Training Camp practices are fun to enjoy, but the real looks come when the lights come on in the Preseason. With many changes to this Green Bay Packers team on the offensive side of the ball, we've all been eager to see what we've got. Finally, Friday night we got to see the first test of the 2023 Green Bay Packers.

Jordan Love finally got the chance to run the number one offense in a game situation as his own. No longer is he just watching over it while the Packers await Aaron Rodgers' first snap of the season. It's his now, and he made some good passes in his debut before he was shelved for the rest of the night.

In the first Preseason game, you want your young players to be the stars. These young up and comers definitely did shine on Friday night and are the main reason the Packers are traveling home from Ohio with a win.

First Quarter:

The Love era was kicked off immediately as after a kickoff return by Tyler Goodson to the 18-yard line, Love and the offense took the field. It was a good start as the first play was a quick pass to the right to running back Aaron Jones for 6 yards. The next was tight end Luke Musgrave's first catch as he caught a Love pass for 8 yards and the first down. After that unfortunately the drive stalled off a 3-yard AJ Dillon run and two incompletions. The first of the incompletions was actually a beautiful pass from Love to Christian Watson that likely would've gone all the way for a touchdown had they connected. However, the Bengals defender Dax Hill made an excellent play on the ball and broke it up. Love maybe could've taken a little less air off the ball to get it there sooner, but it was still a great play made by the defender to ruin it. After that, was a pass Jordan Love would like to have back as he over-shot Luke Musgrave leading to a punt. A pass Love definitely would like to have back.

The Packers defense however showed up on the next drive to force Cincinnati's offense to go three-and-out. The very first play Keisean Nixon came flying in on a corner-blitz to sack Bengals QB Jake Browning for a loss of 8. The Bengals offense would not recover and ended up punting deep in their own territory. The Packers defense the showed some great pressure up the middle in this first drive which was very disruptive in allowing the Bengals to catch a rhythm and essentially killed the drive.

With about 11:11 left in the First Quarter the Packers offense took over at the Cincinnati 43 yard line. The first play saw a nice quick jet sweep pass where Jayden Reed got to show his speed in a 5 yard gain. After an incompletion to Musgrave, Love threw a nice dart to Christian Watson for 7 yards to extend the drive. A false start from Jon Runyan, which honestly could've been on the whole right side of the ball for the Packers backed them up 5 yards but AJ regained that yardage and then some with an 11-yard run taking the ball to the Bengals 25. A neutral-zone infraction gave the Packers another free 5 yards afterwards and a new set of downs. That's when the Romeo Doubs show began. Love found Doubs for a 12 yard gain, followed by a 1 yard pass to Christian Watson. With 1st and Goal on the Bengals 9, Jordan Love tossed up a pass to Romeo Doubs. Doubs made the catch over the Bengals defender for the touchdown putting the Packers up 7-0 with 7:19 left in the first quarter. This would also end Jordan Love and most of the number one offense's night.

The Bengals took over at their own 23 to start the next drive. Packers cornerback Carrington Valentine made his first play of the night on 2nd & 6 when he boxed out the Bengals receiver Andrei Iosivas to force the incompletion. The Bengals had a pair of long passes that took them down to the Green Bay 27. With about 4:31 left in the first, Packers rookie first round pick Lukas Van Ness gave some pressure from the edge forcing Bengals running back Chase Brown towards the sidelines where Valentine stopped him for no-gain. Earlier in the drive Van Ness and Devante Wyatt had gotten some good pressure off stunts, but just couldn't finish to get the sack. They need to be just a little quicker. The Bengals drive stalled however after this and they had to settle for a Evan McPherson Field Goal putting the game at 7-3 with 3:06 remaining in the first.

Sean Clifford took over at Quarterback and his first pass went to Samori Toure for a short pass up the middle that Toure turned in to a 25 yard gain. After a loss of three on a Patrick Taylor run, Clifford then had a great pair of passes to Malik Heath and Jayden Reed to take the offense down to teh Cincy 27. This would end the first quarter.

Second Quarter:

The second quarter didn't start as well as the first ended however, as an incompletion and a short pass left the Packers with 3rd and 7 at the Cincinnati 24. The next play saw a contested catch get flagged for pass interference on the Bengals Allan George putting the Packers at 1st and Goal from the Cincinnati 1. The very next play, Tyler Goodson ran between the Guard and Tackle on the right side for a 1 yard touchdown. The Packers were now up 14-3.

The Cincinnati offense took over with 14:05 left in the first half and bursted out with a 33 yard run by Chris Evans to the Packers 41 on 2nd down. Luckily this was all that the Bengals offense was able to muster as they had to settle for a 51-yard McPherson Field Goal to put the game at 14-6.

Sean Clifford started out the next drive with a pass over the middle to Malik Heath for 15 yards, but this was about the only good thing that came on this drive. On 3rd and 6 from the Packers 40 yard line, Sean Clifford was essentially baited by Tycen Anderson into an Interception intended for Dontayvion Wicks. You could tell Anderson was reading Clifford's eyes picking that ball off and took it all the way for a touchdown making the score 14-13 still with the Packers on top with 9:16 left in the first half.

The ensuing drive showed a possible ratting of Sean Clifford with a delay of game penalty on 2nd down. But Clifford bounced back with a great 28 yard strike to Samori Toure down to the Bengals 46-yard line. Clifford was scrambling out of the pocket and Toure made himself available for the save. A short Tyler Goodson run, a Royce Newman holding penalty, and two forgettable short passes later lead the Packers to a 4th and 5 conversion attempt. Unfortunately it seemed like Clifford and Malik Heath just weren't on the same page and the ball sailed incomplete for the turnover on downs.

