On Sunday Night Football, the Green Bay Packers will travel to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts to take on the Patriot. This Sunday Night Football matchup will kick off at 8:15 PM. ET.
The Packers (3-3-1) are off to a rocky start this season. They’re really not playing up to the standard that’s expected in Green Bay. There three losses are all against NFC opponents, which could come back to hurt them come playoff time. Additionally, the Packers have only one convincing victory on the season, a 22-0 victory over the hapless Bills. Outside of that performance, the Packers have managed to hang with a lot of the elite teams they’ve faced, but rarely have they closed out their opponents. After losing to the Rams in Los Angeles, the Packers will now need to travel across the country to face the Patriots in a much different climate.
The Patriots are coming off a dominant defensive performance against the Buffalo Bills. New England’s defense held Buffalo to six points on the night. Despite the strong defensive showing, there’s a lot to be concerned with in New England.
The Patriots have struggled on offense through much of the early parts of this season. Last week, in particular, was a difficult offensive week for the Patriots. New England struggled to move the ball throughout their week 8 contest with the Bills. The game was surprisingly close throughout.
New England had a slight lead in the fourth quarter before James White found the end zone. Then minutes later, Devin McCourty intercepted Bills quarterback, Derek Anderson, and returned it for a defensive touchdown.
Any good football team needs to rely on their defense from time to time to win games, but the Patriots’ defense cannot be relied on to win against the best offenses in the league. Against those teams, New England’s offense will need to outscore their opponent and that is a guarantee right now.
The Packers are in a must-win situation.
In 2108, the Packers have a victory over the Chicago Bears and a tie with the Minnesota Vikings. Both of those teams are ahead of Green Bay in the standings. The Packers lone loss in the division was at the hands of the Detroit Lions. The Packers are in a strong position, despite being third in the standings, to win the division. Green Bay plays all three of their division rivals once more throughout the season. Chicago has proven to be a force to reckon with and Minnesota has a lot of potential on both sides of the ball. The Packers might have Aaron Rodgers but they cannot afford to fall further behind in the standings this early in the season.
The Patriots offense is well below standards.
The Patriot’s offense has been a shell of its former self. Rob Gronkowski has been hampered by some nagging injuries but nothing too serious. And, yet he’s struggled to establish himself as a playmaker in the red zone. Against the Bills, Tom Brady looked for Gronkowski several times in the red zone. Each attempt ended in an incompletion. So far this season, Gronkowski has scored only one touchdown. That score came on the first offensive drive of the Patriots’ season. Since that game, Gronkowski has been a shadow in the red zone. The Patriots need to find a way to get Gronkowski involved more.
Patriots Vs Packers Betting Lines
BetOnline.ag has the Patriots favored to win the game by -5 points. The over/under on total points scored is 56.5. You can read our full BetOnline review here.
My Pick
The Packers are coming off a frustrating defeat at the hands of most likely the best team in the NFL, the Los Angeles Rams. Following that contest on the west coast with a cross-country matchup with New England is a tremendously unfavorable two-week stretch. The Patriots offensively are coming off a game they’d love to forget, and it’s likely Belichick has the team already past it. Expect a Patriots team that comes in ready to put up a lot of points against a Packers squad that ranks 17th in points per game. This game should be high scoring, but in the end, expect New England to do enough to get the victory.
Play: Patriots -5 @ BetOnline.ag
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