The Green Bay Packers are coming off an early bye week at
2-1, with only one good half of football to show for it. This week, they get
the 2-2 New York Giants, who are coming off a loss against the Minnesota
Vikings on Monday Night Football.
Aaron Rodgers hasn't looked right in a long time. In less
than one year he has gone from MVP to league-average. If the Packers are going
anywhere, he needs to pick it up. Eddie had a strong second half against
Detroit two weeks ago. In fact, Eddie Lacy ended up with his first 100-yard
rushing game since the middle of last season as a result. Through three games
this season, his carries have been limited for some reason. Perhaps they are trying
to keep his numbers down until he gets a contract extension? Unlikely though.
More likely they are trying to keep him fresh, without risking losing games as
a result. Remember, running backs have short shelf life.
“Will somebody for get open for crying out loud!” Says just
about every Packers fan. We know, Jordy Nelson had a 100-yard receiving game
two weeks ago. But to some he looked less than impressive doing so, and it was
against the worst secondary in the league. As we said, Aaron needs to play
better, but pass catchers getting open would help. Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb,
Davante Adams, Jared Abbrederis, Trevor Davis, Ty Montgomery, Jeff Janis, Jared
Cook, Richard Rodgers, somebody, anybody, needs to get open.
Can the pass rush get to Eli Manning? Eli Manning has been
two different quarterbacks his entire career. He is able to pick up the stunt
blitz very well, but he has issues against the delayed blitz. To make a long
story short, when he is getting hit, he looks like the worst quarterback in the
league. When he isn't, he can go toe to toe with anyone any day of the week.
Can the Packers secondary hold up? Sam Shields will miss
another game because of that concussion, and from what we understand, his
career may need to come to an end because of it. Add to that Damarious Randall
is questionable. They have the makings for some serious problems back there. If
the secondary can hold up, then the Packers should be able to win this game.
Final Score: Right now all we have is one good half of
football against maybe the worst defense in the league to go off of. But, the
numbers tell us the Packers should win this game 27-17.
