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Green Bay beat Denver 33-13 in Week 2 of the preseason, a game built on six combined Trey Smack and Wil Lutz field goals and three different touchdown passes. The quarterback story ran in opposite directions for each team: Green Bay's starter looked sharp in a short cameo while its backup struggled with volume, and Denver's backup QB battle went badly for the guy who played the most.
Love went 5 of 7 for 56 yards and a touchdown to MarShawn Lloyd, a 134.5 rating, in a brief, efficient appearance. Kyle McCord took on the bulk of the workload behind him and was far less sharp: 12 of 19 for 118 yards, no touchdowns, sacked once, an 80.6 rating. Tyrod Taylor closed it out with a short touchdown pass of his own in mop-up duty (4 of 8, 17 yards).
Bo Nix's own cameo was clean: 6 of 9 for 76 yards and a touchdown to RJ Harvey, a 129.9 rating. Jarrett Stidham got the extended run behind him and didn't produce: 9 of 15 for 82 yards with an interception, a 47.1 rating, exactly the kind of outing that doesn't answer any questions about Denver's QB2 spot. Sam Ehlinger closed the game out but was sacked twice on his own two completions.
Harvey caught two passes for 25 yards and a touchdown on just two targets, flashing as a receiver out of the backfield in a way worth tracking into the regular season. On the other side, Pierre Strong Jr. led all Green Bay rushers with eight carries for 37 yards, a 4.6 average, ahead of Jaden Nixon's shorter touchdown run (four carries, 20 yards) and MarShawn Lloyd's quiet six-carry, 17-yard night.
The single most portable takeaway here is RJ Harvey catching a touchdown out of the backfield, because pass-game usage is what separates a matchup-dependent runner from a weekly fantasy asset. Two targets is a tiny sample, but the role it hints at is the one that matters: a back who is trusted to run routes and finish in the passing game carries a floor that pure early-down committee members never build, and in a Denver offense with a clean cameo from Bo Nix, that receiving work has real value attached to it. Harvey is the name from this game to prioritize, and the thing to track is whether that pass-catching role expands once the games count.
Green Bay's backfield is the murkier picture. Pierre Strong Jr. led the ground game, Jaden Nixon found the end zone, and MarShawn Lloyd had a quiet night despite catching Jordan Love's touchdown, which is exactly the kind of muddled committee that frustrates drafters. None of the three separated, so the practical read is to prefer the back with pass-game involvement and wait for the rotation to clarify. Love and Nix both did their jobs in short, uneventful cameos, which is precisely what you want from projected Week 1 starters this late in the summer.
Jordan Love's cameo and Bo Nix's cameo were both exactly what you want from your projected Week 1 starters this late in August: clean and uneventful. The real news is that neither Kyle McCord nor Jarrett Stidham did anything to lock down a backup job. Check the rookie rankings to see where RJ Harvey currently sits, and use the best ball tool to see how Green Bay's crowded backfield is being valued right now. Full box score: ESPN.
