Packers look to corral the Colts this Sunday
It’s a battle of division leaders as the Green Bay Packers hit the road to take on the Indianapolis Colts at 3:25 Central Time on Sunday.
The Packers are 7-2 after narrowly defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars last Sunday while the Colts are 6-3, defeating the Tennessee Titans on the road 34-17 in the Thursday night game.
The Packers saw Philip Rivers last season when he was with the Los Angeles Chargers. He joined the Colts in the offseason. He isn’t doing anything spectacular except perhaps completing a high percentage of his passes, but he didn’t need to do much so far this year because the defense is backing him up. Former Wisconsin Badger running back Jonathan Taylor is leading the team in rushing. The top receiver in catches is a running back. Nyheim Hines, their third-string running back, leads the team with 33 receptions while Zach Pascal leads the team in receiving yards with 330. This doesn’t sound like a high-powered offense, but if they get into a rhythm, they can be hard to stop. The Packers need some stops and turnovers, and please wrap up the guy with the football and get him to the ground.
Aaron Rodgers was mostly efficient last week but he did have an interception, which is a bit of a shocker whenever that happens. Davante Adams lost a fumble as well. Hopefully they have it out of their system because the Colts have a tough defense. If you want some promising news to boost your spirits, Allen Lazard is back, Marquez Valdes-Scantling had a decent game last Sunday, David Bakhtiari is back in the lineup for hopefully the rest of the season and also signed a nice extension, and Aaron Jones will be out there, opening up the offense for the whole team. The Packers need to make the most of their opportunities and finish drives with touchdowns.
It’s obvious the Packers need to play much better than they did last week vs Jacksonville. Did the Packers really play down to Jacksonville’s level or did the Jaguars elevate their game last week? If the Jaguars played with that same intensity all year that they showed last Sunday, they would have a better record than 1-8. By the way, that lone victory the Jaguars have came against the Colts in Week 1, a 27-20 victory in Jacksonville. Any Given Sunday!
The Packers as you know had Brett Favre for many years followed by Aaron Rodgers. I thought the Colts would have something similar with Peyton Manning followed by Andrew Luck. That unfortunately never happened for Indy as Luck would battle injuries and ultimately retire during the preseason in 2019. That’s too bad for the Colts because they would be in the conversation for the Super Bowl for sure if Luck was the quarterback for this team.
Even with all of the flaws the Packers have, they are currently the #1 seed in the NFC. The last time they were the top seed this year, they fell flat against the Minnesota Vikings and ended up losing. They got things to fall their way again. They now need to take advantage of this and start out by dominating this game. Be disciplined out there but be nasty. You have a reputation right now as a soft defense. What are you going to do about that? Mike Pettine, if you want to keep your job, your defense needs to show up in games like this one on Sunday. I can guarantee the Colts will be up for this game. The Packers had better be ready for this one as well.
It seems like the Packers struggle when they have extended time off. They had a very poor showing at Tampa after their bye week. They had a “mini-bye” and then struggled to beat a Jacksonville team that had only one win the entire season. They now have only Sunday games the rest of the season. Maybe they can get in sync and start being more consistent.
The Colts are 3-0 vs the NFC North and can make it a sweep if they win on Sunday. We appreciate their previous 3 wins, but we need to take care of business and prove that we are a team to be taken seriously. If we win on Sunday, that will help our cause. If we lose, our critics will jump on us and have a field day.
I think the Packers will face a huge test this Sunday, but they are more than capable of coming out on top with the firepower they have. Their defense needs to show up and put the offense in a favorable position. If they do that, I think the Packers will win. Let’s get this victory and keep on going.
Go Pack Go!
@DieHardPackrFan #DHPF #GregGoshaw @gg901
