Good evening, everyone. The Green Bay Packers will be taking on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium. Coming out of the bye week, the Packers are rested and now on a mission to get their fifth win of the season. As always, I am here to give you my thoughts on what they need to do to make that fifth win a reality. Without any delay, let’s get started.
On offense, they key for the Packers is to have a balanced attack. The running game will have a tough test against the Bucs defense, which leads the NFL against the run. The offensive linemen (including Corey Linsley, Billy Turner, and David Bakhtiari) need to do their part in creating the holes for Aaron Jones, Jamaal Williams, and AJ Dillon to go through for positive yards. I am sure that the running backs will be used in the passing game as well. It is up to head coach Matt LaFleur to come up with creative ways to get them involved in the passing game, like he has done before. After a few weeks off due to a hamstring injury, Davante Adams is back in the lineup for the Packers at wide receiver. I hope that he has a big impact on the game tomorrow, along with the rest of the receivers and tight ends (including Robert Tonyan, Equanimeous St. Brown, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling). Aaron Rodgers needs to make the right reads and throw accurately to the receivers, which he has done marvelously well this season (knocks on wood). The receivers need to catch every pass that is thrown by Rodgers, with the help of Matt LaFleur scheming them open. The O-Linemen need to do their part in protecting Rodgers from any potential sacks or pressures by Tampa Bay’s defenders, including Jason Pierre-Paul, Ndamukong Suh and Shaq Barrett. I have plenty of confidence in the offensive line protecting Rodgers against this defense and giving him time to throw. As always, Green Bay needs to win the time of possession battle on Sunday. They can do this by converting key third (or fourth) downs and not committing any turnovers or penalties. When they get in the red zone, the Packers need to score touchdowns on each possession instead of just settling for field goals. As long the Packers don’t make too many mistakes on offense, I think that they can put up at least 30 points and give Green Bay a great chance of winning on Sunday.
On defense, the key for the Packers is to limit the impact of the Bucs’ rushing attack, which is led by Ronald Jones. Thankfully for the defense, Kenny Clark is back in action after missing a few games with a groin injury. His presence can help the rest of the defensive line stop the run by shedding the blockers and tackling the running backs for minimum gain. The linebackers need to help as well in terms of stopping the run, while not missing tackles in the process. They also need to account for Jones and Fournette in the passing game, led by former Patriots QB Tom Brady. If the running game is kept in check, then the pass rush (which includes Za’Darius and Preston Smith, Clark and Rashan Gary) can get after Brady and pressure him. This is a game where defensive coordinator Mike Pettine needs to stay away from a soft zone and play mostly man coverage against the Bucs receivers (who include Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and former Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski). With Kevin King being a game-time decision due to a quad injury, it might be up to Chandon Sullivan, Josh Jackson, or Ka’dar Hollman to step up if he is not playing. Jaire Alexander has been playing great so far this season, shutting down screen passes and holding receivers to only a few catches (including allowing 0 catches for Calvin Ridley against the Falcons in Week 4). I have a feeling that he (or any other defensive back) will get a pick-six on Sunday against Brady, who has thrown 2 of them already this season. It would also be nice if the defense gets a strip-sack during the game and creating a turnover there. Any turnover can give the Packers momentum and another chance to score on offense. As always, third (and fourth) down conversions need to be kept to a minimum to help Green Bay win the time of possession battle. In the red zone, the Packers defense needs to keep the Bucs from scoring too many touchdowns and forcing them to mostly field goals. It will be a tough test for the Packers defense, but I am confident that they will get the key stops when they are needed the most on Sunday (and also limit the number of chunk plays in the game).
On Special Teams, the key for the Packers is to limit the amount of mistakes made. With Tyler Ervin out, someone else has to field the kickoffs and punts. I am sure that it will be a rotation of Malik Taylor and Darrius Shepherd for the kick and punt returns. Whoever is fielding the kicks needs to make sound decisions, including calling for a fair catch and not fumbling the football during a return. On the other side, the return coverage unit needs to make sure that no big returns are allowed (at least on kicks that are not fair caught or a touchback). When he is called upon, Mason Crosby needs to make all of his field goals and extra point kicks (especially in crunch time). JK Scott needs to punt the ball very deep in Tampa Bay territory when his number is called. Hunter Bradley needs to do his part by snapping the ball accurately. This is to make sure that every field goal or punt attempt goes on as usual. The blocking unit needs to make sure that the kicks are not blocked at all during the game. On the other side, I am still hopeful for a blocked field goal or punt by Green Bay during the 2020 season. As long as they avoid turnovers and penalties, I think that the Packers will be fine on Special Teams.
For the Packers, the goal is to go 1-0 every single week. So far, they have done just that through 4 games. If they limit the mistakes on offense, defense, and special teams, then they will win against the Bucs and improve their record to 5-0. Regardless of the outcome, I will be back for my post-game thoughts either on Sunday night or on Monday. Here‘s to no major injuries or cases of COVID-19 for either team. Have a good night, everyone. Go Pack Go!
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