Packers look to continue their hot start against Philadelphia
Green Bay will be coming into Thursday night’s game at Lambeau Field with an unblemished record (one of nine teams remaining with zero losses), at 3-0. They’ll be taking on the relatively pedestrian Philadelphia Eagles; who are coming off of a close loss to an NFC North opponent at home to in the Detroit Lions. The Eagles have been a roller coaster of a team through the first three weeks. Lots of ups and downs.
While the Packers are trying to maintain their momentum, the Eagles are simply trying to make some themselves. There were plenty of good things in their close loss at home to Detroit, they’ll be looking to build upon those while also learning from their mistakes. Make no mistake about it, even at 1-2, the Eagles will be doing anything but laying down for the Packers. That’s why Green Bay must not underestimate its opponents.
One big aspect that has been off to a slow start for Green Bay has been the offense; more specifically the passing game. Rodgers has spoken publicly about the issues and has taken accountability for them; stating in order for the offense to perform up to its full potential, he must also perform better at quarterback. Right now, the offense is near the bottom of the league; ranking 28th in total offense. If anything can start to change, it starts and ends with the man under center, Aaron Rodgers — he knows that and so does his teammates. Hopefully, they can get the offense up to snuff on Thursday night.
Rodgers spoke about getting his teammates (more specifically Davante Adams), involved: “It’s just putting him in position to have some opportunities. Whether that’s moving him around or giving him motion, or messing with his split; you know, I think it’s just giving him some more opportunities. Now, I think part of it is [that] we’ve been so bad on third down. We haven’t had those conversions that give us more plays. You know, we had fifty-something [total] plays last week. It’s just limiting the number of opportunities that our entire offense has and if our entire offense has fewer opportunities then it’s probably going to mean fewer targets for Davante.”
He also spoke about getting the tight ends more involved in the offense and if the offense can be better because of it: “It can, I think it can. We’ve gotta find ways to get Jimmy [Graham] the ball. You know, Jimmy’s a talented player. I really like what we’ve done with Marcedes [Lewis] and his role and really defining that; he’s done a good job with it. I think giving Bobby [Tonyan] some opportunities; but again, we’ve gotta get Jimmy goin’ and Davante goin’ if this offense is going to get to where we want it to go.” Considering the slow starting nature for Green Bay’s offense, this game could be a prime opportunity for it to take the next step.
Both Green Bay and Philadelphia come into the game relatively unscathed injury-wise. Per the Athletic’s Matt Shneidman, DL Montravious Adams & LB Oren Burks are listed as OUT, while WR Jake Kumerow, OLB Za’Darius Smith, & OLB Kyler Fackrell are all listed as QUESTIONABLE. For Philadelphia, WR DeSean Jackson, CB Ronald Darby, and DT Tim Jernigan are listed as OUT, while RB Corey Clement is listed as QUESTIONABLE. For Philadelphia’s offense, losing its top WR hurts them big time, they’re 13th in total YPG (365), 12th in passing offense (265.3 PYPG), and 16th in total defense (350 YPG given up). If anything, this could be another great opportunity for Green Bay’s defense to capitalize on. I think they know what’s at stake in this game and they’re going to fight very hard to keep their record unblemished on Thursday night.
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