Good morning, everyone. The Green Bay Packers are now on the brink of clinching the NFC North. They can clinch it on Sunday with a win against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field and a loss by Minnesota against Tampa Bay. For the Packers, they can’t worry about looking at other teams’ scores on the board. Their focus needs to be primarily on beating the Lions for the second time in the 2020 season. I am here to give you my thoughts on what Green Bay needs to do to win against the Lions and get to 10-3 on the season. Without further delay, let’s get started.
On offense, the key for the Packers is to have a balanced attack of run and pass. For the offensive linemen, they need to create the running lanes for Aaron Jones, Jamaal Williams, and (hopefully) AJ Dillon to go through against the Lions defense. It is then up to the backs themselves to follow the holes and break tackles on their way to big gains (bonus points for plenty of blockers downfield). I am sure that the running backs will also be used in the passing game through screen passes and (maybe) wheel routes (schemed by head coach Matt LaFleur, of course). Speaking of the passing game, Aaron Rodgers and the receivers (including Davante Adams, Robert Tonyan, Allen Lazard, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling) should have a big game on Sunday. As long as Rodgers throws the ball accurately on each play and the receivers make every catch, I think that they will do just that against a Lions secondary without Jeff Okudah and Desmond Trufant. For all of this to happen, the offensive line needs to protect Rodgers from any pressures or sacks. The most important thing for the Packers to do on Sunday (and every week for that matter) is to win the time of possession battle. They can do this on offense by converting third downs and going on time-consuming drives that result in touchdowns while avoiding any mistakes, which include turning the ball over, committing any penalties, and dropping easy catches. As long as the mistakes are avoided all game long, the Packers should have no problem scoring at least 35 points with a balanced attack against Detroit. Even though weird things have happened at Ford Field in recent years, I think that this time will be different.
On defense, the key for the Packers is to make the Lions offense one-dimensional. The way that they can do this is by stopping the running game of Detroit. The defensive front, which includes Kenny Clark, Rashan Gary, Za’Darius Smith, and Preston Smith, needs to break through the blockers and tackle the ball carrier for minimum gains (while not missing any tackles in the process). If the defense can keep the ground game in check, then they can focus on getting after Matthew Stafford. Even if the pass rush does not get the sack each time, pressuring him can force bad throws that can be intercepted. Going back to Week 2, Rashan Gary forced Stafford to throw a pick-six to Chandon Sullivan. I think that something similar to that could happen on Sunday (hopefully for Jaire Alexander). In other cases, the defensive backs (including Alexander, Kevin King, and Darnell Savage) need to cover the receivers very well. With Kenny Golladay out due to a hip injury, Jaire Alexander will probably cover Marvin Jones for most, if not all, of Sunday’s contest. As always, there can’t be any easy catches or big gains allowed. One way to prevent the chunk plays from happening is by not missing any tackles when a screen pass or a slant pass is caught by a receiver for Detroit. The defense also needs to look out for any potential trick plays that interim head coach Darrell Bevell has up his sleeve. As always, the Packers defense needs to make critical stops and not allow too many touchdowns against the Lions offense. If/when the Packers have a comfortable lead, the defense can’t allow too many points in garbage time (which has happened in the previous 2 wins). Even though there might be some trickery by the Lions offense, I think that the Packers defense will get their job done on Sunday.
On Special Teams, the key for the Packers is to avoid making mistakes that can give the Lions advantage in an unexpected way. One of these mistakes is allowing a punt return touchdown to happen (which has happened twice this season for the Packers). For JK Scott, he needs to punt each ball either deep in their own territory or out of bounds to avoid another potential big return. The coverage unit needs to do a better job of staying at their assignments and making a better effort at tackling the returner. That tackling part goes for JK Scott as well. With Tyler Ervin on Injured Reserve, it is now up to Tavon Austin to return the kickoffs and punts. When a big opportunity arises, he needs to follow the blockers and return the kick for plenty of yards (hopefully a touchdown). If there is not chance for that, he just needs to catch the ball cleanly and not turn it over. Since the game is indoors, there should be no problem with all of the kickoffs being touchbacks. Mason Crosby needs to make every kick, including extra points, when he is called upon (especially in crunch time). Hunter Bradley needs to snap the ball accurately so that every field goal or punt attempt goes smoothly against the Lions. As long as costly mistakes are avoided, I think that the Packers will be fine on Special Teams.
The Packers have a prime opportunity on Sunday to clinch at least a playoff berth for the second straight year. It would be an added bonus if the Packers win and the Vikings lose to the Bucs on Sunday. If both of these things happen, then the Packers are NFC North champions again. Obviously, the goal for the Packers is to win the Super Bowl (one game at a time), but a playoff berth is the first step towards that goal. As long as they don’t fall into a trap game against a division rival, I think that they will win comfortably against Detroit. Regardless of the outcome, I hope that the game is played clean with no injuries or COVID-19 cases for either team (*knocks on wood a few times*). I will be here with my post-game thoughts on the game, win, lose, or tie, sometime this upcoming week. Have a great weekend, everyone. Go Pack Go!
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