The Battle in the Beltway Features some Familiar Faces
The Green Bay Packers will look to get back into the win column as they travel to the East Coast to face the Washington Redskins at Noon Central Time.
The Packers are 1-0-1 after playing to a tie vs Minnesota last Sunday. Meanwhile, the Redskins are 1-1 after suffering a home loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
Aaron Rodgers continues to battle through his knee injury and play well, but there are concerns that his knee injury will get worse as the season progresses. For now, he is in the lineup and gets another player to help out as Aaron Jones is through with his suspension and is ready to contribute. The Redskins are currently ranked #1 in total defense, but it’s a short sample size after only 2 games. Besides, one of those games was at Arizona, a dreadful team which is ranked dead last in total offense (and it’s not even close) and has only 6 total points on the season. Still, you can never look past any team as #1 is #1 until it changes. It all starts up front as the line needs to keep the pass rushers away from Rodgers and open up holes for the running game.
Although the Packers faced these opposing players on other teams, Washington still has some familiar faces. Alex Smith, who Packer fans know as the guy who was selected over Rodgers in the 2005 Draft, is the man in Washington and has developed into an efficient quarterback since leaving San Francisco many years ago. Adrian Peterson may not rush for close to 2,000 yards in a season anymore, but he definitely has a lot of game left. No wide receiver has yet reached 100 yards on the season, but the Packers need to be ready for anything. As always, turnovers will be key.
Special teams often come into play, and the Packers made their presence known in that area last week with a blocked punt for a TD and some great distance from punter J.K. Scott.
Some final thoughts on the “penalty” by Clay Matthews:
It was a terrible call, and the explanation by the league office was even worse. They said that Matthews lifted up Kirk Cousins and drove him into the ground. He did no such thing. Many of us are still angry over the whole situation. I understand everyone’s frustration. I would say that they need to use that as motivation and dominate on the field, but many of us will wonder if in the future, the Packers will seem to have a victory in their grasp only to have it taken from them due to a bad call or other unfortunate circumstance. The game should be decided by the play on the field and not the referees or anything else.
I’m not saying that we will get over the events of last week that easily, but this is a new week, and there is a chance for the Packers to give us a game that will leave us with some pleasant memories. The Redskins had trouble filling the stadium in their game vs the Colts, but Packer fans travel well, and I am sure that it will be filled at least close to full capacity and that the Packer fans in attendance will make their voices heard.
Our record is no longer perfect, but we are still unbeaten. Let’s get behind the team and cheer them to victory this Sunday.
Go Pack Go!
@DieHardPackrFan #DHPF #GregGoshaw @gg901
