Review~ the game vs. the Giants went the way it was supposed to.  However, not without a bit of a struggle to pull away until late.  However, good teams do what they’re supposed to, and close out the game vs. an inferior opponent.  Still, getting the 3 turnovers that Daniel Jones will typically give you, the Packers still show they’re capable of beating bad teams and it’s very tough to imagine beating a good team, which they’d ultimately have to do once or twice in the playoffs if they plan on actually winning the Super Bowl.

Another frustrating item with this team is it seems the defense, as a whole, isn’t much better than the last few years’.  The defense is ranked 14^th in scoring, giving up an average of 21.3 points/game.  Another indicator of overall team play is the point differential.  I’ve found myself in many disagreements, especially in baseball, about a team’s true strength determined by point differential.  The Packers are 9-3, but only have a +34 differential, which ranks them 11^th in the NFL.  To give some insight, here’s a listing/ranking of where the Super Bowl winners from the past 10 seasons have ranked:

As you can see, four of the past 10 winners have ranked 1^st, and two have ranked 2^nd.  A clear indication that point differential is telling in the sense of a true “chance of winning,” couple that with scoring defensive rank and one might be able to predict the winner heading into the playoffs.  A lot of these coincide, ala high point differential means a lot of wins, which equals home field advantage, which means they’re likely to get to the Super Bowl and are just a solid team.

Preview~ another week, and another No-Win scenario for the Packers.  To paraphrase Mayor Larry Vaughn (from Jaws) Blow the doors off Washington, and no one bats an eye.  Struggle or lose?  Well, then you have panic on your hands leading into Christmas.

The Redskins seems to be in full rebuild- owner’s fault- yet are somehow not eliminated from playoff (division) contention at 3-9 due to the NFC East being terrible.  As you can see on the chart below, the Redskins have the worst offense in the entire NFL, a rookie QB that makes plenty of mistakes, and holes all over the rest of their roster.

The Packers shouldn’t have any trouble in this one, but then again, it’s the Packers and they typically lose a game they have no business losing…hopefully that’s out of the way from the Charger game.

Redskins 14
Packers 38

Season: 7-5
Overall: 50-30