9/13/22 Hometown Broadcasting Sports Tuesday
13 September 2022 Sports
Sports for Tuesday
From Wayne Mausser
After suffering a lopsided loss in their opener for a second straight year, the Green Bay Packers can only hope the rest of their season also has a familiar feel.
The Packers fell 38-3 to the New Orleans Saints in their first game last year but went on to finish 13-4 and earn the NFC’s top playoff seed. They’re leaning on that experience as they try to bounce back from Sunday’s 23-7 loss at Minnesota.
“I think a lot of our veterans, this isn’t their first rodeo and not the first time they’ve suffered a defeat,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said Monday. “But it’s always interesting to see how young guys respond to a defeat or not playing your best. You’ve got to be critical, but at the same time, you still have to try to put your arm around these guys because you want them confident.”
One of those young guys is rookie second-round pick Christian Watson, who got wide open but dropped a potential 75-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers on the Packers’ first play from scrimmage. That was the most glaring of many mistakes the Packers made on a day that left them open to second-guessing.
As the Vikings built a 17-0 halftime lead, Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson rarely had to match up against Jaire Alexander, the Packers’ best cornerback. Jefferson capitalized by scoring two touchdowns and finished the day with nine catches for a career-high 184 yards.
“Why I wasn’t on him, that’s not my call,” Alexander said after the game. “Anybody who watches me play, you know that’s what I want.”
LaFleur noted Monday that it’s tough to assign a single cornerback to a particular receiver for the course of an entire game “unless you are committed to playing man coverage every snap.”
He complimented the Vikings for the way they created advantageous matchups for Jefferson and used him much the way the Packers utilized Davante Adams, the two-time All-Pro wideout now with the Las Vegas Raiders.
This marked the second straight year the Packers didn’t play most of their starters in any exhibition games and lost convincingly in their season opener. LaFleur said Monday the two factors aren’t necessarily related and noted the Vikings also rested most of their starters in the preseason.
The Packers averaged over 6 yards per carry, with Aaron Jones running for 49 yards on five attempts and A.J. Dillon running 10 times for 45 yards. Dillon also had five catches for 46 yards, both team highs. The problem was the Packers didn’t get the ball enough to their two dynamic running backs.
“We’ve got to get them more involved, whether it’s in the run game, pass game, however it may be,” LaFleur said after the game.
Running back A.J. Dillon led the Packers in receiving yards with 46. The Packers didn’t have their top returning receiver available with Allen Lazard battling an ankle injury.
An offensive line missing injured tackles David Bakhtiari and Elgton Jenkins allowed four sacks and didn’t give Rodgers enough time to throw. The goal-line offense let Green Bay down when an unblocked Za’Darius Smith stopped Dillon on fourth-and-goal from the 1. And a defense that can be among the league’s best did not force a turnover.
Injury wise, reserve LB Krys Barnes (ankle) was carted off the field in the fourth quarter, though LaFleur said Monday the injury might not be as significant as it looked. … LB Quay Walker and reserve CB Keisean Nixon left with shoulder injuries. … OG Jon Runyan left in the third quarter with concussion symptoms.
The Packers host the 1-0 Bears Sunday night.
In Monday Night Football the Seattle Seahawks defense held on for a 17-16 win at home over the Denver Broncos., spoiling the return of Russell Wilson. A last-second 64-yard field goal was no good. Veteran Gino Smith was dialed in on Monday night, completing 17 of 18 first-half passes for 164 yards and two touchdowns. It began with a series in which Smith completed his first four passes and capped the drive by evading the rush to toss a 38-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Will Dissly. Smith stood tall in the pocket and calmly delivered passes to a number of targets, and although he tailed off in the second half, his final line was still a sterling one: 23 for 28, 195 yards, two scores and a 119.5 passer rating.
Wilson was 29-42 for 340 yards and a touchdown to Jerry Jeudy, who caught four passes for 102 yards.
The Broncos had plenty of opportunities to score in the red zone but turnovers and a stiff Seahawks prevented them from getting into the end zone.
After an off-day Monday the Brewers return to action tonight in St. Louis against the Cardinals. Matt Bush starts for the Brewers against Jordan Montgomery for the Cardinals. First pitch is at 6:45 and the game can be heard on AM 1100/98.3 FM, WISS.
In the NL Central Monday the Pirates beat the Reds 6-3 and the Cubs downed the Mets 5-2. Milwaukee remains two games behind San Diego in the race for the final Wild Card spot and trail the Cardinals by eight games in the division.
Angels superstar Mike Trout can’t stop homering.
Trout went deep for a seventh straight game on Monday against the Guardians at Progressive Field to extend his club record and come within one blast of tying the AL/NL record of eight straight games set by Dale Long (1956), Don Mattingly (’87) and Ken Griffey Jr. (’93).
Trout, a three-time AL MVP and 10-time All-Star, became just the ninth player in AL or NL history to homer in seven straight games and the first since Joey Votto did it with the Reds last year. Trout’s homer came in the fifth inning off lefty Konnor Pilkington and tied the game at 4-4 in an eventual 5-4 loss.
Georgia reclaimed the top spot in The Associated Press college football poll on Sunday, and Kentucky, Oklahoma State and Arkansas moved into the top 10 after an upset-filled weekend across the country. The defending national champion Bulldogs, who started the season at No. 3 in the AP Top 25, took two weeks to get back to where they spent most of last year. Georgia jumped Alabama after it cruised to a 33-0 victory against Samford. Georgia, which opened the season by beating Oregon 49-3, received 53 of 63 first-place votes from the media panel. No. 2 Alabama received nine first-place votes and No. 3 Ohio State got one first-place vote.
No. 4 Michigan and No. 5 Clemson held their places, but the rest of the top 10 was shuffled. Oklahoma moved up a spot to No. 6. Southern California jumped three places to No. 7, its best ranking since September 2017.
The rest of the top 10 are new arrivals: No. 8 Oklahoma State moved up three spots. No. 9 Kentucky jumped 11 places for its best ranking since it reached No. 8 in October 2007. And No. 10 Arkansas was up six.
After being upset at home by Sun Belt schools, Texas A&M dropped from No. 6 to No. 24 and Notre Dame tumbled out all the way from No. 8. The Aggies were beaten by Appalachian State and the Fighting Irish fell to 0-2 after losing to Marshall.
It was the fifth time in the last 10 seasons and first time since 2020 that two top-10 teams lost at home to unranked teams in the same week.
Notre Dame is unranked for the first time since Sept. 17, 2017, snapping a streak of 80 straight poll appearances, which was fourth in the country behind Alabama, Ohio State and Georgia among active runs.
Wisconsin’s 17-14 home loss to Washington State knocked the Badgers out of the ranking for the first time this season.
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