Good afternoon, everyone. We’re now in Week 2 of the 2023 NFL season. For the Green Bay Packers, they look to continue their winning ways as they take on the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes Benz Stadium. Not only are they looking to start the season at 2-0, but they are also looking for their first win at Atlanta since the 2011 season at the old Georgia Dome. Here is what the Packers need to do on Sunday to go to 2-0 on the season.
On offense, the Packers need to stay balanced with their attack. For the running game, the Packers might be without Aaron Jones, who has a hamstring issue that has kept him out of practice this week. AJ Dillon needs to play much better than he did last week against Chicago. At the same time, the game plan needs to have Dillon run north to south rather than east and west. Dillon is not a running back that is fit for outside runs. He should be able to truck any Falcons defender that is in his way and get some extra yards after contact. The Packers can save the outside runs for Patrick Taylor and Emanuel Wilson. For those running backs to get plenty of yards, the offensive linemen (plus the receivers and tight ends) need to block the defenders and create the holes for them to run through. For the backs, they need to truck past or evade defenders in order to get some good yards every play. Running the ball well can set up the play action passing game because it can make defenders fall for the run fake. If that happens, then Jordan Love will have some good time to find an open receiver and throw the ball to him. Hopefully Christian Watson plays this week after missing Week one. Even without Watson, Love has plenty of targets, including Romeo Doubs (who caught two touchdowns last week), Jayden Reed, Luke Musgrave, Malik Heath, and the running backs. Those receivers need to win their battles against the Falcons secondary and catch each pass from Love (other than throwaways). All of this can’t be possible without the offensive line protecting Love from any pressures. The Falcons defense may do some stunts and blitzes, but I’m sure that the O-Line (plus the running backs) will be able to keep the defenders from getting to the QB. I have no doubt that Jordan Love will play well again in terms of protecting the football and keeping his poise in stressful situations. Most importantly, the Packers offense needs to win the time of possession battle. In order for them to do this, they need to be productive on early downs, convert third downs no matter the distance, and avoid turnovers and penalties. In the red zone, the Packers need to score touchdowns every time. Every red zone possession against Chicago resulted in a TD, so I hope that they continue doing that. The more touchdowns they score, the more pressure there is on Atlanta to answer back when they’re on offense.
The Packers defense should be able to keep the Falcons from putting up too many points. The main focus of the defense needs to be to keep the running game in check. Bijan Robinson is a rookie, but he can be productive if the defense allows him to have some room to run from a screen pass. From the defensive front to the secondary, the Packers defense needs to make sure that any ball carrier (especially Robinson) is tackled for minimum gain. If the running game is kept in check, then the pass rush can get after QB Desmond Ridder and make his life miserable. Granted, I think the Falcons will have a plan in place to get the ball out of the QB’s hands as soon as possible. The problem is that the Falcons’ offensive line allowed a few sacks last week against Carolina. The Packers defensive front, which includes Rashan Gary, Devonte Wyatt, Kenny Clark, Preston Smith, and Lukas Van Ness (among others), should be able to get past the linemen and sack Ridder at least 4 times. Even if the rush doesn’t result in a sack, Ridder can be pressured to throw interceptions to the likes of Jaire Alexander, Rasul Douglas, Darnell Savage, and Carrington Valentine. All of the defensive backs, including those 4, need to cover the Falcons receivers well and not allow any big plays. Any catch by Atlanta’s receivers, tight ends, or running backs must end in a short gain or a loss of yards. I have a feeling that one of the turnovers that the Packers force will be a pick six by Jaire Alexander or Rasul Douglas. I also have a feeling that there will be another strip sack by the pass rush. Other than stopping the Falcons on third downs, keeping them from scoring too many points, and force turnovers, the most important thing the Packers defense needs to do is avoid unnecessary roughness or unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. Those types of penalties messed up the Packers last week against the Bears. The strip sack and fumble recovery would have put the offense in field goal range had it not been for a penalty. After the Packers punted, the Bears went down the field with the help of some unacceptable roughness penalties that gave the Bears free first downs. Thankfully the Packers put that game away after that nonsense, but that nonsense needs to not be there from here on out. I’m sure the coaches talked about the penalties to the players and let them know that it should not happen again. I have plenty of confidence in the defense on Sunday against Atlanta. We’ll see how they play when they get on the field.
On Special Teams, the Packers need to avoid blunders that could alter the game in an instant. An example of this is allowing a kick/punt return to go all the way for a touchdown in Atlanta’s favor. Either of these two solutions can keep this from happening: Anders Carlson kicks the ball out of the end zone for a touchback (which should be easy indoors) or the coverage unit makes sure to tackle the return man with maximum effort. On the other side, I hope that Keisean Nixon has a much bette day returning the kickoffs than in Week one. He didn’t fumble in that game, which is good, but he didn’t break a kickoff for a big gain. Maybe this is the week that he takes a kick and runs it past midfield (or all the way to the end zone for a TD). For him and Jayden Reed (who is the return man on punts), the most important things that they need to do is to catch the ball cleanly, follow the blocks, and run well while protecting the ball at the same time. On field goals and punts, the long snapper needs to snap the ball accurately to Daniel Whelon, who is both the holder and the punter. Whelon needs to catch the ball cleanly and get it set for Anders Carlson to kick it good. The linemen need to keep any Falcons players from getting close to the field goal or punt with a chance to block it. Carlson needs to make each and every kick when he is called upon. Whelon needs to punt each ball deep into Atlanta territory when given the chance, which hopefully is very little. On the other side, I hope that the Packers can get a blocked punt or field goal and get points out of that, whether that be a touchdown or a safety (if the punt is blocked out of the end zone). Rich Bisaccia will once again get his men ready for anything that the Falcons throw at them. I’m sure that the unit will play well under his guidance.
Overall, this game should be fun to watch on Sunday. As long as the Packers play well on all sides of the ball with little to no mistakes, I think they will win this game against the Falcons and start the season at 2-0. Regardless of the outcome, I pray that nobody on either team gets seriously injured on Sunday. Especially when they are playing on turf, which should not be a thing in the NFL. Every team in the NFL should have natural grass and maintain that grass well, regardless of if the stadium is indoors or outdoors. I’ll be back on Monday or Tuesday with the recap of the game no matter what the outcome is. Hope you all have a great weekend. Go Pack Go!
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