Green Bay Packers Looking to Maintain Recent Surge

Green Bay won their third straight and their fourth in the last five games as they took down the defending champion Chiefs at home last Sunday night. The Packers evened their record at 6-6 on the season and they were tied for second in the NFC North heading into this weekend, three games behind the Lions. They held the final wild card spot in the NFC entering week 14 thanks to their head-to-head win over the Rams. Against the Chiefs, the Packers never trailed, leading 7-3 after the opening quarter, 14-6 at the half and 21-12 after three quarters. Green Bay got a couple of field goals in the final stanza after the Chiefs cut the lead to 21-19, then got a trio of stops defensively down the stretch to thwart the Chiefs’ comeback attempt. The Packers held a 382-337 edge in total offense, owned a 30:32 to 29:28 advantage in time of possession and forced the game’s lone turnover to offset being beaten 25-24 in first downs in the game.This season, the Packers are 18^th in the league in passing offense with an average of 224.7 yards per game this season. Green Bay is 20^th in the league in rushing offense as they grind out 104.9 yards per contest. The Packers are 17^th in the league in scoring offense as they pile up an average of 21.5 points per game this year. Green Bay stands 9^th in the league in scoring defense by giving up an average of 20.3 points a contest on the season. Jordan Love is 250 of 408 passing for 2,866 yards with 22 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions. He has 231 rushing yards plus two scores while getting sacked 24 times. AJ Dillon leads the team in rushing with 149 carries for 521 yards plus a score on the year. Aaron Jones (66 carries, 245 yards, two TD) and Patrick Taylor (16 carries, 71 yards) have been involved in the run game as well. Jayden Reed (40 receptions, 513 yards, five TD) and Romeo Doubs (45 receptions, 505 yards, seven TD) are the top two receiving options for the Packers this season. Jones (19 receptions, 169 yards, TD), Luke Musgrave (33 catches, 341 yards, TD), Christian Watson (28 grabs, 422 yards, five TD) and Dontayvion Wicks (23 grabs, 374 yards, TD) are other options in the passing game. Anders Carlson has hit 23 of 26 extra point attempts and 17 of 21 field goal attempts with a long of 52 this season.

On the injury report, there are plenty of key names to watch for as the weekend goes on. Linebacker Quay Walker (shoulder) and wide receiver Christian Watson (hamstring) both failed to practice Thursday and Friday. Cornerback Jaire Alexander (shoulder), linebackers De’Vondre Campbell (neck) along with Rashan Gary (shoulder), running backs Dillon (groin) along with Jones (knee), defensive lineman Devonte Wyatt (elbow), wide receiver Reed (chest) and safety Jonathan Owens (knee) were each limited both days. Safety Darnell Savage (chest) didn’t practice Thursday and was limited Friday while guard/tackle Elgton Jenkins (shoulder) was limited Thursday but didn’t practice Friday. Watch through the weekend for any further updates regarding their respective statuses.