Packers look to roar on Sunday as they face the Jaguars
The Packers are off their “mini-bye” and return home to Lambeau Field to host the Jacksonville Jaguars at Noon Central Time on Sunday.
The Packers are 6-2 and most recently won 34-17 on the road vs the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday Night Football. The Jaguars are 1-7, winning their first game of the season vs the Indianapolis Colts but most recently lost 27-25 vs the Houston Texans last Sunday.
Gardner Minshew II won’t be starting for Jacksonville due to a thumb injury. Rookie Jake Luton gets the start instead. There aren’t a lot of household names on this roster on offense. James Robinson is the starting running back and D.J. Chark Jr., Laviska Shenault Jr., and Chris Conley are the starting wide receivers. TE Tyler Eifert may be the closest thing to a player you may have heard about before, having played all of his career with the Cincinnati Bengals before joining the Jaguars this season. The Packers’ had some success vs the 49ers. They need to continue improving and keep getting pressure on the quarterback and get some turnovers as well.
Aaron Rodgers is coming off another 4-touchdown game. Davante Adams continues to show why he is one of the top receivers in the league if not the best overall. Aaron Jones hopefully has his injuries behind him. This offense is so much more lethal when Jones is in the lineup. If they keep Rodgers upright and run the ball effectively, this offense should dominate once again.
The Packers and Jaguars have only met six previous times, with the Packers winning the first two matchups and also the last two. This will be the third meeting at Lambeau Field. The series at Lambeau is tied 1-1.
Jacksonville didn’t have to wait too long to establish a winning culture. In only their second season, they reached the AFC Championship Game, playing the New England Patriots tough before losing. You may remember that the Carolina Panthers also reached the conference championship in only their second season. They ended up losing to the Green Bay Packers, who went on to play in Super Bowl XXXI and win it. Jacksonville would make the playoffs the following three seasons, losing in the AFC Championship Game at home to the Tennessee Titans in January of 2000. That Jaguars’ team had only three losses that year but all of those losses were to the Titans.
The Jaguars had mostly fallen on hard times during their existence. They occasionally come out with a good or great season like three years ago when they came close to upsetting the New England Patriots on the road in the AFC Championship Game before falling short. They had a great defense but didn’t address their quarterback problem, sticking with Blake Bortles, which turned out to be a mistake. Minshew-mania made its debut last year, but this team is a shell of what it used to be. Now he is injured and the team is a mess. This may be the worst team in the league other than the New York Jets.
The Packers are in a pretty good spot in what appears to be a wide-open NFC. They have a great chance to be the last team standing in the conference. That doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement. What other team can you say is in a better spot in the NFC right now? Perhaps the Saints but the Packers have already defeated them in their own building. I will take my chances with Green Bay, especially if Rodgers is still in uniform.
The Packers only have Sunday games the rest of the way. There are no more byes or mini-byes. Maybe this way they can get into a rhythm knowing they will be playing on Sunday from here on out. These players are creatures of habit. There is no reason why they can’t get on a roll, especially with the schedule they have the rest of the season.
Nothing can be taken for granted in the NFL of course. We almost saw a quarterback making his first NFL start with the Dallas Cowboys almost take down the unbeaten Pittsburgh Steelers last Sunday. The much-anticipated matchup between the teams quarterbacked by Drew Brees and Tom Brady turned out to be a flop. There is no reason why the Packers should lose this game to the Jacksonville Jaguars, but they need to show up and play their game. They cannot play games or they may lose this game.
When all is said and done, I think the Packers will ultimately pull away and come out with a victory. It’s unfortunate that we will once again have no fans at Lambeau, but we can make our voices heard elsewhere. Stay safe Packer fans! Take the proper precautions and look out for your fellow neighbors. Let’s dominate this game and keep moving forward. The second half of the Packers’ season starts this Sunday.
Go Pack Go!
@DieHardPackrFan #DHPF #GregGoshaw @gg901
