Review~ Commanders 23, Packers 21: The Packers continue to ignore the run game, they keep losing due to not having a rhythm and the defense getting put into bad positions with little rest – resulting in a loss. Does this sound about right?

Green Bay ran 47 plays (that’s way too low), and only had 12 rush attempts. The wild thing is that’s usually the balance of a team that fell down big, early, and had to pass to get back into the game. Nope…the Packers held the lead until 11:49 left in the 3rd quarter. Also, the Packers’ o-line can’t be held to blame as they allowed 0 sacks on 35 dropbacks, but Green Bay only held the ball for 22:53 out of 60 minutes. That simply won’t get it done. Not this team. This team needs to win the time of possession, the turnover battle, and need 1 to 3 clutch passes from their Hall of Fame QB to win. If that sounds like a lot, well, that’s what essentially EVERY team needs in order to win in the NFL.

With each passing week, especially during this 3-game losing streak, it seems as though while the Packers have an incredible amount of talent, they also seem to be learning how to play together and having to figure out how to win – which is typical of a young team – which is frustrating, because they’re not.

Hope? Sure, Green Bay could be fighting through some learning curves on offense with the shuffling of the offensive line, young/new receivers, however that’s all the more reason to stick to the run game…hell, even over commit to the run, would be a good problem The other item? This may be the most parody the NFL has seen in quite some time. While it seems there are a few teams that can hoist the Lombardi Trophy at this point, there still are quite a few teams that wouldn’t shock me should they “figure it out,” *cough cough* Tampa Bay *cough cough.*

Matchup ^yikes~

	GB D	(rank)	vs.	Buf O	(rank)
Rush	139.6	27		117.8	16
Pass	168.9	1		323.0	1
Total	308.4	8		440.8	1
Pts	20.9	14		29.3	2
	GB O			Buf D
Rush	110.3	18		76.2	1
Pass	221.3	17		205.3	11
Total	331.6	20		281.5	1
Pts	18.3	23		13.5	1
T/O
Takeaways	5	T-29th		13	T-3rd
Giveaways	9	T-16th		10	T-21st
Diff.	(4)	T-26th		3	T-6th

There’s only 1 Strength vs. Strength in this game, and that’s the Bill’s passing attack, led by QB Josh Allen (#17) which ranks 1st in the NFL entering Week 8, and the Packers’ pass defense, also ranking 1st entering Week 8. The issue will become – like it’s been all season – should the Packers not stick to the rushing attack, their defense will be on the field longer and have to defend the 16th ranked rushing offense. The main issue there is, Jared Allen is incredible running the football himself. He could drop back to pass and if everyone is covered, take off and convert 3rd and longs to firsts…

If Green Bay has any hope of winning this game, especially without Allen Lazard, they’ll need to stick to the run game, get quite a bit more pre-snap motion and playing off it, and win the turnover battle. At the end of the game, should the Packers have a higher time of possession, >50% rush v pass ratio, and have a positive turnover margin, they should win. Until they show they’re capable of doing that for 60 minutes, it’s insane to think they will

Packers 20
Bills 34 (-11)

Season: 3-4
Overall: 84-46