The match up that everyone circled on their calendars is finally here.
Two of the best quarterbacks in this century are set to square off, as Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers head to Foxboro to take on Tom Brady and the New England Patriots on Sunday Night Football.
The Packers are coming off a close tilt against the Los Angeles Rams last week and have a bit of a new look on both sides of the ball. A part of the reason Green Bay lost last week was due to running back Ty Montgomery running the ball out of the end zone on a kick return that resulted in a fumble with less than two minutes to play which the Rams recovered and eventually came away with a victory.
The decision to not kneel and return the ball caused a stir in the locker room, which led Green Bay to trade the running back to the Baltimore Ravens at the trade deadline this past Tuesday. The Packers were not done making changes, as they also shipped a key member of their secondary in Ha Ha Clinton Dix to the Washington Redskins.
It will be interesting to see how both sides of the ball do after these changes, particularly the defense.
A few big question marks loom for the Patriots ahead of tonight’s contest, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweeted out this morning that both running back Sony Michel (knee) and tight end Rob Gronkowski (back) are questionable to play. Both will go through some tests pregame to see where they stand. Losing one is a big loss, but both changes things dramatically.
The last thing the Patriots want to do is have to trot out Cordarelle Patterson as a running back to limit the high usage of James White. The offense will have to be better in this one, as the underwhelming performance the Patriots gave against the Buffalo Bills will not be acceptable against a high-octane performer in Rodgers at the helm.
The same goes for the defense, as Derek Anderson is not in the same stratosphere as most NFL quarterbacks, never mind the second best in the league in Rodgers.
Simply put, both sides of the ball will have to draw from performances in earlier contests this year. The offense will have to have an outage similar to the recent Kansas City game (also on Sunday Night Football) where it scored 43 points. The defense will have to be stout up front like it did in a 38-7 thrashing of the Miami Dolphins.
The problem defensively is that Rodgers is multifaceted and hard to contain. Despite having a knee brace, his mobility in the pocket to keep plays alive as well as scramble to pick up first downs means that most defenses employ spy’s to counter. In doing this, it’s one less cover man to deal with the likes of Davante Adams, Randall Cobb and Jimmy Graham. Despite wide receiver Gerononimo Allison ruled out, Rodgers still has a plethora of options at his disposal.
If the Patriots can execute their now renowned “bend, don’t break” defense, it will put less pressure on the offense to score every time it is on the field.
Even with the offense being without guard Shaq Mason, backup lineman Ted Karras filled in nicely last week against an enthusiastic Bills pass rush on the road. The team also promoted center James Ferentz from the practice squad to bring more depth to the line.
Controlling the ball for a long period of time has no effect on Rodgers, as his world class arm strength can put points up on the scoreboard in a hurry.
The Patriots will have to be clicking on all cylinders on both sides of the ball if they want to pull this one out. This game is important, because if New England loses, it could be two games behind the Chiefs for the No. 1 seed in the AFC. In a year where the Patriots have shown some vulnerabilities on the road, home field is vital.
We’ll find out in a few hours.
