What a refreshing game from all sides of the ball, well except special teams – again.  Hopefully getting Brett Goode (long snapper, and Aaron Rodgers’ closest friend) back will fix those kicking issues.

The Defense looked better, however much of that should be credited to Mitchell Trubisky and his willingness to hold the ball longer than his opponent, Hundley, allowing Nick Perry to get 3 sacks on his own.  This seemed like a matchup between two teams with a gameplan of “Not to Lose,” however I’ll credit McCarthy and Hundley for getting aggressive on 3^rd and 10 from their own 35 and hitting a 42-yard pass down the right sideline to Davante Adams, which with a good snap, would’ve iced the game by making a field goal.  However, the defense was able to close out the woeful Bears offense and get the Win.

Speaking of woeful offenses, Baltimore brings in the 30^th ranked offense and a QB who’s making close to $25M this year and ProFootballFocus season grade of 70.1 (32^nd ranked QB) and a season passer rating of 72.7 (31^st overall) – these numbers being similar are coincidental, however both are bad.

The Ravens do have the 6^th overall defense and as the Packers players have been saying all week, their week 11 opponent is a heavy scheme opponent, meaning Baltimore like to disguise blitzes and coverages especially against inexperienced QBs to force them into mistakes and make game-changing plays.  The Ravens possess the 2^nd best defense v the pass, headed by outstanding cornerback, Jimmy Smith.  Smith was a highly-thought-of prospect out of Colorado and fell a bit in the draft due to some personal issues.  However, he’s considered one of the league’s best cover men and will make life tough for Hundley for whomever he’s following (likely Adams).

Overall the Packers are still a 2 point underdog, at home, meaning the boys in the desert think a bad Ravens team is still the better of the two in this matchup.  With Hundley playing his best game to date as a pro against the 2^nd best defense he’d seen (Min being the first) this is likely the best overall defense he’ll see until the week 16 matchup v Min down the road.

I’ll continue to pick against them until the Packers have given me enough confidence they can shut down a decent offense v holding down bad QB-play.  Flacco should give the Packers some opportunities for INTs, but without Morgan Burnett (captain and play-caller of the D) and rookie Kevin King, the Packers’ secondary may get caught just enough to lose.

Ravens 23
Packers 21

28-17: hoping I’m wrong again, could also use a little help from the Rams today (they play the Vikings).  You know, if you’re still rooting for the Packers and think they can win a super bowl this year, if 12 comes back.  Again, that’ll be for another day J