourth-and-goal from the 3, Rudolph hit starting tight end Pat Freiermuth in the left flat, but Perry was able to wrestle Freiermuth to the ground before he got to the end zone, which caused the turnover on downs.
“You just kinda want to live to see another down, right?” Cisse said of his tackle. “Sometimes they’re going to get explosives and plays are going to be given up, so it’s about how your respond to them. When the opportunity came, to be able to get a guy down, let us see another play, and Mark made a great play on the out.”
Cisse is a strong bet to start at cornerback, with Keisean Nixon, Benjamin St-Juste and Carrington Valentine battling for the starting spot opposite him. Cisse and Nixon were the starters in this game, as they have been in camp ever since Valentine sustained a hamstring injury more than a week ago.
Kenion and Perry are in a battle to make the final one or two safety spots on the 53-man roster.
Quarterback Kyle McCord has good night
Kyle McCord showed why he’s ahead of rookie Kyron Drones for the No. 3 quarterback position so far in camp.
The first-year pro had a solid performance taking over for Jordan Love after one series. McCord put up a 91.1 rating (12-for-16 passing for 102 yards, no touchdowns or interceptions) and led a hurry-up drive at the end of the first half where he had only one timeout and 38 seconds to get into scoring position starting from his 25.
On that final drive, McCord completed all four of his pass attempts, with the final one setting up Trey Smack’s 58-yard field goal as the half expired.
He showed good poise and clock management on that last completion, which came after a timeout with 11 seconds left. With Green Bay out of timeouts, the Steelers knew to play the sidelines so the Packers couldn’t stop the clock by getting out of bounds after a quick completion.
But McCord threw a quick slant to Will Sheppard for 8 yards, and the receiver went down immediately so the offense could hustle to the line of scrimmage for the spike. The completion got the ball within Smack’s range, and McCord spiked the ball with 1 second left to stop the clock.
“Great poise,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “I thought he went out there and to operate in that 2-minute drive the way he did … I don’t believe he’s had that live yet, in that situation where we’re in a down-down clock situation. He rifled the inside slant, to have the urgency to get up and spike the ball, what was there, 1 second left? I thought that was just incredible execution, not only by him, by all 11 that were out there.”
McCord put up only 6 points in his four series and looked like a young quarterback in taking two sacks. But he also had a tough completion while scrambling to his left and took a big hit on another completion.
Drones threw only one pass (incomplete) and was sacked three times in the Packers’ final two series.
Packers injury report
Packers-Steelers observations
Quote of the day
Love, on talking with Aaron Rodgers before the game: “It was great just being able to see Aaron, just talked briefly. Any chance we get, it’s always awesome. Any time you see familiar faces on the other side, someone I was able to share a [quarterback] room with for three years. So it was great to be able to see him.”
When asked what they talked about, Love said: “Nothing deep. Just talking. Make sure how everybody’s good and seeing how we’re doing. But nothing deep.”
This article originally appeared on Packers News: Brandon Cisse, young safeties make impact as tacklers | Packers insider
Reporting by Pete Dougherty, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Packers News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Pete Dougherty, Green Bay Press-Gazette | USA TODAY Network