The Bengals took over with 4:49 left in the 2nd quarter. The Bengals pushed their way down to the Green Bay 27 off a few short plays and a Browning pass to Tanner Hudson that went for 16 yards. After this though, the Packers defense held strong. Highlighted by rookie Defensive Lineman Colby Wooden dropping back into coverage recognizing a screen and breaking it up, the Bengals stalled at the Green Bay 21 and had to settle again for a Field Goal giving them the lead 16-14 with 1:37 left in the first half.

On the following kickoff Samori Toure muffed the catch but recovered before being taken down at the Green Bay 11. The drive got off to a slow start until Clifford found Dontayvion Wicks with an excellent 19-yard catch on a 3rd down conversion. Unfortunately however, two plays later Clifford was intercepted once again by Tycen Anderson. Once again seeming to be reading Clifford's eyes. Something the rookie QB will have to work on.

With the Bengals taking over at the Packers 36, the Packers defense decided they had to repay the favor. Carrington Valentine intercepted a pass from Browning putting the Packers back in business with a minute left till halftime.

Sean Clifford showed he was able to shake off the previous INT and found Dontayvion Wicks threading the needle up the middle for 47 yards down to the Bengals 19. After a 14 yard scramble by Clifford, he hit tight end Tyler Davis for a 5 yard touchdown with 22 seconds until halftime.

The Bengals took a knee on the ensuing drive to end the half with the Packers leading 21-16.

Third Quarter:

The Bengals kicked off their first drive of the 3rd quarter with a new Quarterback, veteran Trevor Siemian. And it began with a false start. Only a 10 yard pass short of the marker after the penalty was a positive as they essentially went three and out.

The Packers then didn't fair much better. A holding penalty on Royce Newman essentially wiped out a 30 yard Patrick Taylor run and the Packers didn't recover, punting the ball away with 13:01 left in the third.

The Bengals took over at their own 29 and barely had anything to show for their drive before a tipped pass by Packers LB Brenton Cox went right into hands of Safety Dallin Leavitt. The Packers would then take over at the Cincinnati 31.

Taking over in Bengals territory unfortunately didn't equal six points for the Packers offense as they went three and out settling for a 45-yard Field Goal from Anders Carlson. This put the score at 24-16 in favor of the Packers with 7:59 left in the third.

The Bengals offense was finally able to put together a drive lead by a pair of 20+ yard passes from Trevor Siemian. It was also assisted by a bit of a questionable roughing the passer call against Tariq Carpenter. But the drive stalled again at the Green Bay 25 and another Field Goal put the game at 24-19.

On the ensuing kickoff, Samori Toure showed that the Special Teams wanted to play too and took the kickoff 44 yards to the Cincinnati 47. The Packers took over with 3:13 left in the third. A Clifford pass to Malik Heath for 12 and a scramble for 13 put the ball at the 22 yard line. On the Clifford run the Bengals were called for Unnecessary Roughness placing the ball at the 11 where Packers running back Emanuel Wilson was shot out of a cannon as he ran in the 11-yard TD. Unfortunately the following PAT was missed by Anders Carlson. His first miss after 3 successful attempts making it a 30-19 ballgame with 2:14 left in the third.

The Bengals took over and had a bit of a forgettable end to the third quarter after a few short passes took them to their own 41.

Fourth Quarter:

The final quarter began with an incompletion forcing the Bengals to punt.

The Packers took over at their own 19 and had a few big runs by running back Emanuel Wilson before a holding penalty on Duece Watts stalled the drive. The Packers punted it away and the Bengals were set to take over with 10:14 left in the game.

Again the Bengals had a forgettable drive as they went three and out punting away to the Packers. The Packers took over with a new QB in Alex McGough and on the first play McGough handed off to Emanuel Wilson who took the ball 80 yards for the touchdown. Wilson showed some great juke moves getting around defenders and turned on the jets for six. Unfortunately once again the PAT was missed putting the score at 36-19.

Outside of an Alex McGough sack fumble turnover with 3:56 left in the game, there wasn't much to note before the kneel downs to wind down the clock. 

Offensive Player of the Game:

Emanuel Wilson. Wilson was absolutely outstanding in his first showing in a Packers uniform. He put up 111 yards on 6 carries showing great speed and mobility. There's no doubt if he keeps it up, he could make a case for a third running back spot.

Defensive Player of the Game:

Carrington Valentine. Valentine was a seventh round pick. But many said he could've been a 1st or 2nd given his talent. He's definitely showing it as he seemed to be in on every pass breakup and also grabbed an INT in his Packers debut. I'd love to see him tested out in the slot to be our 4th corner.

What Went Right:

There was a lot to hang out hats on. The Packers number one offense came out and moved the ball. They protected it and pulled off a nice scoring drive to end their night. We also saw a lot of great plays from the Packers secondary and defensive front. It was fun to see a lot of pressure coming from the defense. A lot of stunts up front that need to be polished but this could be a good defense if it hits it's stride.

What Went Wrong:

Injuries. We may have lost Tyler Davis for the season to an ankle injury. We also lost Luke Tenuta, Tyler Goodson, and Caleb Jones to injury. You don't want that in Preseason at all. Outside of that, Sean Clifford's turnovers. He was otherwise very good in this game. He showed he could be the #2 QB behind Jordan Love, but he needs to work on staring down his receivers. NFL defenders will eat that alive and he saw that tonight.

We'll move on to Preseason Week 2 where the Packers will host the New England Patriots. Hopefully we'll see a little more of Jordan Love and the top offense and get another Preseason win.