The Green Bay Packers are 5-3. They probably should be 6-2, but with the injuries this season and still no Parsons, 5-3 looks pretty good. After surviving a sloppy Thursday night game against the crumbling Panthers, the Packers still have a lot of work to do.
First and foremost is beating the Patriots in Foxborough. This is no easy task, and despite the Pats being an AFC team this game still matters a lot to the Packers playoff outlook.
The NFC North is obviously a bloodbath where every single win is going to matter, but that also applies to the NFC as a whole. With NFC East and South teams guaranteed spots, that leaves just five spots for the entire NFC North, plus the Seahawks, Rams and Niners. Every team on this list has a winning record right now.
So Green Bay can’t afford to take a week off. New England won’t be a pushover, but there are a few things that they the Packers should be able to take advantage of.
The Packers Offense
Catch the ball. That’s really the biggest adjustment that needs to happen. Despite leading the league in drops by a good margin, Watson and Golden are both still in the top ten of receiving yards this season. It’s felt like Golden has dropped a TD pass every week. If the drops can come back to even just a average level the offense should sky rocket.
On the other hand, the run game isn’t going to happen LaFleur. Stop trying to make it happen. I understand that you have to throw the token attempt in now again to keep defenses honest, but this offense should be living and dying by the pass game. Just keep chucking it.
On the bright side the offensive line play does seem to have settled a bit. It isn’t good but at the very least the pass blocking has settled down. Case in point:
It’s been a rough ride with Morgan at points during the season, but when you compare him to how his predecessor is doing in Carolina, Green Bay seemingly made the correct choice in the short term.
The Patriots defense is definitely a strength, but against the better offenses they’ve faced they are vulnerable.
The Packers Defense
The Patriots have a great QB, and that can cover up a lot of warts, as many of you know from the last three decades of Packers football. That being said New England is in a tough spot right now on offense. They are missing multiple pass catchers and offensive lineman. The Patriots last three attempts against strong defenses look like this:
This is the kind of game that the Packers defense should shine in. With Micah Parsons return looming close it’s on Lukas Van Ness and the Packers safeties to help control this game. If you want something to really look forward to, its what LVN might do when he has Parsons drawing the attention. Because what he’s done without him so far is very impressive:
Special Teams
I wanted to believe. I really did. Please just make your kicks so we can stop worrying about it for a week.
Final Prediction
The Packers and Patriots are two very similar teams, QB driven offenses hunting for splash plays and defenses anchored by strong secondaries. The difference right now is that Green Bay is (oddly) the healthier team right now, and that should make the difference.
Packers 28 – Patriots 17
