Packers 23, Cowboys 13 – Green Bay continued their improvement, as a team, with a solid showing against a desperate Dallas team. The major area of improvement came on 3rd down efficiency. The Packers converted 11 of their 18 (61.1%) third downs and converted their only 4th down attempt, essentially going 12/18 on 3rd downs. Heading into Week 6, the Packers were dead last in 3rd-down conversion percentage with 27.59%, that was the biggest area of improvement needed, and much of that was the cause of the offensive line putting the offense in 3rd and long predicaments. A very good sign moving forward, considering the O-line is getting healthier, and better, which is growing LaFleur’s and Love’s confidence to throw the ball down field more often.
Continuing Issues:
Penalties – Green Bay committed 11 penalties for 96 yards and yet another egregious call against Lukas Van Ness on an interception by CB Valentine which essentially would’ve sealed the game.
Rushing Attack – Green Bay rushed 26 times for only 57 yards (2.2 yards per rush), which simply won’t cut it, especially against better defenses and when the weather turns colder. They’ll need to drastically improve in this department if they have any visions of making a deep playoff run. What helps is Josh Jacobs is set to return and should have extremely fresh legs.
Where Do Things Stand Now?
With Chicago’s win on Thursday Night Football against New England, they’re now at 5-2 and sit in 2nd place in the NFC North and hold the 1st wild card spot in the NFC playoff picture. Therefore, with a win, Green Bay will jump them (head-to-head tiebreaker) and overtake the 5th playoff seed, dropping Chicago to 6th place. Again, divisional games are huge as they hold all the tiebreaking scenarios.
(4-2) Green Bay Packers @ (3-2) Detroit Lions
Heading into this divisional matchup, the Packers have an opportunity to put themselves in a strong position as one of the top teams in the NFC…couple that with the return of Micah Parsons and Josh Jacobs, it could set them up to make a strong push for the division and a solid seed in the NFC. Their schedule doesn’t get easier going forward, but winning this game would give them a 2-1 divisional record, set Detroit back to .500 and have them clawing to get back into the divisional and playoff race moving forward.
Much like the matchup v. Dallas, Green Bay will have the major advantage when on offense. Detroit’s defense might actually be worse than Dallas’, giving up almost 30 points a game and ranking dead last in pass yards and total yards given up per game thus far through Week 6 in the NFL season. Having this game take place in a dome, this sets Green Bay up for having substantial success in continuing their downfield passing attack. If they’re able to get any semblance of a ground attack with the return of Josh Jacobs, that will only help their passing game and hopefully continue the trend of improved 3rd down efficiency and red zone efficiency. Scoring touchdowns, both early and often really sets up the Packers’ pass rush – which has seen rookie Edge Rusher, Dani Dennis-Sutton, come on strongly over the past few weeks. Both DDS (Dani Dennis-Sutton) and LVN (Lukas Van Ness) have shown to be one of the better pass rushing duos in the NFL and with the return of Micah Parsons (hopefully in the next couple of weeks) that will only improve, obviously.
Detroit does have a very potent offense, still, captained by veteran QB Jared Goff. The Lions share the highest-scoring offense in the NFL (averaging 32.8 points per game) and rank 4th in the NFL with 393.8 yards per game and are very efficient considering they only have 1 turnover through their first 5 games, which is why they’re 3-2 with an atrocious defense. The Packers’ defense and their coordinator, Jonathan Gannon, will have their toughest test of the season come Sunday at Ford Field. Having to find a way to get the Lions offense off the field without scoring too many points. This is a game where holding Detroit to field goals, even if on every drive, might be the difference in winning or losing the game. While having one of the best/most-efficient offenses in the NFL, the Lions rank 21st in time of possession (29:14 per game), meaning they move the ball down the field, quickly, and resulting in touchdowns. The issue is Green Bay, while better the last 2 weeks, rank 29th in time of possession (27:42 per game) and have committed quite a few more turnovers (7 total) than Detroit, meaning the offense will need to be on point to keep the pressure on Detroit’s offense to be as perfect as possible to force them into mistakes.
This will be a fun game, because each offense will have the advantage, so per usual, whichever defense makes more plays will win the game. However, even more so now, if you can get 1-2 turnovers and score touchdowns off them, that WILL be the difference in this game.
Prediction
Since I like being a Homer > a Pessimist, I’d like to think that the momentum Love and LaFleur have created will carry on, especially with the emotional influx of Josh Jacobs’ return could have the Packers turning into a freight train that no one wants to see. Love, Golden, and Watson have created a fear in opposing defenses of having to cover the entire field on every play, thus opening all avenues of attack for the offense. I believe this will continue and it seems like Green Bay is focused on “winning the week.”
Season: 3-3
Overall: 120-80
