Three takeaways from Packers’ preseason opener vs. Texans

Three takeaways from the Green Bay Packers’ preseason opener.

The Packers kicked off the Matt LaFleur era with a victory on Thursday night. They defeated the Houston Texans 28-26 at Lambeau Field, and it keeps their dreams of an undefeated season alive.

There were a number of encouraging signs for the Packers. But there were also plenty of preseason moments from both teams. Challenging pass interference calls will also take some getting used to.

But following the Packers’ win, here’s what we learned.

Defense gets takeaways but tackling an issue

For a preseason game, it was good to see the Packers’ tackling was in midseason form. That is, missing a bunch of tackles. But that’s the negative effect of not tackling in practice. We won’t focus on that too much as it’s the first game of the year, and there were lots of positives on the defensive side of the ball.

One was the number of turnovers they forced.

The Packers had two interceptions, the first an excellent play by rookie cornerback Ka’Dar Hollman. Hollman played well and made a great case for a roster spot. Cornerback Chandon Sullivan also had an interception.

Safety Raven Greene made one of the plays of the game. He punched the ball out of the hands of Texans running back Taiwan Jones, forcing a fumble which was recovered quickly by Packers cornerback Will Redmond.

The Packers wanted to force more turnovers, and they did just that in the preseason opener.

Green Bay also forced a turnover on special teams. JK Scott‘s punt was well placed, causing Texans receiver Keke Coutee to lose track of it. He couldn’t make the catch, and Equanimeous St. Brown was there to scoop up the football and score.

Ty Summers makes an impact

It was an impressive performance by rookie linebacker Ty Summers, who led the team with 10 tackles. He made a ton of plays early on and increased his chances of securing a roster spot.

Summers was all over the field making plays, particularly in the first quarter.

Summers didn’t have a perfect night as he did miss a tackle but, overall, the Packers should be pleased with how he played in this game. He’s going to make mistakes, but he can contribute in Mike Pettine’s defense this year.

Bad night for J’Mon Moore, but he does score touchdown

Drops were again an issue for second-year wide receiver J’Mon Moore, who will need to improve if he is to make the 53-man roster. On a night where Jake Kumerow, Allen Lazard, and Darrius Shepherd all made big plays, Moore struggled, regularly dropping passes he should’ve caught.

Moore did find the end zone, however, which will hopefully give him the confidence to get back on track at practice next week ahead of the second preseason game.

But with just two catches for seven yards and a touchdown from his four targets, averaging just 3.5 yards per reception, it wasn’t a great night for Moore.