Good morning, everyone. After the Green Bay Packers took care of business at home against the Chicago Bears, they look to do the same on Sunday afternoon against the Philadelphia Eagles. Even though this game should be an easy win on paper, anything can happen week to week in the NFL. What is important for the Packers is that they need to play with energy and effort for all 4 quarters. Let’s go into detail on what Green Bay needs to do to win on Sunday.
On offense, the key for the Packers is to have a balanced attack of run and pass. Despite not having Corey Linsley for this game, the offensive line (which includes David Bakhtiari, Elgton Jenkins, Billy Turner, and Jon Runyan, Jr.) should be able to create the running lanes for Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams to go through the Eagles defensive front. The receivers need to help blocking for the running backs as well on Sunday (which they have done well so far). It is then up to the backs themselves to use those blocks to their advantage and run for plenty of positive yards. If the Packers can run the ball effectively, then it can open up the passing lanes for QB Aaron Rodgers and the receivers (who include Davante Adams, Allen Lazard, Robert Tonyan, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling). It is up to Rodgers to be accurate on every throw and avoid throwing picks, which he has only thrown 4 of this season (*knocks on wood*). For the receivers, they need to get open (with some help from head coach Matt LaFleur) and catch every pass that is thrown by Rodgers without any drops. All of this can’t happen if the O-Line is not able to keep Rodgers upright. The good news is that the O-Linemen have done a great job protecting Rodgers all season long, only giving up a few sacks this season. If the offensive line is able to do that again, then Aaron Rodgers can reach another milestone on Sunday. Last week, he surpassed 50,000 career passing yards against the Bears. On Sunday against the Eagles, he has a chance to reach 400 career touchdown passes (he is only 3 away). As always, winning the time of possession battle (which involves converting third and fourth downs) and finishing each drive with a touchdown, especially in the red zone, will give Green Bay a great chance to win. I think that the Packers will put up at least 40 points for a second week in a row at Lambeau Field. Keeping the mistakes to a minimum should help Green Bay achieve this goal against the Eagles.
On defense, the key for the Packers against the Eagles is to make them one-dimensional on offense. Stopping the run can help the Packers defense achieve their goal on that front. With the injuries that the Eagles have on the offensive line, there should be little issue for the Packers defensive front (which include Kenny Clark, Rashan Gary, Za’Darius Smith, and Preston Smith) to shed the blockers and tackle the running backs for little to no gain. What the defense also needs to do is to avoid missing any tackles, as they can turn to more yards for the Eagles on offense. If the run game is kept in check, then the pass rush can get after QB Carson Wentz and make his day miserable. Wentz has been a turnover machine whenever there is a collapsed pocket around him (in addition to being sacked 46 times this season). Therefore, the Packers pass rush needs to shed the blocks and pressure him early and often (with at least 4 players), while not allowing him to throw short passes to the running backs (or any receiver for that matter). As always, the defense needs to make sure that there are no easy targets for the QB to throw to. Any receiver who catches a pass needs to be tackled shortly afterwards, making sure that there are no big plays allowed. This game is a prime opportunity for the Packers defense (particularly the secondary) to get a few turnovers, including interceptions (maybe a pick-six) and forced fumbles. As always, the Packers defense needs to keep the Eagles from converting too many third downs and scoring touchdowns in the red zone. Holding them to mostly field goals down there should give Green Bay a chance to win convincingly. I have plenty of confidence that the defense will get the job done on Sunday.
On Special Teams, the Packers need to avoid mistakes that could give the Eagles unexpected momentum. In the return game, the Packers might have gotten a boost from the signing of WR Tavon Austin (who was with LaFleur in Los Angeles as a member of the Rams). In addition to any contributions on offense, he should be the main return guy for Green Bay. If there is an opportunity for a big return, Austin needs to make the most of it by following the blocks and breaking any tackles on his way to a long return for a touchdown (as long as there are no flags on the play). In any return scenario, he needs to protect the ball and not turn it over. If there is not a big return chance, he needs to make sure he fields it cleanly, with a fair catch being the best option there. On the flip side, the Packers coverage unit needs to prevent any long returns from happening for the Eagles. Kicking the football into the end zone for a touchback or doing a squib kick can keep the big returns from occurring. Mason Crosby needs to make every field goal and extra point, while JK Scott needs to flip the field on each of his punts. As long as Hunter Bradley snaps each ball with precision (plus a clean hold on field goal attempts), there should be no issues on those 2 things. There should be no blocked punts or field goals allowed by the Packers on Sunday. On the other side of the coin, I still hope for a blocked kick this season. Avoiding any turnovers or penalties on Special Teams should help the Packers win the game on Sunday.
I think that the Packers will have a great game on Sunday against the Eagles at Lambeau Field. As long as there are not too many mistakes, they should win convincingly in front of 500 fans (who consist of family members of team employees). Regardless of the outcome, I hope that the game is played with no additional injuries or COVID-19 cases on either team (*knocks on wood again*). I will be here for my thoughts on the game itself sometime this upcoming week. In the meantime, I hope that you all have a great weekend. Go Pack Go!
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