Good evening, everyone. On Sunday, the Green Bay Packers will take on the Los Angeles Chargers at Lambeau Field. Both teams are desperate for a win, with both teams losing in heartbreaking fashion last week to the Steelers and Lions, respectively. I still have hope that the Packers will make something out of this season, even if it might not result in a playoff berth. There’s still the matter of pride for the Packers in the rest of the games. With this introduction out of the way, let’s get into detail on how the Packers can win on Sunday in their 1950s throwback uniforms.
(A little note before I start with the keys to the game proper: this will be the last game that I will do a preview for. After this week, I’ll focus on just doing the recaps of the games. It’s not because of the Packers struggling this year. I just feel like I am better off writing about what happened in the game rather than predicting it. Back to the main post.)
On offense, the Packers need to have a balanced attack. It all starts with the performance of the offensive line. A couple of changes need to be made to make sure that the line performs well. The first is to have Yosh Nijman start at left tackle over Rasheed Walker, and the second is to have Sean Rhyan start over Jon Runyan, Jr at one of the guard positions. Those two changes can help the O-Line play consistently good play in both the running game and the passing game. In the running game, the linemen need to create the holes for Aaron Jones and the rest of the running backs to run through. Jones should be able to get the most touches out of all of the running backs and play better than last week overall. Each of the running backs need to follow the holes and run for plenty of positive yards while evading or trucking defenders in the process. If the RBs can run the ball well, then the play-action passing game can be opened up to fool the Chargers defenders, who include the pass rushing duo of Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa. Whether play action is involved or not, it is up to the linemen (plus any additional blockers) to protect Jordan Love from too many sacks or pressures. Last week, only one sack was allowed by the Packers. As long as Love is protected well, he can have time to throw to any of his receivers, including Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, Luke Musgrave, Romeo Doubs, and Christian Watson. The three rookies have played well and I think they need to be the leaders of the receiving corps, especially Reed and Wicks. Doubs can make plays as well, including a couple of great TD catches during this season. As for Watson, he needs to be given easy routes like crossing routes. In those, he can catch them and outrun defenders for at least a huge gain, as long as the throw is accurate and the pass is caught. Against a Chargers secondary that has been mostly bad this year, the receivers need to play well and catch each pass thrown by Love to help the QB get to 300 yards on the day (hopefully three touchdowns too). Most importantly, the Packers need to get some good yards on the early downs, convert any third downs, and avoid turnovers and penalties. Doing those things can help the Packers win the time of possession battle and put plenty of points on the scoreboard. Everyone needs to execute their assignment on Sunday for the Packers offense to play well for all four quarters, especially in clutch situations.
On defense, the Packers need to keep the ground game in check. The players on the defensive front, who include Kenny Clark, TJ Slaton, Rashan Gary, Karl Brooks, Preston Smith, Colby Wooden, and Lukas Van Ness, need to get past the blockers and tackle the ball carrier (usually Austin Ekeler) for minimum gain, especially in clutch situations. Any defender who is near a ball carrier needs to wrap the guy up and bring him down cleanly. The defense can’t afford to miss any tackles or settle for diving at the ankles or shoulders. If the Chargers’ ground game is kept in check, then the pass rush can get after Justin Herbert, who is able to pick defenses apart if given time. The problem is that some of his receivers, including Keenan Allen, might not be available for Sunday. The Packers defensive backfield needs to make sure that any receivers are covered well and don’t get wide open catches. If a pass is caught, then the defenders need to get to him quickly before he turns a simple 3-4 yard catch to a big play. Jaire Alexander might not play on Sunday, but I have hope that Carrington Valentine can help the defensive backfield on Sunday. Early down plays need to be for minimum yards, third and fourth down stops are needed, and the defense also needs to force a couple of turnovers. Any opportunity for an interception needs to be capitalized on, including any throws toward the sideline. Whoever grabs the pick near the sideline needs to keep both of his feet inbounds for the pick to count. Any opportunity for a pick six needs to be capitalized on too. A strip sack or two would also help the Packers win the turnover battle and give the offense more chances to score. Joe Barry’s days are numbered, but I hope he trusts his players to play well for the whole game.
On Special Teams, the Packers need to keep the major mistakes to a minimum. Last week, an extra point kick got blocked due to Josiah Deguara just standing there and letting the defender get to the ball with no resistance. Deguara needs to be kept from any Special Teams snaps (and any snaps in general). Everyone on the line needs to be good blockers to keep the defenders from getting near the ball on extra point kicks, field goal attempts, and punts. In addition to that, the snap by the long snapper needs to be accurate each time for Daniel Whelon, who is the punter and the holder for field goal attempts. Whelon needs to secure the hold, and Anders Carlson needs to make each kick when he is called upon. Whelon needs to punt each ball deep into Chargers territory when he is called upon, which I hope is not too often. On kickoffs and punts, the return coverage unit needs to make sure that the Chargers return man doesn’t take a kick for a huge gain. The easiest way to avoid a potential big return is for the kickoffs to be in the end zone for a touchback and for punts to be kicked out of bounds deep into Chargers territory. On the other side, I hope that Keisean Nixon takes a kickoff for a huge gain a couple of times. There is still hope for a kickoff return touchdown, as long as Nixon follows the blocks and there is no stupid penalty like holding or block in the back. If there is not an opportunity for a long return, then Nixon can let the ball go into the end zone for a touchback or let it bounce out of bounds. Whether it is Nixon or Jayden Reed doing punt returns, he needs to fair catch each ball cleanly or let the ball bounce away from him. Everyone on Special Teams needs to play well on Sunday to make Rich Bisaccia proud of them.
Overall, it will be a tough game for the Packers. It is at Lambeau Field, which the Chargers haven’t won at in a few decades, so the Packers have that advantage, plus the cold. The weather looks great for the game on Sunday, which means that any Packers player who scores a touchdown should be able to safely do a Lambeau Leap to celebrate with the fans (as long as the Packers aren’t down by double digits). Most importantly, I hope that the Packers play well for all four quarters and get the win in front of their home crowd. Regardless of the outcome, I pray that nobody gets seriously injured on Sunday. The recap will be up on Monday afternoon/evening. Have a great weekend, everyone. Go Pack Go!
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