The Green Bay Packers are currently on a three game winning streak as they head into Detroit on Sunday. I wondered last week if the win to the Bears was a bit of a mirage, backup QB, revenge factor, etc. The Packers followed that up with a convincing (if not sloppy) win against the Cowboys. It’s fair to question if the Cowboys are in fact a good team, but they do have a good offense, so seeing the depleted Packers defense do what they did was an impressive follow up to the week priors performance.
So can the Packers keep it going in another pivotal divisional game? The Lions are not dissimilar from the Cowboys in terms of the strengths and weaknesses of the two rosters. Both have very good offenses, and both have suspect defenses in large part due to weak secondaries. So it stands to reason that the best way to beat the Lions would be to put up a similar approach to the Cowboys game. What does that look like exactly?
The Packers Offense
First and foremost, the pass catchers need to clean up the drops. Jordan Love is playing out of his mind these last few weeks and it would be even more impressive if not for the elephant in the room:
This was never more evident then in the Cowboys game, where Golden and Watson combined to drop three TD passes. Pierre Strong also added a drop that likely cost the Packers a drive extending first down late in the game.
Still, my biggest concern with the return of Josh Jacobs and these drops is that LaFleur falls back into the bad habit of trying to force the run. Even with the drops the passing game is putting up numbers that they haven’t since the peak Rodgers years.
The Packers Defense
Outside of the Falcons game, the Packers defense has massively exceeded many preseason predictions. Viewed by many (including myself) as a unit that would struggle to generate a pass rush, and be weak at corner, has instead flourished.
Through the same amount of games as last year, the Packers have actually pressured the QB more than the year prior with Parsons on the field, and they still get to add him back this year.
More than anything, the Packers have to do two things against this Lions offense. Keep Jared Goff under pressure, and do not let Jahmyr Gibbs pull a Bijan and ruin their whole weekend.
I thought the Packers would have to win a shootout last week to get the victory, and I feel the same way about this week. If Gannon’s defense can contain this offense however, you have to start looking at the Packers like true contenders, because you know the offense is just going to keep getting better as the line play improves.
Special Teams
After a disastrous (but ultimately meaningless) kicker implosion against the Bears, Trey Smack found his footing against Dallas, going 3/3 on field goals and 2/2 on extra points.
Just keep doing that. This week is in a dome, so there’s no reason he shouldn’t continue to make kicks.
The kickoff/return game has lost some juice with Skyy Moore out, but fill in Coleman Owen acquitted himself well and the unit didn’t give up any game changing plays.
If Cam Achord can keep this up they might build a statue for him by seasons end.
Final Prediction
NFC North games are never easy affairs. The Lions are coming off a bye and are at home, which means it’ll take everything Green Bay has to keep their winning streak alive. I think this ends up being the shoot out we were promised last week.
Packers 35 – Lions 31
