The Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions meet for the 168th time on Sunday at Lambeau Field. The Packers have dominated the series of late, including the last 22-games in Wisconsin.
All signs point to the Packers rebounding from their loss at Cincinnati nearly two weeks ago. Coming off of bye weeks under Mike McCarthy, the Packers have a 6-1 record.
They’ve also won eight straight home games and 21 of their last 22.
How will Aaron Rodgers rebound from his poor performance at Cincinnati. If history is any indication, he’ll do just fine. After a loss to the Colts last season, Rodgers rebounded to throw six touchdown passes in a win at Houston. He’s also bounced back with impressive performances against the Vikings and Bears after losses over the last couple of seasons.
The bye week seems to have worked well for the Packers. They’re as healthy as they’ve been in some time. A number of players are returning, with the two most important being LB Clay Matthews and TE Jermichael Finley.
The Packers have only three players that won’t play this week. Running back James Starks and offensive lineman Greg Van Roten are both expected to miss a couple of weeks. Defensive back Casey Hayward is also expected to miss this week, but he went through practice on Thursday and could return by next week’s game at Baltimore.
In the pressure department, the Lions have only given up three sacks in four games. The Packers only have seven quarterback sacks in three games. Green Bay needs to get after Matthews Stafford to slow the Lions red hot offensive attack. And on the flip side, Detroit’s success starts with their four interior lineman. The Packers have given up ten sacks and they’ll have to improve in that area this week.
I’ll take the Packers to win 30-23. I have more on the matchup in the following video.