Packers vs. Lions: Three Reasons to Worry in Week 18

GREEN BAY, Wis. –The Detroit Lions are mad. With no playoff wins in three a long time, they’re drained being a laughingstock. They’re uninterested in dropping to the Inexperienced Bay Packers. They’re uninterested in being bullied by Aaron Rodgers.

The Lions have one thing to show on Sunday night time at Lambeau Area. If the Los Angeles Rams beat the Seattle Seahawks, they’ll have an opportunity to earn a spot within the NFL playoffs. Even when they’re eradicated by kickoff, the Lions would relish taking part in the function of spoiler and sending a message to Inexperienced Bay.

“Our guys are excited,” Lions coach Dan Campbell mentioned on Friday. “These alternatives don’t all the time come round and also you don’t all the time what they’re going to be, however sooner or later you’re going to look again and say, ‘Man, you had these particular moments that you just have been capable of be part of.’ And I attempt to inform these guys you simply don’t know when these are going to come back up or what it’s going to imply, however I do know this, if you’re executed taking part in, you miss the hell out of it. And this can be a kind of moments I consider they’ll all the time keep in mind, this group, this crew.”

The Packers have an opportunity to get again to the playoffs if they’ll full their working of the desk by beating the Lions. Listed below are three explanation why it received’t occur.

1. Massive-Play Lions

With an outstanding offensive line to offer him time, Lions quarterback Jared Goff goes to have time to assault. He’s having a big-time season, rating seventh in passer ranking (100.2) and eighth in yards per try (7.62).

Right here’s the problem for Inexperienced Bay. Placing Jaire Alexander in opposition to Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson and Rasul Douglas in opposition to Adam Thielen made sense from pace and substance views. Placing Alexander in opposition to Lions star Amon-Ra doesn’t make plenty of sense as a result of who’s going to match up with the pace of Detroit’s D.J. Chark and Jameson Williams?

St. Brown, who’s seventh with 100 receptions and twelfth with 1,112 yards, is a big-time participant. He’s elite within the slot and possesses a bulldog mentality. He ranks third amongst receivers in yards after the catch.

“I believe the most effective factor about him is like he’s only a competitor,” Alexander mentioned. “That’s the most effective attribute he has. He’s aggressive. You’ve acquired to respect a competitor. I’m, as effectively.”

Clark, with 4.34 pace within the 40, was on injured reserve for the primary matchup. The final 5 video games, he’s acquired three video games of 94-plus yards, 5 receptions of 28-plus yards and caught all 5 targets on passes of 20-plus yards. Williams, who might need been the quickest participant on this 12 months’s draft if not for the torn ACL that ended his remaining season at Alabama, made his debut 5 video games in the past. He’s caught solely 1-of-8 passes however that was for 41 yards and a landing. He had a 40-yard run final week.

Whether or not it’s throwing it deep or run after catch, Detroit enters the week ranked fourth with 56 completions of 20-plus yards.

2. Lions Operating Sport

Essentially the most encouraging factor about Inexperienced Bay’s defensive efficiency vs. Minnesota wasn’t essentially the way it restricted Justin Jefferson to only one reception out of 5 targets. Relatively, it was how Inexperienced Bay restricted Justin Jefferson whereas additionally stopping Dalvin Prepare dinner.

Prepare dinner, among the best runners within the league, carried the ball 9 occasions for 27 yards, a meager 3.0-yard common with an extended of 9. That included a pivotal third-and-goal cease after a blocked punt. The Vikings completed the day with 102 yards and a 5.1-yard common, deceiving numbers primarily based on Kirk Cousins’ three scrambles for 37 yards and a few inconsequential slop on the finish for Alexander Mattison.

“I believed our guys up entrance, the entire group, I believed they performed bodily proper the beginning,” defensive coordinator Joe Barry mentioned. “Actually, from after they had the ball on the 1-yard line [following the block], I believe our line of defense and our entrance – I embody Dre (De’Vondre Campbell) and Quay (Walker) in that once I say ‘the entrance’ – I believed they set the tone and the mind-set early.”

