GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Green Bay Packers fell 22-9 to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, and the team’s offensive line emerged as the chief concern as quarterback Jordan Love was repeatedly pressured.
Ten times on Sunday, Love faced unblocked pressures, the most of any quarterback in Week 1 and tied for the most in a game by any quarterback in the past five seasons, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. According to the official game statistics, the Vikings registered 15 hits on Love; offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich told reporters the number was 18.
Among the 28 quarterbacks who were sacked in Week 1, Love’s average time before being sacked was 3.59 seconds, the fourth-fastest in that group, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.
Coach Matt LaFleur said there were protection breakdowns that “absolutely should not and cannot happen.” LaFleur and his staff identified the offensive line and the overall blocking operation as top items to fix before the Packers’ Week 2 trip to the New York Jets.
Late in the game, Love was sacked on consecutive plays, with the second sack resulting in a lost fumble that gave the Vikings the ball at the Packers’ 1-yard line, where they closed the game. On the first of those sacks, Minnesota’s Dallas Turner was unblocked off the left edge despite right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele and tight end Mark Redman lining up across from him; Redman essentially knocked Bako-Bewele out of the way. “Yeah, that was a bust,” LaFleur said. Bako-Bewele acknowledged miscommunications in the second half that hurt the unit.
Offensive-line instability in training camp contributed to the situation. Guard Aaron Banks practiced intermittently because of a lingering knee issue and rarely took 11-on-11 snaps; Bako-Bewele had offseason knee surgery. Banks was a late scratch before the opener, and the Packers started Donovan Jennings because he had been performing better in practice, Stenavich said. General manager Brian Gutekunst signed Banks as a free agent to a four-year, $77 million contract in 2025. Stenavich added the team will keep rotating players to find its best combination up front.
The Vikings blitzed Love on 78.3% of his dropbacks, the fourth-highest blitz rate in any game since at least 2018, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.
