The Packers escaped Jacksonville with a win and their health. There were quite a few injuries in the game, most-notably QB Jordan Love, exiting with a groin injury. The one injury that may have had the most impact on the game was rookie Safety Evan Williams. Williams injured his hamstring, which is concerning because those seem to linger for quite some time. Once Williams exited, the Packers defense relinquished 20 points stemming from late 2^nd quarter. The other rookie safety, Javon Bullard, struggled immensely in both coverage and tackling – which is odd considering he showed early on that he is a good coverage safety and an aggressive tackler. Should Williams continue to miss time, Bullard must produce and more importantly, the pass rush needs to find consistency.

As someone that beats the drum on scoring off turnovers, the Packers did a perfect job against the Jaguars – and that was, by far, the difference in the outcome of the game. The Packers committed 1 turnover, on a good play by the Jaguars corner, but the Packers followed that by intercepting (McKinney’s 6^th) Trevor Lawrence on the ensuing drive. From there, the Packers scored touchdowns on each of their takeaways while Jacksonville committed a turnover on their ensuing drive from their lone takeaway. With Green Bay winning that battle 14-0, that was monumental for them to bring home the win.

Cover Boy

Standout rookie linebacker, Edgerrin Cooper, had a phenomenal game. Cooper logged 9 tackles, 1 sack where he forced a fumble that Green Bay immediately turned into a touchdown, and had a monumental pass breakup early in the 4th quarter on 3^rd down to keep momentum for the Packers after Jordan Love had exited the game. Cooper keeps flashing and making plays the more snaps he garners.

Malik Willis has been the perfect backup QB. The unwritten expectation of backup quarterbacks is to win half the games you start. Well, Willis has started 2 games and played half of another, and Green Bay has come out victorious in all three appearances.  Should Willis start this coming Sunday and win, we’re getting towards uncharted territory for a backup that will continue to be a backup as Love is still very good (yes, better than Willis) and is paid, but there definitely will be a market for Willis this offseason – and most of the credit goes to Willis for putting in the work. With all of this, Matt LaFleur should be front-runner for Coach of the Year. Here’s a prime example of why he’s so good, a great breakdown by Dan Orlovsky.

The Packers are dealing with quite a few injuries with key players. Not great timing considering the Lions come to town and look as though they’re the best team in the NFL, having the largest point differential in the league and having put up over 40 points in three of their last 4 games. QB Jared Goff in those games has gone 70/83 (84.3%), 972 yards, 10 TD, 0 INT for a QB Rating of 155.1. That’s absurd, and have come against solid teams in Seattle, Dallas, Minnesota, and the #1 defense in Tennessee. This does not bode well for Green Bay who has done a solid job vs. stiff competition, but without takeaways, (minus the Houston game) has relinquished quite a bit of yards – Detroit has done the best job in the league with converting drives to points. The Packers must take the ball away and convert those turnovers into touchdowns should they want to compete, let alone win the game.

Those injuries mentioned above, obviously Jordan Love being the biggest, however the most impactful one may be rookie Safety, Evan Williams. It turns out when Williams is on the field he’s a difference-maker and is solid in both the run and pass game. Compounding the issue is top-tier cornerback, Jaire Alexander, is also hurt and may miss the game, and that spells disaster seeing as the Packers can’t seem to generate a pass rush with 4 down linemen.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep beating the drum, the best indicator of a team’s true strength is Point Differential. The Lions rank 1^st in the NFL with +100, while Green Bay is solid at the 8^th spot at +46. Detroit also does a great job at limiting turnovers ranking 4^th (tied with Pittsburgh) and is right up there with Green Bay for taking the ball away. The Packers will (as always) need to win the turnover battle, points off turnovers, and likely time of possession to come out with a victory.

What’s At Stake?

With a victory, the Packers would catapult to the 2^nd seed in the NFC playoff race (assuming Washington beats the Giants) behind the Commanders who would have the tiebreaker with a better record vs. NFC opponents. However, should Detroit win, it would give them a large lead in the best division in football (NFC North) by having a 1.5 (+.5) game lead in the division over both Minnesota and Green Bay. While there’s still plenty of football left to be played, this is close to a must-win game for Green Bay to keep pace with Detroit, Minnesota, and Washington for that highly-coveted top seed in the playoffs, which would bring the only BYE in the postseason.

Assuming everyone can play (Love, Tom, Myers, Alexander, and Williams) at a high-level, Green Bay is very close to matching player for player with Detroit, but has yet to put a complete game together. What can be said is Green Bay seems to refuse to put a complete game together, however they also refuse to lose. The Packers are more battle-tested, and should this game come down to one possession, they just may be able to pull this one out.

Prediction

Season: 6-2
Overall: 98-68