Was it a turning level? Inexperienced Bay enters the sport ranked twenty sixth in speeding yards allowed per sport (141.8) and twenty seventh in speeding yards allowed per carry (5.00).

Detroit has a a lot better offensive line than the group Inexperienced Bay confronted final week. The Vikings shortly have been down two starters. Led by second-year proper deal with Penei Sewell, the Lions have a bruising entrance that thrives on downhill runs. It’s test-your-manhood stuff. That performs proper into the fingers of former Packers working again Jamaal Williams, who wants six yards to achieve 1,000 and one speeding landing to tie Barry Sanders’ franchise document of 16.

“Jamaal’s a man that’s robust to root in opposition to us, though I’ll discover it in my physique to try this on Sunday,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur mentioned. “This can be a folks enterprise, at the start, and also you develop relationships with these guys. Hopefully we will maintain him down, however he’s a tricky, gritty competitor. He’s just a little little bit of the epitome of what they’re all about. They’ve acquired plenty of robust, gritty guys. He’s a man that I believe is severely underrated.”

Williams is identical participant he was in Inexperienced Bay. There’s not plenty of flash to his sport. If the play is blocked for two yards, he’s going to achieve 4. It is going to take 4 guys to deal with him, and he’ll rise up with a smile and wish extra. There are 34 working backs with no less than 140 carries. He’s eighth in carries, tenth in yards, twenty sixth in common per carry (4.04) and twenty seventh in yards after contact per carry (2.77), in keeping with Professional Soccer Focus.

His sidekick, D’Andre Swift, is averaging 5.6 yards per carry with 3.17 after contact. He has extra 15-yard runs (eight) than Williams (seven) in 153 fewer carries.

“He’s one of many happiest teammates we’ve ever had, one of many biggest guys within the locker room that I’ve been capable of work with, not simply an absolute robust man and a stud on the sector however an incredible, fascinating particular person off the sector,” Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers mentioned of Williams.

If Williams and Swift get rolling, it’s going to be an extended night time for Inexperienced Bay – and maybe an extended offseason, too. Lions quarterback Jared Goff is No. 1 within the league with a 125.9 ranking on play motion.

3. Can Packers Maintain Tempo?

Inexperienced Bay’s offense simply hasn’t caught fireplace. The “younger receivers” excuse expired way back. The offensive line is undamaged. The backfield is undamaged. The receiver corps is undamaged.

It’s time to maneuver the ball and rating touchdowns with regularity.

Throughout Inexperienced Bay’s four-game successful streak, 33 quarterbacks dropped again for no less than 60 passes, in keeping with PFF. Whereas Detroit’s Jared Goff is second in passer ranking throughout that span, Inexperienced Bay’s Aaron Rodgers is just fifteenth in passer ranking, thirteenth in completion share and fifteenth in yards per try. He’s thrown three touchdowns vs. two interceptions. On passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield, he’s simply 3-of-12.

It’s mediocre soccer. To be honest, much less has been requested of Rodgers. The working sport has been nice, the protection has produced turnovers by the bushel and Keisean Nixon has supplied nice subject place. The scoreboard is the one factor that issues; Inexperienced Bay is fourth with 29.8 factors per sport throughout its successful streak. Nonetheless, the Rodgers-to-Christian Watson connection, which confirmed such promise, has fizzled of late. There have been alternatives in opposition to the Vikings that Rodgers missed.

If the Lions rating 30, can Rodgers and Co. rating 31?

“Every little thing we do in our offense is to try to arrange these chunk performs, these explosive passes,” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich mentioned. “Yeah, we’ve simply acquired to be higher there, positively, this sport. We’re anticipating Detroit to come back out swinging on all cylinders. So, we’ve acquired to be able to go and make some massive performs in opposition to them.”

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