The Green Bay Packers put on an impressive offensive showing against the Bengals in their first preseason game. A 36-19 victory saw many impressive touchdown drives. However, it is preseason, so victories mean very little. Despite this, there is something we can glean from the game. The Packers showed proof of concept in their first preseason game.

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Packers QB Jordan Love (10) – AP Photo

The Green Bay Packers Showed Proof Of Concept

What do I mean by this? In the preseason, I don’t care about wins, losses, or even what stats a player had. While that does matter to some degree, what I am looking for is proof that what a team is trying to do is going to work. This is the first year that we get the true Matt Lafleur offense. With Aaron Rodgers under center, the offense was a hybrid that combined the skills of Rodgers with the schematics of LaFleur. Jordan Love is running the complete LaFleur offense. In this game, I personally was looking for proof that this offense could be successful in the league.

Love’s numbers weren’t anything spectacular. 46 yards and a passing touchdown aren’t anything to get up off the couch and cheer about, but again, I’m not looking for mind-blowing stats. Love looked comfortable in the offense. Guys were getting open even if Love was not hitting them. Rookie tight end Luke Musgrave broke free on a 3rd-down play. Love missed him, but the fact the offense was able to scheme him open is good enough for me in the preseason. A long pass to Christian Watson was broken up by the safety, but the downfield plan is there. The concept seems to work, and it wasn’t just Love that was executing it.

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Packers QB Sean Clifford (8) – Sam Greene/The Enquirer/USA TODAY NETWORK

Offense Looked Good Without Love

The Green Bay Packers took a lot of heat when they took quarterback Sean Clifford out of Penn State in the fifth round. Clifford had a solid debut. He played most of the game and threw for over 200 yards and a touchdown. While he did have two interceptions, I don’t care about those as much in the preseason. Quarterbacks should test the limits of their skills in a meaningless game.

Clifford doing well also deepens my confidence in this offensive scheme. If the second-string players are able to pick up the offense and look good, it clearly is working to some degree. Do I think Clifford is going to take the league by storm? No, but I feel confident that if he had to relieve Love because of an injury, it wouldn’t be catastrophic.

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Packers RB Emanuel Wilson (31) – AP Photo/Michael Conroy

Running Game Looked Great

Another aspect of the game that looked great was the running game. The Packers will likely need to lean on Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon this year. The best thing for a first-year starter is a solid running game. The hero of the day was Emmanuel Wilson, who had two touchdown runs, one of them being an 80-yard house call.

In general, the running backs looked good all night which leads me to the offensive line. Whether it was in the passing game or the running game, the offensive line looked good overall. With their top two linemen, David Bakhtiari and Elgton Jenkins, not playing, the Green Bay Packers showed off their depth. In a weekend of very poor offensive line play amongst many teams, the Packers showed they have one of the deepest units in the NFL.

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Packers CB Carrington Valentine (37) – Patrick McDermott/Getty Images

Don’t Forget About The Defense

The defense also showed proof of concept against the Bengals, albeit with a giant asterisk. The top players for the Bengals didn’t play on offense. The Packers played many of their first-stringers. It makes sense that the Bengals had trouble moving the ball. However, the fact that the Packers’ defense did not allow a touchdown in the game (the only one was a pick-6 by safety Tycen Anderson) definitely means something. Rookie corner Carrington Valentine is slowly looking like a huge steal in the draft, and the defensive line was able to create pressure. It’s hard to put too much stock in this performance, but again, the proof of concept is there.

It’s easy to overreact during a preseason game. We are so starved for football that when we finally see a game; we get caught up in the moment. Whatever team you are cheering for, look for the proof of concept. The Green Bay Packers and many other teams showed that this weekend. The teams that didn’t are the ones that I am most worried about.